Editing Leopold II of Belgium (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Queen Louise of Belgium with her son Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, later Leopold II of Belgium (by F. X. Winterhalter) – Royal Collection.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.85|Queen [[Louise of Orléans]] with her son Prince Leopold, later Leopold II. Painting by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter]] (1838)]]
[[File:John Partridge (1790-1872) - Leopold, Duke of Brabant (1835-1909) - RCIN 404600 - Royal Collection.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Leopold, Duke of Brabant. Painting by [[John Partridge (artist)|John Partridge]] (1841)]]
Leopold was born in [[Brussels]] on 9 April 1835, the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch, [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]], and of his second wife, [[Louise of Orléans|Louise]], the daughter of [[King Louis Philippe]] of France.<ref>Emerson, pp 4–6.</ref> His eldest brother, [[Louis Philippe, Crown Prince of Belgium]], died in infancy in 1834. As heir apparent, Leopold was granted the title of [[Duke of Brabant]] in 1840. The [[French Revolution of 1848]] forced his maternal grandfather, Louis Philippe, to flee to the United Kingdom.<ref>Emerson, p 9.</ref> Louis Philippe died two years later, in 1850. Leopold's fragile mother was deeply affected by the death of her father and her health deteriorated. She died of [[tuberculosis]] that same year, when Leopold was 15 years old.<ref>Emerson, p 9–10.</ref>

[[File:Leopold Duke of Brabant.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Leopold as a child. Painting by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter]] (1844)]]
Leopold's sister Charlotte became Empress [[Carlota of Mexico]] in 1864. The British monarch at the time, [[Queen Victoria]], was Leopold II's first cousin, as was Victoria's husband, [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]], since Leopold's father, Albert's father, [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Duke Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]], and Victoria's mother, the then [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Duchess of Kent]], were all siblings.<ref>Aronson, p 13.</ref> As a young man, Leopold II served in the Belgian military and achieved the rank of lieutenant-general. He also served in the Belgian Senate during this time.<ref name="Leopold II">{{Cite web |title=Leopold II |url=https://www.historycrunch.com/leopold-ii.html |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=HISTORY CRUNCH – History Articles, Biographies, Infographics, Resources and More |language=en}}</ref>