Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium are on a royal tour of Egypt this week, but they aren’t the first Belgian royals to visit the African nation. Their trip is inspired by Elisabeth’s namesake, who ventured to King Tut’s tomb and was fascinated with Egyptology.
Queen Elisabeth of Belgium was born a duchess in Bavaria as the daughter of Duke Karl Theodor and the Portuguese-born royal Infanta Maria José. She was born on 25 July 1876 at Possenhofen Castle and inherited a deep love of painting from her father. She also gained experience in the medical field through her father, who was an ophthalmologist.
Duchess Elisabeth met Prince Albert of Belgium at the funeral of Duchess Sophie Charlotte (Elisabeth’s aunt) in 1897.
Elisabeth married Prince Albert of Belgium, who was second in line to the Belgian throne, in October 1900 in Munich. Elisabeth and Albert had three children: the future King Leopold III, Prince Charles and the future Queen consort of Italy, Marie-José. They had nine years together before Albert ascended the throne as King Albert I in 1909 after the death of his uncle King Leopold II.
Queen Elisabeth wanted to be more hands-on than her predecessors and chose to be significantly involved in charity work. Her friendly personality and caring nature made her popular in Belgium, and that popularity grew during World War One when the Queen worked with nurses on the front lines and was instrumental in the building of the Hospital L’Océan in La Panne.
The Queen was also fascinated with Egyptology, and after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in Egypt, she flew to the country to see the site for herself.
She asked Lord Carnarvon, who had funded the excavation, if she could join them at the tomb’s opening, and her request was granted. King Fuad of Egypt organised her visit with the help of Lord Allenby, the British High Commissioner.
Embed from Getty ImagesQueen Elisabeth wrote about visiting the tomb, “I’ve always been a woman of passions. Some are known, others less so. One of these is my passion for ancient Egypt.”
What she saw influenced her so that upon returning to Belgium, she started the Queen Elisabeth Egyptological Foundation; it became one of Europe’s most extensive Egyptological libraries.
Tragedy struck the family when King Albert was killed on 17 February 1934 in a mountain climbing accident. Not wanting to interfere with her daughter-in-law’s new role as consort, Elisabeth stepped out of the limelight to let Queen Astrid shine. However, Astrid died in a car crash in August 1935, and Elisabeth stepped in to help her son, Leopold III.
During the Second World War, Elisabeth helped rescue hundreds of Jewish children before they were deported by the Nazis during the German occupation of Belgium. Upon Belgium’s liberation, she opened the palace to the British troops as a headquarters. The Queen’s actions in World War II led to the Israeli government awarding her the title Righteous Among the Nations.
Elisabeth saw her son and grandson become King of the Belgians. She died at the age of 89 on 23 November 1965 after suffering a heart attack.
