Books about Belgium royal family

[KentKim]

I've been trying to find out more about the history of the Belgium royal family. I'm wondering if there are any books about them, i've been looking and can't find any, except for some European royality books.

[Robert_Hall]

The best book by far is by Theo Aronson. DEFIANT DYNASTY, The Coburgs of Belgium.

[grandduchessella]

Is that the same as just The Coburgs of Belgium? They're both by Aronson but I don't know if there's a difference. Either way Aronson is a really good biographer. I wish he'd spent more time on Leopold II's daughters--what a bunch of characters. I would've liked also to read more about Clementine's long-delayed  love affair with Victor Napoleon.

[Robert_Hall]

It is the same book.  I think Celmentine may be covered more in one of his Bonaparte books. I shall check.

[Alicky1872]

I know of two other books which might interest you. The first is 'Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians' by Sydney Cunliffe Owen. She was the consort of King Albert I. I can't recommend this book enough. I learned so much about this fascinating woman, who was also a trained opthalmologist. She was taught by her father, and was known to walk unaccompanied through the poorer villages, giving visually impared people consultations, and arranging for free surgeries to be performed.

The other book is her husband's biography: 'Albert of Belgium' by Emile Cammaerts. I own this book but haven't read it yet. It's quite heavy and appears to be a more scholarly take on his life.

[LORENZO]

Queen Maria José wrote a book about her years before marriage in Italy is: Giovinezza di una regina, pubblished by Mondadori and in Belgium is: Albert et Elisabeth de Belgique: mes parents, pubblished by Rossel Edition.
Read it; it's a very nice book!

[KentKim]

Thanks everybody!
These books sound great, but it seems like the majority of them are based on monarchs from a very long time ago, are there any on the more recent, (like 100 yrs) of the Belgium royal family?

[Robert_Hall]

The Belgian monarchy was founded in 1830, not very old by royal standards.  There are plenty of "tribute & picture books"  about them from 1905-2005 and some very political books about Leopold III. If that is what you are looking for, most will be in french, I think. At least the ones I have are. But these are not histories.

[CatherineNY]

There is a new book on the Coburg dynasty coming out in English this month. It is called "A Throne in Brussels: Britain, the Saxe-Coburgs, and the Belgianisation of Europe" and is by Paul Belien. The book carries this recommendation from Hugo Vickers: "This is a fascinating book after which I cannot but see the Belgian royal family in a completely new light." I will declare an interest, and say that the author is a good friend of mine. The book does not portray the Coburgs in an entirely positive light, but it is most interesting, and certainly contains information I was not aware of before. It is available on Amazon.com.

[Luc]

Royals jewels of the queens and princesses of Belgium
This book sounds very interesting - it is about the jewels in the collection of the former queens and princesses of Belgium. It is written by Christophe Vachaudez, who also contributed to the book Brilliant Europe. What are your thoughts on this book or would you recommend it ?

Here you can read some chapters:
http://books.google.com/books?id=FuKfXjznC0kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=koninklijke+juwelen&hl=nl

[Eric VdV]

Is that the same as just The Coburgs of Belgium? They're both by Aronson but I don't know if there's a difference. Either way Aronson is a really good biographer. I wish he'd spent more time on Leopold II's daughters--what a bunch of characters. I would've liked also to read more about Clementine's long-delayed  love affair with Victor Napoleon.

A very good book on Princess Clémentine of Belgium is "Clémentine, princesse Napoléon" by Dominique Paoli, but in French, and later translated in Dutch.

A most wonderful author is Olivier Defrance, who wrote an extremely interesting biography on Princess Louise: "Louise de Saxe-Cobourg: Amours, Argent, Procès", but also in French.

The best biography, in my opinion, on Princess Stéphanie is by Irmgard Schiel.

Eric VdV

[Maria_Pavlovna]

Is the Book:
Astrid, 1905-1935  any good?

[Eric VdV]

Is the Book:
Astrid, 1905-1935  any good?

If you mean by this the catalogue on the exhibition to commemorate Queen Astrid in 1985: yes, it is.

Eric VdV

[Lilian de Rethy]

I`m also interest in such books but a look at amazon shows, that these books are really rare and expensiv!
It`s a great pitiy!