Gallery of History - Auctioneer of Historical Documents

Click on Image To Enlarge

autographs

Document 17059

BELGIUM'S ROYAL FAMILY
Two Kings and a Queen.
Photograph Mount signed: "Albert" as King, "Elisabeth" as Queen and "Leopold/de Belgique" as Crown Prince. B/w with sepia hue, 11¾x10¼ overall, image 8½x7½ (two surfaces). Captioned at right in an unknown hand: "Belgium's King, Queen, & Crown Prince and their party - guests of the Franciscan Fathers of The Old Mission Santa Barbara, Cal. Oct 12, 1919 Fr. Julium Gliebe O.F.M. Guardian". The photograph was taken on Sunday, October 12, 1919 in the main patio of Mission Santa Barbara, California after the King, Queen and Crown Prince attended Mass. The Crown Prince was a newly enrolled student at St. Anthony Seminary at Santa Barbara. In 1909, ALBERT I ascended the throne upon the death of his uncle, Leopold II, due to the death of the intended heirs. Leopold's son died, then his nephew, which left Albert to reign at 16 years old. Albert married ELISABETH, Duchess of Bavaria, in 1900. They had three children: LEOPOLD, Charles and Marie-Jose. Belgium was crucial to Germany in WWI because of its location. Germany requested neutral passage through Belgium to invade France. King Albert's response was "Belgium is a nation, not a road". Belgium then sided with the Allies against Germany. Albert, as Commander in Chief of the Belgian Army, led his troops against the Germans and held them back long enough for Great Britain and France to prepare for the Battle of the Marne (September 6-9, 1914). Crown Prince Leopold, just a teenager, fought as a private during WWI with the 12th Belgian Regiment. When King Albert I died in 1934, the Crown Prince became King Leopold III. He was captured by the Germans in 1940 and held prisoner until he was liberated in May 1945. Leopold III abdicated in 1951 in favor of his son, Baudouin. The present ruler of Belgium is King Albert II who succeeded to the throne in 1933 upon the death of his father, King Baudouin I. Photo is inexpertly mounted. Paper loss and glue stains exposed at left and right blank margins of mount, indicating that the image was once larger. Signature areas in fine condition. Lower blank left corner of mount creased. Photo in fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 28¾x23.

SEE IF DOCUMENT 17059 IS FOR SALE RIGHT NOW!!

This document was available for sale in a previous auction. It may or may not be currently available for sale. It is also highly likely that we have more of this personality available for sale either in our archives or on our direct purchase website www.historyforsale.com.

For direct purchase information, call 1-800-GALLERY (1-800-425-5379) Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Pacific Time or email inquires to sales@galleryofhistory.com. RIGHT NOW YOU CAN BID ON A SIMILAR ITEM IN OUR CURRENT AUCTION!

Autograph Archive Index