After almost 19 years of silence, Princess Marie-Christine, daughter of Leopold III, King of Belgians, has given a sign of life. The half-sister of King Albert II and aunt of King Filip has sent a letter to the French weekly Point de Vue. “My life is very simple,” she writes about her retirement in the American town of Sequim, where she lives as a virtual recluse.
Belgium’s “missing” princess Marie-Christine gives sign of life after 18 years
Colin Clapson
Published:
Point de Vue had been trying to contact the princess for some time, as had many others. At the end of 2019, Story magazine found Marie-Christine – Daphne to her friends – in the American state of Washington.
That was in Sequim, a town or rather a quiet village with 8,000 inhabitants, known for its vast lavender fields and located close to the Canadian border.
A year later, a Flemish TV reporter took a chance and knocked on the door of Marie-Christine's modest chalet. Both the princess and her husband Jean-Paul Gourgues refused to speak with him.
The princess’s last interview dates back to 2007. Her memoirs, with the telling title “The Rupture”, were published in 2004.
Letter comes out of the blue
Journalists at Point de Vue were very surprised when a handwritten letter suddenly arrived in the post. The envelope immediately revealed the sender: a crown with the letters H.R.H. underneath which was written “Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium”.
What prompted her to put pen to paper? Her 75th birthday in early February? The ultra-short letter does not reveal.
‘The more time passes, the more I withdraw from social life,’ writes Marie-Christine, who also recounts a personal trauma.
In “De breuk” (The Rupture), the princess claims to have been raped by one of her cousins. The palace, or rather her mother Lilian, allegedly covered it up for fear of scandal.
‘With the Epstein Files and the #metoo movement in the news, I feel involved,’ Marie-Christine now writes.
Princess Marie-Christine is the daughter of Leopold III, King of Belgians, and his second London-born wife, Lilian Baels, Princess of Réthy, who went to school in England.
The princess may not have set foot in Belgium for more than 40 years, but she clearly still attaches importance to her origins.
That is all we know. The princess had a brain aneurysm and spent many years volunteering at an animal centre where she cared for birds of prey.
She inherited her passion for nature from her controversial father, the late King Leopold III, who often went on expeditions (including to the Amazon, Congo and New Guinea), where he took photographs and made films.
She does not mention the royal family at all in her letter. King Albert II is said to have attempted to contact his half-sister discreetly in recent years via his entourage but without success.
The palace neither confirms nor denies the story. ‘That is part of the king's private life,’ officials say. As far as VRT News understands, her sister Princess Marie-Esmeralda does not have her contact details either.
In an interview with VRT NEWS earlier Esmeralda said that Marie-Christine no longer wants to see her. ‘She has a different view of things. Life changes. It's sad, but it's her decision,’ Esmeralda said in 2019.