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EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

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modern st<strong>at</strong>es <strong>of</strong> Thuringia and Bavaria. <strong>The</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> Saalfield for Gotha in 1826<br />

produced the duchy <strong>of</strong> Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Leopold advanced rapidly in the fluid<br />

situ<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> the Napoleonic period, rising from colonel to field marshal by the time <strong>of</strong><br />

the Congress <strong>of</strong> Vienna in 1815 <strong>at</strong> age twenty five.<br />

Leopold’s p<strong>at</strong>h to the throne <strong>of</strong> Belgium began with his introduction, and<br />

eventual marriage on May 2, 1816, to Princess Charlotte Augusta, the only legitim<strong>at</strong>e<br />

heiress to the future George IV <strong>of</strong> England. He stood, behind his new wife, as the<br />

potential prince consort <strong>of</strong> the head <strong>of</strong> the gre<strong>at</strong>est empire on earth. <strong>The</strong> de<strong>at</strong>h <strong>of</strong> the<br />

princess on November 6, 1817 as a result <strong>of</strong> the birth <strong>of</strong> their stillborn son ended the<br />

first <strong>of</strong> three p<strong>at</strong>hs to royalty behind or on the throne.<br />

Upon his move to England as part <strong>of</strong> his then impending marriage, Leopold had<br />

brought with him Christian Friedrich von Stockmar (l<strong>at</strong>er Baron von Stockmar) as his<br />

physician. As a physician to the husband <strong>of</strong> the princess, Stockmar had been in<br />

<strong>at</strong>tendance <strong>at</strong> her de<strong>at</strong>h and was a source <strong>of</strong> deep consol<strong>at</strong>ion to the grief-stricken<br />

Leopold. Upon the princess’s de<strong>at</strong>h, Stockmar, after pledging his eternal loyalty to<br />

Leopold, convinced him to remain in England for a period <strong>of</strong> almost thirteen years. 106 In<br />

1818 Leopold <strong>at</strong>tended the wedding <strong>of</strong> his sister, Princess Victoria, to the Duke <strong>of</strong> Kent,<br />

next in line for the crown <strong>of</strong> England. <strong>The</strong>ir daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, who<br />

became Queen Victoria, was born on May 24, 1819. “My dearest uncle,” as she referred<br />

to him, would remain a powerful, if not always successful, influence on the young and<br />

future queen.<br />

58

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