PORTRAIT OF A KING, LEOPOLD III.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 43, 6 March 1937, Page 17

PORTRAIT OF A KING, LEOPOLD III.

He had Prepared Himself Well to Become a Ruler of the Belgian People, with Whom He is Popular • Because He is Democratic and Wise

II iUllO OAl ASTiSlt MA X ti Brusaels atands waiting outside ihe tall park gates. Oowit ihe ltmg drive towai'd liirn trot a grottp of uniformed horsemen. One, a serious and handsom© joung muii, tldes apafb from the rcSb, On approachSg Burgomaster Max he draws rein . and bends to shake him iirmly by the hand. The people erowded aloiig the sidee of the road let loose a mig&hty uheor. "Vive Ie Roil Vive 10 11 oi." For the yduug man with the serioUs eyea ia Leopold III., King of the Belgians, writcs John A. May and J. do Geynst in the Ckristian Science Monitor. This meeting with Burgomaster Max was symboUc. It attested the unity of King hnd people and the glowing popularity of the young man who, at 32, was suddehly called to the diffic'ilt task of ruling from the throno, a throne which had beeu occupied by one known as "The Ideal Kvng." Moreover, 25 years before, the same burgomaster had welcomed that other king, Albevt, at these same gates. Then, he had ndt been ao confident of his mission. The throne was not popalar. Albert's predecessor, Leopold II., had been respected, but rarely had he aohieved popularity. His lack of sympathy and hit quick temper had not endeared him to the hearts of his people. But it was soon evident that Albert was different. He had his father '& great qUalities of resolUtion attd courage. And he had more. His quiet, confident manner ahd democratic ways aobn captured hiB subjects' affections. Not in name'only was he theif So it is with Leopold III » Ho is mdeed his father' s eon. For nearly thfe© years he _ has ruled in Belgitim. They have not befen easy years for him, either ds a King of as a inan. But they have mad® him niore thatt ever beloved of his people. Alwhys a thoughtful person, Leopold has seen his country occupied by hostile troops, his nativo aoil mad© a cooltpit in which foreign armies fought. He himself took part in the fighting. And he doea not wish to see such a thing happen again. How could he bc sure it would notP In the back of Leopold's thoughts are are meniories of the great war, and lessons lenrned sines. While his father, King Albert, Was taking his etand to resist the invading army of 1914, Loopold was fretting at the •famed British preparatory school of Eton, confinually pleadmg to he permitted to join his country's forces. He could not keep his thoughts on his studies while his whole heart

the Belgian people, tt ha# been aaid that a constitutional monarch is not a king until he ia first a man. So the Belgians want a man as their king. They need someon© whom they can understand, and who will in tuin underBtand them. The king who desires to be a constitutional monarch might be as courageoiis as a lion, at able as his professors, kuowiii^ more tlian his statesmen of the foreigu ttfiairs of his country, and yet not be a ettc* cess. He must embody the tspirit of his people. In Albert the Belgians had such a man. ln Leopold they believe they have another. Leopold inspires loyalty because he is himself * loyal. His devotion to his colmtiy was shown, as has been seen, stfikingly enough during tho war. " As in his youth he brottght the fir^t fruits of his garden to his mother, so, wheti he beeame a man, Leopold gave Ma fir'st

was in Belgium. At laet his wish was gratified. On a narrow belt of eoast, tho last strip of Belgium left to Albert's troops, Leopold, aged 13 years 5 months, was enrolled as a private in the Belgian army. This act alone speaks amply of Leopold's iron determination, and his first act as a private bore out tne presence of a great pluck which burned behind his self-possesBed manner. His work was to M1 oand bags. Twice he fell as h© tried to carry his first heavy bag to the truck. The sbrgeant took pity on him and told him he might hand over his bags, half filled, to a more robust comrade. The Princo swept aside these suggesgestions and insisted on carrying on Ms Work with. the rest. It is thia same proud determination, which tho sergeant respected, that has formed the basis of Leopold's popularity with

noughts to his country. Knowing that he must some day ascend the throne, he set about fitting himself for the task kingship would thrust upon him. For the democratic monarch must incarnate the unity of the nation, He must bridge the classes to be a rallying point above the conflict of partics. He has three powers, "to advise, to encourage, and to warn." These he must do without fingpring party politics, and in a manner which will initiate progress. Prihce Leopold studied history from the great Belgian hi3torian, Henri Pirenne; he . accepted as tutors on international and financial mattera two former Prime Ministers of hffe couhtry , he learned both Belgian national

i tongucs, Fi'cuch and Fleniish; his miUf&ry , cateer was bt'illiunt } and he studied foreigfl all'airs to BUch advantage that he was able to muke a spcech in the Belgian Seuate upon ; the coiidition of the Belgian Cougp which ' probably alterfed the whole cotifso of the debate. indeed, King Leopold has greatly Interested himself in colonial aifairs. His khowledge of these mattere has come firathaud. He mad© his first journey to thei Ck>ngo in 1925. There he investigated ©very atigle with a particularly ohrewd insight, and held long talks with colonials in order to find oht if Ms cbnclusions were correct. His chief conta-»p tiou was that the colony was backward for. the fact that European trading companies had exploited it without any regard for the native, other than nas a means of production."' "The native," he declared in the Belgian . . Senate after. his faficond visit to .the colony,. constitutes the basis of wealt-h of any colony, and the improvement in Ms moral and ruatoria! conditions of life is the fundametttal task which we have to fulfill in Africa." But the Prince Was not merely content with visiting only his own country to find out what was wrong. He is apparentty a firin The match ef the young Duke of Brabant and the beautiful young Princess Astrid of Sweden was a story-book romance. . They were married in November, 1926, with a oivil ceremony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm and a religious ceremony eix days later at the Cathedral of Bt. Gudule in Brussels. Four kingft wero present at the Stockholm ceremony, and the Swedish people gavo the couple magnificent display of affection when they sailed fdr Belgium- The Brussels ceremony wa# qqu^lly etirring. In her huaband'a eountry the futnr® ■' queen beeame as beloved as the Huka of Brabant hiinself. She was simple and unaffected, as obviously fitted for the throne as her husband. The two seemed truly representative of the land. They had fchree children, Princesa Josephino Oharlotte, born in - 1927 1 Prince Baudouin, new the heir to the throne, born in 1930 1 and Albert, Prince of Liege, born in 1934. But in 1932 King Albert fell while at his favourite sport of mountain elimbing. That brougdit Leopold and Astrid to the throne. Then, in 1935, Queen Astrid was killed in Switaerland in a motor accident, with Leopold at the wheel of the ear. The young King had no choice bnt to © arry ott, alone. Ahvays studious, he beeame more so. His mother. the Queen Dowager, Elizabeth, gave him her support and advice based on her experience of 23 years as - Queen. Ho had led a quiet life, romaining in Belgium, for the most part, although bjournOyed to London to pay his last respects to King Gerge V. at the time of the British monarch's funeral. Perhaps the story which throws the most illuminating sidelight on Leopold's natur© is the one which tells why he is an "unsuccessful" fisherman. As Duke of Brabant it seems that he was a keen angler. When he felt he must escap© for a Bhort while from the duties of his publi© life, Leopold would go out to fish the waters of a neighbouring stream. But he never l'eturned to the palace with a single fish. Whenever he got a ''bite" he threw it back into the water, cast out his line again, and returned to the quieter occu pation of con.templation. He is a thinker.