Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix

Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, best known as Caroline Lacroix, was born on May 13, 1883, in Bucharest and died on February 12, 1948, in Cambo-les-Bains in southern France. She was the best-known and most controversial mistress of King Leopold II of Belgium, and her relationship with him made her extraordinarily wealthy. Little is known with certainty about Caroline’s early years. Her father, Jules Delacroix, was reportedly a porter at the French legation in Bucharest; another account says he had gone there to seek his fortune. Caroline may have been the thirteenth child in her family. In her youth, she worked as a barmaid. She later lived in Paris and supported herself as a prostitute. At first, she was the mistress of Antoine-Emmanuel Durrieux, a former French army officer. He financed both their lives through horse racing. When he lost his fortune, he began arranging wealthy clients for Caroline. In 1900, the 65-year-old Leopold II became interested in the young woman. Caroline was only sixteen. At their first meeting, she did not know who was sitting before her and even addressed the Belgian king as “Your Majesty Oscar,” having confused Belgium with Sweden. Leopold was amused, but he was also taken with her. The following day, Caroline received a large sum of money and several empty trunks, since the king knew how much she enjoyed buying clothes. He soon took her with him to Austria, and their encounter developed into a relationship that lasted until his death in 1909. The relationship quickly attracted widespread public attention. Leopold already had a reputation for numerous affairs, but the Belgian press followed his relationship with Caroline especially closely. She accompanied him to fashionable European spas and on his travels, while rumors circulated about her private life and the alleged sexual preferences of the aging king. After Leopold’s wife, Marie Henriette, died in 1902, Caroline appeared even more openly at his side. Leopold showered his mistress with money, jewelry, property, and other gifts. He installed her at Villa Vanderborght, across from his estate in Laeken, and even had an enclosed footbridge built so that he could visit her discreetly. Among other gifts, Caroline received Villa Leopolda; Leopold also rented or purchased several other houses and châteaux for her in France and Belgium. She frequently traveled to Paris to have clothes made and was said to have spent three million francs on dresses in a single shop on one occasion. When she complained that the evening express to Brussels left her too little time for shopping, Leopold arranged for its departure to be delayed. When Caroline became pregnant, even the French government contributed to the cost of a new road near her villa. These lavish gifts made Caroline deeply unpopular in Belgium. This was partly because much of Leopold’s wealth came from the Congo Free State, his personal colony, whose exploitation was facing growing international criticism. The public came to believe that the revenues from the Congo benefited not Belgium, but primarily the king and his young mistress. Caroline was therefore mockingly called the “Queen of the Congo.” Belgian socialists used the relationship to argue that Leopold was no longer fit to govern in old age and was under the influence of a greedy, ambitious woman. Caroline and Leopold had two sons. Lucien Philippe Marie Antoine was born in 1906 and later received the courtesy title Duke of Tervuren. He married Lucie Gracieuse Mundutey in 1927 and lived for many years from his inherited wealth. The younger son, Philippe Henri Marie François, who bore the title Count of Ravenstein, was born in 1907 and died in 1914. The boys’ titles, however, were never confirmed by official royal or state decrees. Since their parents’ marriage was not legally valid, both were considered illegitimate. At birth, they were registered in France under Caroline’s name. In 1910, Antoine Durrieux adopted them. When Leopold became seriously ill, Caroline and the two boys hurried to his residence in Laeken. Five days before his death, on December 12, 1909, the king married Caroline in a religious ceremony. Under Belgian law, the marriage was invalid because no civil ceremony had taken place, although it was recognized by the Church. The wedding caused a scandal in Belgium. Caroline was allowed to remain at his bedside, but she had to hide whenever visitors arrived. Leopold died on December 17, 1909, in her presence and in that of two nurses. His three legitimate daughters, Louise, Stéphanie, and Clémentine, were estranged from him and were not allowed into his death chamber. After his death, it emerged that Leopold had left Caroline numerous properties, valuable objects, Congolese securities, and other sources of income. She thereby became a multimillionaire. The Belgian government and Leopold’s three daughters spent years trying to recover parts of the fortune. Caroline transferred much of her property to Paris, while some real estate was seized. In one legal dispute, the Belgian government succeeded in arguing that a large trust transferred to Caroline and her sons formed part of Leopold’s private estate. The precise extent of Caroline’s wealth nevertheless remained difficult to determine, because Leopold had distributed it among numerous investments, works of art, and foreign assets. Seven months after Leopold’s death, Caroline married Antoine Durrieux in 1910. He had served as her intermediary during Leopold’s lifetime and helped her secure important documents and assets after the king’s death. The marriage was soon dissolved. Caroline retained most of her fortune, but paid Durrieux a large sum so that he would relinquish custody of the two boys. Rumors later linked her to various wealthy men, but Caroline never married again. In 1937, she published her memoirs. In them, she portrayed herself as a commoner who had sincerely loved the king and remained faithful to him; she also emphasized that Leopold had loved her and their two sons. Caroline Lacroix died in 1948 in southern France.