Princess Léa of Belgium

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Princess Léa
Léa of Belgium - Charleroi 2015-06-13 - 1.jpg
Léa in Charleroi on 13 June 2015
Born (1951-12-02) 2 December 1951 (age 69)
Brussels, Belgium
Spouse
Serge Victorovich Spetschinsky
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(m. 1975; div. 1980)​
Paul Robert Bichara
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(m. 1983; div. 1987)​
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(m. 1991; died 2009)​
Issue
  • Laetitia Spetschinsky
  • Renaud Bichara
Names
Léa Inga Dora Wolman
FatherSigismund Wolman
MotherLisa Bornstein
Styles of
Princess Léa of Belgium
Lesser arms of the Royal House of Belgium.svg
Reference styleHer Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness

Princess Léa of Belgium (born Léa Inga Dora Wolman; 2 December 1951, in Brussels, Belgium) is the widow of Prince Alexandre of Belgium. She is an aunt by marriage of King Philippe of Belgium.

Early life and family[]

Princess Léa was born on 2 December 1951, the daughter of Sigismund Wolman (b. 12 July 1906, Warsaw),[1] merchant in Brussels,[1] and Lisa Bornstein (born in Germany).

Marriages and issue[]

She married Russian aristocrat Serge Victorovich Spetschinsky on 27 May 1975 in Brussels (son of Victor Sergeyevich Spetschinsky, President of the Russian Nobility Association in Belgium and Elena Dmitrievna Guebel), from whom she was divorced on 28 March 1980. They had a daughter, Laetitia Spetschinsky (born in 1976), who is now married to HE Didier Nagant de Deuxchaisnes, Ambassador of Belgium to Ethiopia, and mother of two sons, Charles-Albert (b. 2009) and Alexandre (b. 2013), and a daughter Louise (b. 2010).[citation needed]

On 23 July 1983 Léa married Paul Robert Bichara in Uccle, and they had a son, Renaud Bichara, on 1 September 1983.[citation needed]

After her second divorce on 25 August 1987, she wed Prince Alexander, in Debenham, Suffolk, on 14 March 1991. They had been introduced in 1986 by former defence minister Léon Mundeleer. Alexander asked her to accompany him to the cinema. She vacillated initially, but they began to enjoy dining out together, Alexander being a gourmand, according to his future wife.[2]

The couple had no children together, and the marriage was kept secret until 1998, as reportedly the prince feared his mother would disapprove.[2] Alexander's marriage contravened 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.[3]

Career[]

In 2008, she published a book of photographs from the life of her husband and his family, titled Le Prince Alexandre de Belgique, because she felt that he was too little known in Belgium.[2]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b (in French and Dutch) Commission Des Naturalisations - Chambre des Représentants - Session 1959·1960 (23 Février 1960) / Commissie Voor De Naturalisaties - Kamer der Volksvertegenwoordigers - Zitting 1959.1960 (23 Februari 1960).
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Séguy, Philippe (29 April 2008). "Léa de Belgique: Il faut en finir avec le malheur". Point de Vue (in French): 18–21.
  3. ^ Velde, François. "The Belgian Succession". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 6 May 2008.

Sources[]

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