Leopold Back In Brussels1 After Six Years’ Exile: Socialists’ Antagonism

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23313, 24 July 1950, Page 5

Leopold Back In Brussels 1 After Six Years’ Exile: Socialists’ Antagonism

(N.Z.P.A.—Reuter— Copyright.) (11a.m.) BRUSSELS’JuIy 23. King Leopold, the third King of the Belgians, came home on Saturday from six years’ exile. He flew from Geneva and landed at a military airport near Brussels shortly after 6 a.m.

His plane was closely followed by another carrying 19-year-old Prince Baudouin, bis son and heir to the throne.'

Belgium’s foreign policy based on the Atlantic Pact and Brussels Five-Power Treaty.

Anli-Leopoltl Rally

The Socialist ex-Prime Minister, and a leading figure in the Council of Europe, M. Spaak, on Saturday afternoon, marched at the head of a procession of 2000 Socialists in demonstration against King Leopold's return. They chanted “Leopold to the Gallows,” sang the “Marseillaise,” and halted traffic. Then with arms upraised and fists clenched, they shouted a public oath to drive King Leopold from the throne and replace him by a constitutional ruler.

A hush fell over a selected group of welcoming officials and troops assembled as the King alighted. He was wearing the uniform of a Belgian lieut.-general, the highest rank in the Belgian Army. The King was greeted by Prince Amaury'de Merod, the newly-appointed Grand Marsha! of the Royal Court. A roar of a jet formation flying’overhead drowned the national anthem as the King stood to attention on the tarmac. His wife, Princess do Rethy, did not accompany him. Troops and Police Guard Route

The Belgian Communist Party organ, Le Drapeau Rouge, today called for a mass demonstration against King Leopold’s return in the city’s central boulevards on Saturday evening.

Chants of "Leopold, Leopold,” and fluttering handkerchiefs greeted the Royal party as the King drove in a procession of sleek black limousines to the Palace at Laeken, but behind brigades of troops and thousands of police screening the entire route from the airfield to the palace were many Belgians whose welcome was far from warm. Occasional scuffles and whistling intermingled with cheers. Few Belgians saw the King come home. They saw marching troops, a concentration of police with revolvers, rifles and bayonets, scout and radio cars.

The anti-Leopold Socialist organ, Le Peuple, announced the King's return with a headline reading: “Today. July 22, is the first day of the free people’s fight against the occupant of the throne summoned by the Social Christian Party and its collaborator allies. Leopold is King only of his partisans.”

King Leopold wasted no time in getting to grips with problems of State. The 48-year-old King, who faces the arduous task of uniting a people sharply divided in their attitude towards him, presided over a Cabinet meeting during the morning and met his Council of State at Laeken Palace in the afternoon. Socialists Ministers Resign

The Prime Minister, M. Jean Duvieusart, announced he and the Government will place their resignations in the King’s hands at an early date. All nine Socialist Ministers of State resigned yesterday and refused to attend a meeting of the council in the afternoon.

The Socialist Party sent a telegram to the Prime Minister’s secretary stating: “The Socialist Ministers of State no longer recognise Leopold as King of the Belgians.” The welcoming committee left the Palace soon after the King’s arrival and troop detachments five minutes later, but hundreds of guards remained cordoning off the gates of the palace from the small crowd. Dozens of radio and armoured cars were stationed at strategic points around the palace. Soldiers and State troopers were everywhere. Later the guards admitted small groups bearing flowers to the grounds, but a lorry-load of flowers was stopped and searched before it could deliver its load. Appeal to Nation

Four hours after arriving in Brussels King Leopold broadcast the following message to the nation: “After six long years in exile, I feel deeply touched to find myself again on my native'soil, recalled here by Parliament. I will do all in my power to ensure that the present step marks the beginning of a reconciliation. I implore you not to embark on sterile and vain strife. My hand is outstretched to all of those who, as myself, think only of serving the nation.

“I will do everything in order that my return will end the long-drawn constitutional crisis which Belgium has just undergone. My return should mark the beginning of a reconciliation achieved in the spirit of goodwill and tolerance."

The King, speaking very slowly, made it clear he will fully support