A team of scientists at the University of Leuven have examined blood-stained leaves retrieved from the site of the king’s death and compared them with two surviving relatives to confirm the official version of events in 1934

Scientists from the University of Leuven have identified an 82-year-old blood sample as that of King Albert I, confirming once and for all the official version of his death. The king’s death in a climbing accident in 1934 has long been the source of conspiracy theories.

Albert took the throne of Belgium in 1909 on the death of his uncle, Leopold II. He became Belgium’s most popular king during the First World War, which he spent in the army while the national government was in exile in Le Havre in France. A monument in Nieuwpoort was raised to him by his own troops.

He died while climbing alone in Marche-les-Dames in Namur, on the banks of the Maas. Since there were no witnesses, conspiracy theories began to spread claiming the king had died – or been killed – elsewhere and had been brought to the scene later. At the same time, dedicated supporters began collecting souvenirs from the scene, some of which almost acquired the status of religious relics.

A reporter from the VTM programme Royalty recently acquired some blood-stained leaves from the scene, which were passed to forensic geneticist Maarten Larmuseau of the University of Leuven. His team tracked down two of Albert’s surviving blood relatives: King Simeon II of Bulgaria, who is related on his father’s side, and Anna Maria Freifrau von Haxthausen, a German baroness related on the maternal side.

Genetic comparison confirmed that the blood on the leaves was indeed Albert’s. “We can never dismiss all speculation,” Larmuseau said. “But this research was one of the last chances to gather new data. The authenticity of the blood traces supports the official version.”

Photo: KU Leuven/Maarten Larmuseau