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Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, better known as Caroline Lacroix (13 May 1883 – 12 February 1948) was the most prominent and notorious of Leopold II of Belgium's mistresses. Delacroix, who was of French origin, met the king in Paris as a young girl, when she was only 16 and he was 65. At that time, she earned her living as a prostitute. They soon embarked upon a relationship that was to last until his death in 1909. Leopold lavished upon her large sums of money, estates, gifts, and a noble title, Baroness Vaughan. Because of these presents, Caroline was deeply unpopular both among the Belgian people and internationally, as Leopold became increasingly criticized for his greed-induced actions in the Congo Free State, his own personal colony. As Caroline largely profited off the income from the colony, she became known as ''La reine du Congo'' (“the Queen of Congo”). She and Leopold married in a religious ceremony five days before his death, though their failure to perform a civil ceremony rendered the marriage illegitimate under Belgian law. After the king's death, it was soon discovered that he had left Caroline numerous properties, items of high material value, Congolese bonds, and other valuable sources of income – all of which turned her into a multimillionaire. For years the Belgian government and Leopold's three estranged daughters attempted to seize some of this wealth, with their success varying depending on the case. Caroline died on 12 February 1948 in Cambo-les-Bains, France. ==Early life== There remains a small degree of mystery concerning Caroline's early life. One account states that her father, Jules Delacroix, was a janitor of the French Legation at Bucharest.〔 Another states that her father lived in Bucharest to seek his fortune, and she was born there as the thirteenth child of her parents.〔 In her youth, Caroline worked as a barmaid.〔 Various sources assert that Caroline was a prostitute living in Paris. As a young woman, she was the mistress of Antoine-Emmanuel Durrieux, a former officer in the French army.〔 According to Adam Hochschild, Durrieux liked to support the two of them by betting on horse races; when his luck soured, he became a form of pimp, prostituting Caroline to well-born clients.〔 They undertook their schemes at the Élysée Palace, but frequently left debts unpaid.〔 One day in 1900, while residing in Paris, Leopold II of Belgium heard of her "attractions" and felt interested in her modest beginnings.〔 A woman sent by Leopold informed Caroline, "Madame, I am sent to you by a gentleman who has noticed you. He is a very high personage, but his exalted position obliges me to withhold his name".〔 A meeting was arranged for the following day; Caroline went to a secluded room, where Leopold arrived with two aides.〔 As Leopold II was unknown to her, Caroline was so flustered with the encounter that she mixed up Belgium and Sweden in the king's presence, referring to him as ''His Majesty Oscar,'' to his surprise and amusement.〔 The two aides' purpose soon became clear: one sat on each side of her and began asking questions that required her to "turn my head first to the right, then to the left ... their only aim, as I learned later, being to show off my two profiles to the mute personage", according to her memoirs.〔 Leopold confessed himself pleased and invited Caroline to Austria with him; a large sum of money duly arrived the next day, along with some empty trunks, as Leopold was aware that she loved to buy clothes.〔Hochschild, p. 222.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caroline Lacroix」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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