Marie-Esméralda of Belgium

The princess Marie-Esméralda , Adelaide, Liliane, Anne, Léopoldine of Belgium was born the September 30th 1956 with the Château from Laeken. She is the girl junior by the king Léopold III and his second wife Lilian Baels, titrated princess of Réthy. Marie-Esméralda has a brother (the prince Alexandre) and a sister (the princess Marie-Christine). She is also the half-sister of the large-duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, of the kings Baudouin and Albert II of Belgium. This last is also its godfather. Its godmother is the princess Marie-Adelaide of Luxembourg.

At the four years age, it leaves the castle of Laeken to settle with her parents with the royal field of Argenteuil, in edge of the Forêt of Look after.

The Marie-Esméralda princess carried out studies of Journalisme and worked for various Italian magazines French and . Following the death of his/her father in 1983, it becomes president of the funds Léopold III for the exploration and the nature conservation.

The April 5th 1998, it marries with London El Salvador Moncada, a scientific brilliance, with which it had two children: Alexandra (born in 1998) and Léopoldo (born in 2001). All four live in the British capital .

Following the death of their mother the Lilian princess in 2002, the Marie-Esméralda princess and her brother prince Alexandre tried in vain to transform the royal field of Argenteuil into a meeting room dedicated to the memory of their parents. But the Belgian government, owner of the places, decided some differently and sold the residence to a private individual, Jean-Marie Delwart.

The Marie-Esméralda princess grants her High patronage to the Circle Léopold III, a Franco-Belgian association created on July 21st, 2002 in order to perpetuate the memory of the king Léopold III and to better make known her reign.

The Marie-Esméralda princess does not work any more as journalist. She divides herself between the education of her two children and the defense of the memory of her parents. After a biography of the dressmaker Christian Dior, she wrote to several works on her father the king Léopold III on the basis of file many and photographs which he left. In its books, the princess with the great intelligence not to stir up the Royal Question, not to criticize anybody, but rather to propose the interest of Léopold III for remote forwardings, sciences and photography.

The Marie-Esméralda princess is also since 2005 the president of honor of Delphus. This association was born in the Nineties pennies the impulse from people, scientists or not, worrying about protection of nature, in particular fate of the dolphins in captivity. It finances programs of delphinothérapie intended for children suffering from physical or pschychic dysfunctions. As for the Delphus Price, it helps of the young researchers in their work on the dolphins.

Works written by the Marie-Esméralda princess: " Léopold III, my père" , editions Root, 2001 " Léopold III, photographe" , editions Root, 2006

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