Caroline Lacroix, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Caroline Lacroix

Royal mistress

Date of Birth: 13-May-1883

Place of Birth: Bucharest

Date of Death: 12-Feb-1948

Profession: aristocrat

Nationality: Belgium, France

Zodiac Sign: Taurus


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About Caroline Lacroix

  • Blanche ZĂ©lia JosĂ©phine Delacroix, better known as Caroline Lacroix (13 May 1883 – 12 February 1948), was the most prominent and notorious of Leopold II of Belgium's mistresses. Delacroix, who was of French origin, met the king in Paris as a young girl, when she was only 16 and he was 65.
  • At that time, she earned her living from prostitution.
  • They soon embarked upon a relationship that was to last until his death in 1909.
  • Leopold lavished upon her large sums of money, estates, gifts, and a noble title, baronne de Vaughan (Baroness Vaughan).
  • Because of these presents, Caroline was deeply unpopular both among the Belgian people and internationally, as Leopold became increasingly criticized for his greed-induced actions in the Congo Free State, his own personal colony.
  • As Caroline largely profited from the king's income from the colony, she became known as La reine du Congo (“The Queen of the Congo”). She and Leopold married in a religious ceremony five days before his death, though their failure to perform a civil ceremony rendered the marriage void under Belgian law.
  • After the king's death, it was soon discovered that he had left Caroline numerous properties, items of high material value, Congolese bonds, and other valuable sources of income – all of which turned her into a multimillionaire.
  • For years, the Belgian government and Leopold's three estranged daughters attempted to recover some of this wealth, with their success varying depending on the case.
  • Caroline died on 12 February 1948 in Cambo-les-Bains, France.

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