Princess Léa of Belgium

Princess Léa of Belgium (b. Etterbeek, 2 December, 1951), Princess Alexandre of Belgium (French: princesse Alexandre de Belgique), "née" Léa Inga Dora Wolman, is the wife of Prince Alexandre of Belgium, younger half-brother of King Albert II of the Belgians, of the late King Baudouin I, and of the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg.

Born the daughter of Sigismund Wolman and wife Lisa Bornstein (Nuremberg, 1916 - Brussels, 29 October, 1996), in 1975 she married Serge Victorovich Spetschinsky, born in Léopoldville, Belgian Congo, on 25 April, 1951, from whom she was divorced in 1980. They had a daughter Laetitia Spetschinsky, born in 1976 and married to Didier Nagant de Deuxchaisnes. In 1982 she married Robert Bichara, and they had a son Renaud Bichara on 1 September, 1983.

After her second divorce she wed Prince Alexander, in Debenham, Suffolk, on 14 March, 1991. They had been introduced in 1986 by a former defence minister Léon Mundeleer. Alexandre asked her to accompany him to the cinema. She vacillated initially, but they began to enjoy dining out together, Alexandre being a gourmand, according to his future wife. [cite journal|last = Séguy |first = Philippe| date = 2008-04-29| title = Léa de Belgique: Il faut en finir avec le malheur| journal = Point de Vue| pages = 18-21|language = French]

The couple have no children together, and the marriage was kept secret until 1998. Apparently the prince feared his mother would disapprove. [cite journal|last = Séguy |first = Philippe| date = 2008-04-29| title = Léa de Belgique: Il faut en finir avec le malheur| journal = Point de Vue| pages = 18-21|language = French] Alexander's marriage d Article 85 of the Belgian constitution, which deprived of the right of succession to the throne any descendant of King Leopold I who marries without the sovereign's permission. [cite web|url= http://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/belgian_succ.htm#Texts|title= The Belgian Succession|accessdate= 2008-05-06|last= Velde|first= François|work= Heraldica.org]

Although sometimes the royal title is prefixed to her name (i.e., Princess Léa) as for other females who have married into the royal family, that style is not used at the Belgian court nor by the government, and she is otherwise referred to as "Princess Alexandre of Belgium". She explained in a May 2008 interview with " [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_de_vue_%28hebdomadaire%29 Point de Vue] ", "On 2 December 1991, a royal decree declared that henceforth the title of Prince or Princess of Belgium would no longer be transmitted by marriage, but would be created by royal decree. We have no regrets, no rancor." [cite journal|last = Séguy |first = Philippe| date = 2008-04-29| title = Léa de Belgique: Il faut en finir avec le malheur| journal = Point de Vue| pages = 18-21|language = French]

In 2008 she published a book of photographs from the life of her husband and his family, called "Le Prince Alexandre de Belgique", because she felt that he was too little known in Belgium. [cite journal|last = Séguy |first = Philippe| date = 2008-04-29| title = Léa de Belgique: Il faut en finir avec le malheur| journal = Point de Vue| pages = 18-21|language = French]

Notes

ources

* [http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/belgium.html Royal House of Belgium]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~allan_raymond/Belgian_Royal_Family.htm Monarchies of Europe]