Lucien Delacroix, Duke of Tervuren

Lucien Philippe Marie Antoine Durrieux

Born: 9 February 1906
Died: 15 November 1984
Father: King Leopold II King of the Belgians and Terror of The Congo
Mother: Blanche Zélie Joséphine Delacroix

Lucien was one of the two illegitimate sons of King Leopold II of Belgium by his mistress Blanche Zélie Joséphine Delacroix, who went by the alias Caroline Lacroix the Baroness van Vaughan.

Lucien Durrieux was born in the villa Les Cèdres in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, commissioned by Leopold II. [1] Because his parents were not married, Lucien did not obtain the title of Prince of Belgium. Nevertheless, his biological father, Leopold II of Belgium, granted him the dynastic title Duke of Tervuren. This was laid down in a royal decree that was never published and was therefore never legally valid.

The reference to Tervuren in the title has to do with the Royal Museum for Central Africa that Leopold II had built in Tervuren after he managed to acquire Congo as a colony. Lucien's younger brother, Philippe Durrieux, was given the title Count of Ravenstein. Lucien Thiriar, nephew of the king's personal physician, became Lucien's godfather.

Leopold was reportedly very happy with the birth of his son because he had three daughters and a young deceased son from his marriage to Marie Henriette of Austria and he did not have an heir to the throne at that time. However, he was also disappointed because Lucien could never be an heir to the throne because he did not come from a marriage.

His mother, Blanche Delacroix, officially recognized him as her son on December 23, 1907 in Paris, a few months after the birth of his brother Philippe. After the death of King Leopold, his mother married Antoine Durrieux on August 18, 1910. Antoine was already her lover before her affair with the king. This gave Lucien the surname of his stepfather. He had recognized him and his brother as his sons eight days before the marriage to their mother. [1] Lucien was four years old at the time. The family name that Lucien carried before this marriage is unknown, but presumably this was Delacroix, after his mother. 

Durrieux became a representative in dental equipment after practicing various professions, including hotelier in the Basque Country. He married Lucie Gracieuse Mundutey (1900-2005) in 1927. The civil wedding took place in the town hall of Poissy on February 26, 1927 and the religious ceremony took place a few days later, on March 1, in the Église de Saint-Ferdinand des Ternes, located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. [1] The couple had no children, causing this direct branch in the male line of King Leopold II to become extinct.

Durrieux was financially helped by some members of the Belgian royal family. Prince Charles, the future prince regent, sent his mother a monthly allowance of 3,000 Belgian francs and Lucien himself received 25,000 Belgian francs from the Belgian consul in Bayonne in 1936 on behalf of King Albert I of Belgium.

He died on 15 November 1984 in Cambo-les-Bains, the birthplace of his wife and place of death of his mother, at the age of 78. [1] No members of the Belgian royal family were present at the funeral ceremony.

Some claimed that he looked like Leopold II, which can be substantiated by various photographs.
Lucien and Philippe Durrieux are said to have called their father "Colas" as a child because he looked like Sinterklaas (Saint-Nicolas) because of his beard.

REFERENCES:
List of the Illegitimate Children of the Kings of the Belgians
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lijst_van_buitenechtelijke_kinderen_v...