Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders

Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (Filips; 24 March 1837 – 17 November 1905), was the third born and second surviving son of King Leopold I of Belgium and Louise d'Orléans. He was the brother of Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico.

Born at the Château de Laeken, near Brussels, Belgium, Philippe was created Count of Flanders on 14 December 1840. In January 1869, upon the sudden death of his nephew Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, he became heir presumptive to the Belgian throne. In 1866, after the abdication of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Romania, Philippe refused being named the new Romanian sovereign, and the throne was later accepted by Philippe's brother-in-law Carol I. Earlier, he had also refused the crown of Greece, which was offered to him in 1862.

Philippe died in 1905. When his brother King Leopold II died in 1909, Philippe's second son ascended the Belgian throne as King Albert I.

Marriage and issue
On 25 April 1867 at St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, he married Marie Luise Alexandra Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, (1845–1912), daughter of Karl Anton von Hohenzollern (1811–1885) and his wife Josephine of Baden (1813–1900). Among Marie's siblings were the deceased Queen of Portugal and the future King of Romania.

The children of Phillipe and Marie were:
 * Prince Baudouin (3 June 1869 – 23 January 1891); he died of influenza at the age of 21.
 * Princess Henriette (30 November 1870 – 28 March 1948); she married Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme on 12 February 1896. They had four children.
 * Princess Joséphine Marie (30 November 1870 – 18 January 1871), twin to Princess Henriette.
 * Princess Joséphine Caroline (18 October 1872 – 6 January 1958); she married Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern on 28 May 1894. They had four children.
 * King Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934); he married Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria on 2 October 1900. They had three children.

He died in his residence the Palace of the Count of Flanders, and is buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. He was succeeded as heir presumptive to the throne by his son, Albert.

Honours
He received the following decorations and awards: • Duchy of Anhalt: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, 1874
 * Domestic
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 24 March 1855
 * Foreign

• Austrian Empire: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1857

• Baden:

• * Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1862

• * Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion

• Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert

• Empire of Brazil: Grand Cross of the Southern Cross

• 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 1 November 1875

•    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1853

•  French Empire: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

• Flag of the Vatican City (2 by 3).svg Holy See: Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion

•  Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 5 November 1898

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion

• 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau

•  Ottoman Empire: Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class

•  Kingdom of Portugal: Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 12 December 1854

•  Kingdom of Prussia:

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, 7 October 1855; with Collar, 1861

• * Grand Cross of the Red Eagle

• * Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 4 May 1867

•  Kingdom of Romania: Grand Cross of the Star of Romania

•  Russian Empire:

• * Knight of St. Andrew

• * Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky

• * Knight of the White Eagle

• * Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class

•  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 20 September 1854

• Kingdom of Saxony: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1857

• undefined:

• * Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, 6 April 1863

• * Knight of the Golden Fleece, 21 January 1872

• 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 Sweden-Norway:

• * Knight of the Seraphim, 17 May 1856

• * Grand Cross of St. Olav, 25 July 1860

• Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1864

Literature
Damien Bilteryst, Philippe Comte de Flandre, Frère de Léopold II, Bruxelles, Editions Racine, juin 2014, 336 p. ISBN 978-2-87386-894-9