The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-02-23
WILD OVATION
IS GIVEN new
BELGIUM KING
Thousands Hail Leopold as
He Takes Oath in
CoI0rfuI Rites.
CANNONS GIVE SALUTE
Devotion Promised to His
Subjects by Grief
Stricken Monarch.
By United Press

By United Press
BRUSSELS, Feb. 23.-Leopold III
was proclaimed king of the BelgianS
today. hailed by clamoring bells,
cannon and the wild cheers of hun
dreds of thousands of his subjects.
Princess AStrid of Sweden, Leo
pold'S consort, became queen of the
Belgians-a Protestant queen in this
Catholic country. Queen Elizabeth,
widow of King Albert, who was
buried yesterday, became the queen
mother.
Queen Mother Absent
Leopold at II a. m. in the senate
chamber, before the two houses of
parliament and an audience OF
snotables, took this simple oath:
It swear to observe the Constitu-
ton and the law of the people OF
Belgium and to maintain the ma
tional independence and territorial
integrity"
A great cheer broke from those
in the chamber and the guns began
booming out at brief intervals the
1O1 gun salute that is his due.
Leopold, in his khaki lieutenant
generals uniform, face drawn,
looked a moment out toward the
legislators and began his first
speech to his people.
The auditors rose to their feet
cheering when he said:
The Belgian dynasty is at the
service of the nation. The king
always will be devoted to the in
terests of the Belgian people
Queen Elizabeth, i'll and pros
trated with grief for King Albert,
was not present at the ceremony.
The new queen was in deep black,
relieved only by a pearl necklace.
1t was a ceremony that none who
saw could forget. But to two in the
chamber it was strange and some
what amusing procedure.
Young Prince ChortIes
Three-year-old Prince Baudoin,
the new crown prince, chortled with
JOY when the audience cheered and
started to play. Queen Astrid lifted
him to her knee.
Prince Baudoin and his 6-year-old
sister, Princess Josephine Charlotte,
who was at the queens side, were
dressed in white.
The children, left in Switzerland
when their father and mother were
summoned upon King Albert's
death in a mountain fall, had been
brought here for today's occasion.
Erect and slender on white
horse, escorted by army, navy and
air force chieftains and detach-
ments of picked troops, the new king
made the traditional joyous en-
trance into his capital along the
route where yesterday King Albert
was taken to his tomb in the little
church of Our Lady of Laeken, near
the suburban palace
Hats at Fathers Bier
AS a fanfare of trumpets signaled
the start of the procession, Leopold
jerked his horses reinS and, behind
a detachment of the famous
mounted guides, moved toward the
city, four miles away.
At the church, he checked his
horse and turned in his saddle. He
bowed deeply toward the church in
which his fathers body lay and
resumed his ride.
His first salute of 101 guns
doomed in announcement to the
city that the new king was on his
way. Crowds along the mile
route in turn as the noise reached
them began cheer that dinned in
Leopold's ears until he reached
parliament.
In the city, all the bells in Brus-
sells were clamoring as they had
not done since the World war
ended.
Pledges His Loyalty
He went to the Parliament build
ing by a roundabout route so that
his people could see him
There, in this throneleSs, crown
less, sceptreless kingdom, he was
escorted to an arm chair draped in
the Belgian colors, black, red and
gold.
Then he began his speech. He
started haltingly. With obvious
difficulty he kept his voice firm as
he referred at the outset to the
great blow he had suffered in his
fathers death.
He promised to follow the example
given by his three illustrious pre-
decesSors and then made his pledge
to devote himself to his peoples
interests.
A wild, spontaneous cheer broke
from his audience.