The Royal Estate Residence of Belgium's Abdicated King
This property is listed by David Chicard of Brussels Sotheby’s International Realty. Price is disclosed upon application with the listing agency.
An elegant and historic property at the gates of Brussels, the Domaine Royal D'Argenteuil was formerly the residence of King Leopold III of Belgium. In 1961, the King relocated to Argenteuil with his second family, while his son, King Baudouin ruled at the royal castle in Laeken.
No, there were not two kings in Belgium at one time. King Leopold III abdicated the throne formerly in 1951, after being part of a global scandal in WWII. During the outbreak of the war, the king was adamant about Belgium’s neutrality, and then after a brutal 18-day German invasion in May of 1940, he surrendered abruptly to Germany to the shock and outrage of the Allies and much of the world.
He was denounced as "Traitor King" and "King Rat" in the British Press, and his photograph accompanied the headline "The Face That Every Woman Now Despises" in the Daily Mirror. Winston Churchill decried his surrender in a statement made in the House of Commons on June 4, 1940:
“At the last moment when Belgium was already invaded, King Leopold called upon us to come to his aid, and even at the last moment we came. He and his brave, efficient army, nearly half a million strong, guarded our left flank and thus kept open our only line of retreat to the sea. Suddenly, without prior consultation, with the least possible notice, without the advice of his ministers and upon his own personal act, he sent a plenipotentiary to the German Command, surrendered his army and exposed our whole flank and means of retreat.”
His act was declared unconstitutional by the Belgian government-in-exile, set up in London. While Belgium was occupied, the king was placed under house arrest at Royal Castle of Laeken, and then later in Germany and Austria. The family was liberated by the United States 106th Cavalry Group in early May 1945, but unable to return to Belgium because of the controversy caused by his surrender. Effectively banned from the country, they instead relocated to Geneva, Switzerland for the next 6 years, while his brother Prince Charles was declared Regent in 1944.
His eventual return to Belgium in 1950 caused civil unrest that was deemed a threat to constitutional monarchy. Under the pressure of the government, he abdicated the throne to his 20-year old son, Prince Baudouin. He exerted considerable authority over his son’s reign until the regents' marriage in 1960, and in 1961 he left the royal castle to move into the Domaine Royal D'Argenteuil. He lived there until his death in 1983, and the royal family would remain there until the death of his second wife in 2002.
Set in a private parkland of over 336 acres, the estate includes a wine cellar, stables, garages, a vegetable garden and a greenhouse. The property is grand in size and style, with over 29,000 sq ft of living space, including many original rooms from the King’s time, like the king’s panelled hunting room and private office. The second floor features several ensuite bedrooms, and the third floor is equipped as staffing quarters.
