Baudouin. Close to the Heart

The first episode reflects on the nickname of Baudouin: 'the sad king'. Why was Baudouin a sad man, who seldom smiled? Caught off guard, he answers that - because of the Royal Question - he had to depose his father King Leopold III. It was against his will, but in the best interest of the country: duty called. That's why Baudouin told Leopold to leave the royal palace. Baudouin had, like every hero in a tragic story, a difficult relationship with his father. His step-mother, Lilian, made things even more complex. At a certain point in time, even the Prime Minister, Achille Van Acker, was worried: did Baudouin have a regard too high of Lilian?

The second episode zooms in on the relationship Baudouin has with Congo. At the colony, he seems to be a true Coburg: in 1960, he finds it difficult to relinquish the vast land, along with its mineral resources. Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of an independent Congo, is assassinated in Katanga with the help of the Belgians. Forty years later, the commission on the death of Lumumba decides that King Baudouin is not to blame for the murder, but he did gone beyond his remit. Again the involvement of Belgians is suggested when the Prime Minister of the former colony Burundi, Louis Rwagasore, is assassinated. The king uses all his power to prevent the assassin from being executed. Mobutu Seseko asks out loud: why did Baudoiun stay loyal to the Burundi dictator, and why was he mistaken on Rwanda's Juvénal Habyarimana?

The third episode recollects the days of when Baudouin was 'impossible to rule', when he refused to sign the 1990 law on abortion in the spring of 1990. The king invokes his conscience not to sign the law. His conscience was sculpted on the true faith that cardinal Suenens taught him. Suenens was a prominent figure in the King's life, ever since he, along with the help of the Irish Veronica O'Brien, found a suitable bride in Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. Baudouin was ever grateful to the cardinal for Fabiola, and followed the pair Suenens - O'Brien into the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. The situation around the refusal to give Royal Assent to the abortion bill also showed a private grief: Baudouin and Fabiola remained childless after multiple miscarriages.

Baudouin succumbs to heart failure in the summer of 1993. Ironically, the King followed his heart more often in the last years of his reign. He stood up for the minorities and the poor, like migrants and victims of human trafficking. He reconciled with his Royal Commissionary Paula D'Hondt, and supported journalist Chris De Stoop fully, who had written a book 'They are so sweet, sir', which politically offended the King. At the end of his life, Baudouin retreated from the political arena, with the exception of important social issues. It was in this context that at his funeral, in front of all world leaders, a prostitute - a victim of human trafficking - was allowed to speak in front of them. Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the officiant of the mass, suggested to beatify Baudouin. "Some kings", he told, "are shepherds of their people."