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Leopold I, King of the Belgians

(1790-1865), Reigned 1831-65; husband of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales; uncle of Queen Victoria

Regency Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 23 portraits
Leopold joined the Russian army in 1805. In 1816, he married Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, heiress to the British throne. The following year she gave birth to a stillborn son and she herself died. After Belgium asserted its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the Belgian National Congress asked Leopold to become king of the newly formed country and became King in 1831. In 1840 Leopold arranged the marriage of his niece Queen Victoria, the daughter of his sister Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, to his nephew Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of his brother Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold acted as an advisor to his niece for many years.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

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Leopold I, King of the Belgians

by Thomas Hodgetts, after George Dawe
mezzotint, (1817)
NPG D8123

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Leopold I, King of the Belgians

by Robert Hicks, published by Nuttall, Fisher & Dixon
stipple engraving, published 31 January 1818
NPG D16052

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'First interview of the Princess Charlotte with Prince Leopold'

by T. Dixon, published by Nuttall, Fisher & Dixon, after William Marshall Craig
line engraving, published March 1818
NPG D16054

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