Belgium mourns death of dowager Queen Fabiola
December 5, 2014
Belgium's dowager Queen Fabiola, the widow of former King Baudouin, has died at the age of 86.
The royal palace announced on Friday that she had died at her castle in the Belgian capital. No immediate cause of death was given.
"Their majesties, the king and queen and members of the royal family, announce with very great sadness the death of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola this evening at Stuyvenberg Castle in Brussels," a statement from the royal palace of King Philippe said.
It was reported the former queen, who used a wheelchair, had appeared increasingly frail in the past month and had limited her public appearances.
Belgium's King Philippe said he was left with "great sadness" when he heard of his aunt's death.
The royal story
Born Dona Fabiola de Mora y Aragon in Madrid, in June 1928 to Spanish nobility, she married King Baudouin in December 1960. The couple never had children.
The fifth queen of the Belgians, she withdrew from the public eye after the sudden death of Baudouin in 1993 while on holiday in Spain. Her brother-in-law Albert took the throne with his wife, Queen Paola.
In July 2013, she observed King Albert II pass the crown to her nephew Philippe, who is the current Belgian king.
Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said all Belgians would mourn her passing.
"A page in our country's history has turned," he told Belgian RTL television.
lw/mkg (AP, Reuters, dpa)