Queen Fabiola’s jewels at auction: the Belgian monarchy guilty of patrimonial neglect

Symbols of history, power, and continuity, royal jewels extend far beyond their material value. The auctioning of certain pieces once belonging to Queen Fabiola, passed on to her Spanish family upon her death, therefore raises serious questions. While the sale does not directly involve the Belgian monarchy, the absence of an agreement to preserve these jewels within the national heritage nevertheless conveys a sense of disengagement, reigniting debate over the institution's responsibility to safeguard and transmit the country's historical and cultural legacy. 

The auction, by a Spanish house, of jewels that once belonged to Queen Fabiola is not a mere society anecdote. It is an admission of failure, and more than that, a patrimonial fault. Among the lots on offer are a half-parure from the 1920s and the engagement ring of the woman who was Queen of the Belgians for more than three decades. Objects deeply intertwined with the history of the monarchy are now treated as vulgar financial assets, unscrupulously handed over to the international private market.

This situation is all the more shocking because it is neither unforeseeable nor accidental. It is the result of a structural choice deliberately made by the Belgian monarchy: the refusal to adopt any policy to protect royal jewels. While other European monarchies long ago understood that certain objects transcend the private sphere and belong to the national heritage, Belgium persists in a narrow vision, legally convenient, but historically disastrous.

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Collection Trust shields royal jewels from dispersal and speculation. In Spain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, foundations and state collections ensure the preservation and transmission of emblematic pieces. In Belgium, by contrast, there is nothing: no fund, no official collection, no political or royal will to sanctuarize these symbols. The jewels are treated as personal property, destined to be broken up according to the whims of inheritance and private interests.

The result is now plain to see. Upon Queen Fabiola's death, her jewels were divided among heirs according to a strictly familial logic, with no regard whatsoever for their historical significance. While a few pieces have been retained by the current royal couple, a large portion escaped any form of institutional control, passing into the hands of distant relatives free to dispose of them as they please. The present auction is therefore no surprise: it is the direct consequence of organized neglect. 

Worse still, the monarchy cannot plead ignorance or impotence. It chose to do nothing. It accepted that jewels worn at official ceremonies, state visits, and pivotal moments in Belgian history could leave the country forever, without public debate, without heritage designation, without the slightest mechanism of pre-emption. This silence amounts to a form of abdication.

This abdication raises a fundamental question: how can an institution that presents itself as the guarantor of national continuity show such indifference to its own symbols? By allowing the Crown jewels to disappear, the Belgian monarchy undermines its own narrative, prestige, and cultural legitimacy. It deprives itself of tangible heritage that could have been transmitted, exhibited, studied, and shared with citizens.

The sale of Queen Fabiola's jewels thus acts as a brutal wake-up call. It reveals a monarchy unable, or unwilling, to assume even a basic responsibility for heritage stewardship. At this rate, little will soon remain of Belgium's royal jewels beyond archival images and auction catalog entries. A silent erasure, heavy with meaning, for which responsibility lies squarely with the institution itself.

SWSP

(Translated from French)