Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium

Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (11 October 1927 – 10 January 2005) was the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Jean.

She was the first child of King Leopold III of Belgium, and sister of the late King Baudouin and former King Albert II and aunt of King Philippe.

She was also the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, second cousin of Margrethe II of Denmark, and a maternal third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

Joséphine-Charlotte was born in 1927 at the Royal Palace of Brussels.

She was the oldest child and only daughter of the King Leopold III of Belgium and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden.

She was christened a month after her birth.

Her godfather was her uncle, Prince Charles, Count of Flanders and her godmother was her future mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg.

While expecting her daughter, Astrid had read a biography of her ancestress, the French empress Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Josephine was also the name of one of the child's great-aunts, Princess Joséphine-Caroline of Belgium, the dearest sister of King Albert I. Astrid was a devoted mother to her "little Jo".

The young princess spent her childhood at the Château of Stuyvenberg in Laeken, northern Brussels, with her parents.

She was the sister of Belgian monarchs Baudouin and Albert II.

Joséphine-Charlotte's mother was killed in an automobile accident in 1935 when Joséphine-Charlotte was nearly eight.

The Belgian public extended their enormous sympathies onto the grieving family, with great concern given to the effects it had on Joséphine-Charlotte and her brothers.

King Leopold remained a devoted father to his children and kept close ties with his late wife's family.

Many photographs exist from this time of the children with their Swedish grandparents and Norwegian cousins.

She and her brothers went through a short period of exodus in France and Spain just after the surrender in 1940.

At the end of 1940, she entered the Boarding School of the Faithful Virgin in Brussels and studied there until 1942.

After that, she continued her education with her own private teachers at the Royal Palace of Laeken, where her family was held prisoner.

Later, in 1941, her father remarried to Mary Lilian Baels (later became Princess of Réthy).

This marriage produced three more children: Prince Alexandre (who was also Joséphine-Charlotte's godson), Princess Marie-Christine and Princess Marie-Esméralda.

Joséphine-Charlotte and her siblings had a close relationship with their stepmother and they called her "Mother".

Joséphine-Charlotte first attended school at the Royal Palace, where a small class had been organized for her.

On 7 June 1944, the day after the Allied Forces landed in Normandy, France, she and her father were sent to Germany and kept there under house arrest.

The Royal Family, which included her brothers Baudouin and Albert, her half-brother Alexandre, and their stepmother Princess Lilian, was freed on 7 May 1945 and settled in Prégny, Switzerland until 1950.

Joséphine-Charlotte continued her studies at École Supérieure de Jeunes Filles in Geneva.

There, she took courses in French literature, English, history and chemistry.

Afterwards, she took Jean Piaget's lectures on child psychology at the University of Geneva.

Joséphine-Charlotte met Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg for the first time during one of her short stays with her godmother and future mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Charlotte, in Fischbach in 1948.

On 11 April 1949, Joséphine-Charlotte returned to Belgium for the first time since the war from Luxembourg.

A few months earlier, she expressed her desire to return to Belgium during the presentation of a gift from the Belgian delegation of the Dames de la Résistance.

In Bastogne, she visited Bastogne's Town Hall, the war memorial and Mardasson Memorial.

She also visited Bande, Marche and Namur before reaching Brussels, where she stayed at the Royal Palace of Laeken with her grandmother, Queen Elisabeth.

On 13 April 1949, Joséphine-Charlotte visited Lichtervelde and La Panne before returning to Brussels to participate in the Holy Thursday mass in Mechelen.

On 16 April, the Princess left Brussels and stayed at Fischbach Castle in Luxembourg for a few days before returning to Switzerland.

She returned to Belgium again to vote in the referendum on 12 March 1950, which ended up with the result of the maintenance of the monarchy in Belgium.

When she returned to Belgium, the princess took up her official duties.

At the same time, she also devoted herself to social problems and developed her interest in the arts.

On 26 December 1952, the couple announced their engagement to the public even though they were already engaged the previous month.

Joséphine-Charlotte and Jean were joined in marriage on 9 April 1953 in Luxembourg.

During their 52-year marriage, the couple had five children: