KING KILLED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20234, 19 February 1934, Page 1

KING KILLED.

ALBERT CF BELGIUM’S FATAL FALL. Mountaineering Accident. CROWN PRINCE HURRYING HOME FROM SWITZERLAND. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received February 19, 12.45 p.m.) LONDON, February IS. King Albert of Belgium has been killed. His death occurred as the result of a mountaineering accident. King Albert, driving his car himself, accompanied by his valet, left Brussels

yesterday afternoon tor Rocher de Marche*des Dames, near Namur. where he intended to climb some most difficult rocks. He left his valet in the i car, saying that he l expected to be back in an hour. King Albert did not return, and the valet. M. Vairly, climbed up and made a search. He

then telephoned to Brussels, from where officials came and mustered local searchers. They found the King's body at two o’clock at the foot of a steep cliff. There was a deep wound at the base of the neck, otherwise his face was serene. Apparently he had missed his footing and slipped during the ascent. The body was brought to the palace. Count de Broqueville and three other Ministers received the body when it was brought to the palace at 3.30 o’clock in the afternoon. The Queen was at first informed only that an accident had happened, and she did not learn of the King’s death till six o’clock. Crown Prince Leopold and his wife, J i. icess Astrid, who were holidaying in Switzerland, cannot arrive till to-night. A Cabinet meeting was held and the members were informed of the calamitv. but no decision will be announced till the Crown Prince arrives. Greatest Secrecy. One of the searchers says that when the party set out nobody knew that it was to search for the King, who always came to the mountains incognito and loved to be alone. Even when cars arrived from Brussels the greatest secrecy was preserved. It was not until early in the morning that the searchers learned that the victim was their beloved King. Even when the body was taken away the villagers were unaware that it was that of his Majesty. World-wide condolences have been received, including a message from every Court and legislature in Europe. Funeral Arrangements. King Albert’s remains, escorted by a guard of ex-servicemen, will be removed on February 19 from Laeken Chateau, where they are now lying, to the Palace in Brussels. The funeral service will take place in the Cathedral of St Gudule on February 23, and the burial in the Royal Crypt at Laeken Chateau, after a march past in vrhich the troops will display the colours of every Belgian unit. Prince Hears News. A message from Geneva says that Prince Leopold, who is keenly interested in many forms of sport, retired after a tiring day’s skiing at Abelboden, to be aroused by the hotel manager at 4.30 in the morning. He was informed that he was urgently wanted on the telephone, on which the news of his father’s death was broken. Prince Leopold, who was deeply grieved, then entered his wife’s room and informed her of the tragedy. Both caught the Basle express and transferred at Basle to the express to Brussels. King George’s Message. His Majesty King George sent the following message to the Duke of Brabant (Grown Prince): “It is with the profoundest sorrow that I and my people learnt of the tragic death of your illustrious father. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to you and the people of Belgiiim. The British Empire can ne3*er * forget the heroic figure, whose courage inspired the Allies in the dark years of the war, and join the Belgians in mourning the loss of a true friend and ally.” r Albert 1.,- King of the Belgians, was born in Brussels on April 8. 1875, his father being Prince Philip of Flaiidcrs (the second son of King Leopold) and his mother Princess Maria of Hohenzollern. Brought up with great simplicity, he received a thorough education and early showed a taste for engineering and mechanics, notably naval construction, to study which he went to England. Eventuallv he adopted a militarv career. On October 2. 1900. he married Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, who became very popular in Belgium, sharing with her husband the popular esteem and affection derived from the uprightness of his character and the simplicity of his life. In 1905 he became heir-presumptive to the Throne, both his father and his cousin, the son of Leopold 11., having died, lie ascended the Throne in 1909. For the next few vears King Albert was kept busy with internal strife and

Labour troubles, but successfully united the kingdom.

When the World War broke out with the invasion by Germany of his neutral country. King Albert placed himself at the head of his army. He remained in Antwerp till the last moment, leaving just before its fall on October 7, 1914. He then proceeded with his troops to the Yser and remained till the end of the war on the small portion of Belgian soil not occupied by the Germans. His villa at La Panne was exposed to the risk of German bombardments. The King constantly visited the front-line trenches and even surveyed the German lines in an aeroplane, being wounded on one occasion while so engaged. Queen Elisabeth acted as a hospital nurse, while their eldest son, Prince Leopold, born on November 3, 1901, was a private. In the offensive of October, 1918, King Albert was appointed com-mander-in-chief of the northern armv groups, French and Belgian, which stormed the German positions in Flanders and freed the passage of the Lys. On November 13, 1918, the King and Queen entered Ghent, and on November 22 Brussels, where they had a wildly enthusiastic welcome. After the war the King declined an augmentation of his civil list offered him by Parliament. In an effort to find outlets for Belgian commerce, which made a remarkably rapid recovery, he visited France, England, Spain, the United States and Brazil. A keen mountaineer, he accomplished many difficult climbs in Switzerland and the Eastern Alps. He made a tour by air of Egypt and Irak in 1930. In 1932 he flew to the Belgian Congo and back. During the Lausanne Conference he took the unusual step of addressing an open letter to the Premier, M. Renkin, in which he strongly urged the lowering of tariff barriers. He pointed out that hitherto countries had followed the opposite course with disastrous consequences to trade and employment. The new King of the Belgians, Leopold 111., in’ November, 1926, married the Swedish Princess Astrid, and a son was born to them in September, 1930. King Albert’s second son is Prince Charles, born on October 10. 1903. His daughter. Princess Marie Jose, born on August 4, 1906, married in January, 1930, the Italian Crown Prince Humbert.