29 years ago to the day, on July 31, 1993, King Baudoin of Belgium died of a heart attack in his villa in Motril in Spain at the age of 62. His health problems had intensified for some time. Two years earlier, his doctors diagnosed him with Barlow’s disease, before he had open-heart surgery at the Broussais hospital in Paris.
Finally, the drama could not be avoided. This disappearance had plunged the Belgian people into immense sadness. More than 500,000 people had presented themselves in front of the gates of the palace to pay a last tribute to their sovereign. His funeral followed, which was obviously attended by his wife: Queen Fabiola.
The latter, all dressed in white, had not managed to hide her immense grief during the funeral, on August 7. The marked face, she had addressed a moving tribute to him. As a reminder, she and the Belgian sovereign said yes to each other on December 15, 1960. A civil marriage celebrated at the Brussels palace, followed by a religious ceremony, organized at the Saints-Michel-et-Gudule cathedral in Brussels and broadcast to television. A first for a royal wedding in Belgium.
A furrow”that will never fade“
She then became the fifth Queen of the Belgians, succeeding Louise-Marie, Marie-Henriette, Elisabeth and Astrid. Victim of several miscarriages during her marriage, she never had children with King Baudoin. On July 30, 2003, on the occasion of the mass for the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of her husband, she decided to confide in him, which she had done so far only very rarely, if at all.
“I wish by this letter to thank all those who celebrate the memory of King Baudouin whom I love so much. He traced a furrow that will never be erased. This anniversary encourages me to express the happiness that I knew at his side and which continues, because the more time passes, the more it makes me live. He helps me to bear in confidence and in hope the worries and sufferings that we all know“, she had declared.
In December 2014, she breathed her last. Following her funeral, she was buried in the royal crypt of the Notre-Dame de Laeken church alongside her husband. A true symbol for the royal couple.