Queen Paola of Belgium

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Belgian Royal Family

HM The King
HM The Queen
HM Queen Fabiola
*HRH The Duke of Brabant
*HRH The Duchess of Brabant
**HRH Princess Elisabeth
**HRH Prince Gabriel
**HRH Prince Emmanuel
*HI&RH Princess Astrid
*HI&RH Prince Lorenz
**HI&RH Prince Amedeo
**HI&RH Princess Maria Laura
**HI&RH Prince Joachim
**HI&RH Princess Luisa Maria
**HI&RH Princess Laetitia Maria
*HRH Prince Laurent
*HRH Princess Claire
**HRH Princess Louise
**HRH Prince Nicolas
**HRH Prince Aymeric
HRH Prince Alexander
HRH Princess Léa
HRH Princess Marie-Christine
HRH Princess Maria-Esmeralda

HM The Queen

Queen Paola Paola, born Princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria, born September 11, 1937) is the queen consort of Albert II of Belgium. She is the youngest daughter of Prince Don Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1884-1946), and his wife, the former Countess Luisa Gazelli di Rossana e di Sebastiano (1896-1989). She is of Italian and Belgian ancestry and was hailed as one of the leading beauties of Europe in her youth. Princess Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria married HRH Prince Albert, Prince of Liège, in Brussels, Belgium, on July 2, 1959. The couple has three children:

Philippe, Duke of Brabant who married Jonkvrouw Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz, a Belgian noblewoman who was created Princess of Belgium prior to her marriage;
Astrid who married Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este, created Prince of Belgium;
Laurent, who married Claire Louise Coombs, an Anglo-Belgian former real estate agent, who was created Princess of Belgium prior to her marriage.

Queen Paola fluently speaks French, Italian, English and German. She seems to have, however, a poor ability to speak Dutch. She is often criticized for this weakness, because Dutch is the mother tongue of nearly 60% of all Belgians.

Titles

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Her Royal Highness Princess Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria (1937 - 1959)

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Liège (1959 - 1993)

Her Majesty The Queen of The Belgians (Since 1993)

External links

[Her Majesty's official homepage] (In English).
[Her Majesty's paternal ancestry: Ruffo di Scilla] (in Italian).

Styles of Queen Paola of the Belgians

Reference style	Her Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Ma'am

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