Person    | Male  Born 9/4/1835  Died 17/12/1909

King Leopold II of the Belgians

Categories: Royalty

Countries: Belgium

Son of King Leopold I. King of the Belgians 1865 -1909. Leopold's cruel exploitation of the Congo was carried out in his name and under his instruction. The Queen Mary College students, succinctly, described him as a "genocidal colonialist".

It seems nobody can find anything nice to say about Leopold II. A society lady is quoted as describing the marriage of Leopold to Maria Henrietta as being "like the marriage of a stable-boy to a nun", and by "nun" she was not referring to the wife. It is said that, on a visit to London, the couple sought sex advice from Leopold's cousin Prince Albert and his wife Queen Victoria, who, we understand, were well-versed in conjugal happiness.

You can find more memorials to this much reviled royal at our Brussels website.

June 2020: Responding to the Black Lives Matter protests authorities in Antwerp took down a statue of King Leopold II and placed it in a museum.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
King Leopold II of the Belgians

Creations i

King Leopold II of Belgium

Foundation stone of this library was laid by His Majesty Leopold II King of t...

Read More

Other Subjects

Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, K.G., K.T.,

Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, K.G., K.T.,

Queen Victoria's youngest son, delivered at Buckingham Palace with the aid of chloroform. A haemophiliac he died aged 30. Married Helena and had two children: daughter Alice and son, Charles Edward...

Person, Royalty, France

1 memorial
Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria

Reigned: 1837-1901, 64 years. Born Kensington Palace. Daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. Niece of her predecessor, King William IV. Her first name was Alexandrin...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty, Seriously Famous

72 memorials
King Edward I

King Edward I

Born Westminster. Nicknamed "Longshanks". Reigned 1272 - 1307. Responsible for the expulsion of Jews from England. Died near Carlisle on route to a battle with the king of Scotland, Robert the Bruc...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty

3 memorials
Duke of Monmouth

Duke of Monmouth

Born James Scott (or Crofts or Fitzroy) at Rotterdam. Illegitimate son of King Charles II and Lucy Walter. He came to England in 1662 where he was created Duke of Monmouth. 1682 he had Monmouth Hou...

Person, Execution, Royalty, Netherlands

2 memorials
Princess Charlotte of Wales

Princess Charlotte of Wales

As the only child of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick Charlotte was second in line to the throne. Born Carlton House (where Carlton House Terrace now stands) and ...

Person, Royalty

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Crawdaddy Club

Crawdaddy Club

Music venue. Founded by Giorgio Gomelsky in the back room of the former Station Hotel in Richmond. The Rolling Stones, followed by the Yardbirds were the early house bands. The club's name came fro...

Building, Music / songs

1 memorial
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith

Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith

Formed as a civil parish in 1834 from the chapelry of Hammersmith that had existed in the ancient parish of Fulham, Middlesex since 1631. It was grouped with Fulham as the Fulham District from 1855...

Group, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Stanley Trade School

Stanley Trade School

Founded by W. F. R. Stanley as the Stanley Technical Trade School. It was taken control of by Philip Harris, and Croydon Council and the local community of South Norwood agreed that it should be ca...

Place, Education

1 memorial
Mark Kennedy

Mark Kennedy

Zambian-born New Zealand sculptor active in 2002.  Kennedy owns and runs the Bronze Age Foundry.

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial
J. Pope

J. Pope

Employed at the Holloway tram garage. Served and was killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial