The trees swarmed with black urchins and the crowds along the road shouted "Vive le Roi!" as Leopoldville welcomed young (25) King Baudouin to the Belgian Congo's steamy, metal-rich and thriving jungleland. Resplendent in white-and-gold uniform, Baudouin was the first Belgian monarch the Congo had seen since 1928, when grandfather Albert I visited a far less prosperous and bustling Congo.
Many of Leopoldville's 20,000 Belgians were not prepared in advance to be much impressed by their young king. "That infant," snapped one sun-helmeted businessman as he watched Baudouin's arrival in a Sabena DC-6 airliner. The colonists had seen too many...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
