Astrid of Sweden
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Astrid of Sweden (1905 - 1935) was the Queen consort of Leopold III of Belgium.
Death
Astrid died on 29 August 1935 in a car accident at Küssnacht am Rigi.
In August 1935, the King and Queen went incognito to their holiday home, Villa Haslihorn in Horw, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Joséphine-Charlotte and Baudouin travelled with their parents, while the one-year-old Prince Albert remained in Brussels.
On 29 August 1935, the King and Queen went for a last hike in the mountains before returning home. Their chauffeur was sitting in the back of the Packard One-Twenty convertible; the King was driving and the Queen looking at a map. At approximately 9:30 am the Queen pointed out something to her husband, who looked away from the road. The car left the road, travelled down a steep slope, and collided with a pear tree. Queen Astrid had opened her door and was thrown out upon impact, striking the trunk of the tree while the car hit a second tree.
Queen Astrid is interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, Brussels, beside her husband, King Leopold III, and his second wife, Lilian, Princess of Réthy.
