Tributes paid as Queen Fabiola dies at 86

Tributes were paid at the weekend to dowager queen Fabiola, who died at home at Stuyvenberg castle in Brussels on Friday. The widow of King Baudouin, she was 86. The government has declared a period of national mourning  until the funeral, which takes place this Friday. All flags on official buildings will be flown at half-mast.

Fabiola de Mora y Aragón was born in Madrid in 1928, the daughter of nobility. She married Baudouin in 1960 after he had been on the throne for nine years. The couple remained childless; all five of the queen’s pregnancies ended in miscarriage. When Baudouin died in 1993, the throne passed to his younger brother Albert.

Fabiola then moved out of the royal palace in Laken to move nearby Stuyvenberg, where both Baudouin and Albert had been born. She lived quietly, outside of the public eye so as not to overshadow the new royal couple.

One exception was her annual appearance at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, which she continued to patronise; in later years she was accompanied by Princess, now Queen, Mathilde, who would eventually take over the appearance.

Fabiola’s health declined over the last few years, particularly after a respiratory infection in 2009, from which she never fully recovered. She also suffered from osteoporosis, which made public appearances difficult. She was last seen in public in the summer of 2013 at a remembrance ceremony for her husband.

Her body was due to be transported on Monday morning from Stuyvenberg to Laken, where she will lie in state in the chapel until the funeral on Friday in Brussels’ Sint-Michiels en Sint-Goedele Cathedral.

Her estate – the subject of controversy last year when it appeared her financial advisers had attempted to avoid paying tax – will go to the non-profit Hulpfonds van de Koningin (Queen’s Aid Fund). The fund was set up upon her marriage to collect funds to aid the needy and to finance projects that aim to improve the integration opportunities of young people and their families.

“She made our country shine”

Prime minister Charles Michel issued a statement in which he paid tribute to Fabiola’s work in society and the cultural sector. “Belgium has this evening lost a great queen, who made our country shine on the world stage,” he said.

The Bishops’ Conference of Belgium said that “she wanted to be a mother to all of her countrymen, especially those who had been damaged by life. Our country will forever be grateful to her”.

Flanders’ minister-president, Geert Bourgeois, added: “It is with sorrow that I learned of the death of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola, and I want to express my condolences in the name of the Flemish government. In the first place my thoughts go out to her family and close friends.”

Former federal minister Willy Claes described her as “the ideal partner for King Baudouin, who saw his monarchy as a real vocation. Fabiola was able to motivate him a great deal. She was absolutely the wife he needed. I would almost go so far as to say they were the perfect couple”.