143 - LEOPOLD II, King of the Belgians, 1835–1909.

LEOPOLD II, King of the Belgians, 1835–1909. Autograph letter signed “Léopold,” Paris, October 26, 1900, 1 p., in-8, on Elysée Palace Hotel letterhead, with a sealed envelope marked “personal,” addressed to Sir Edmund Monson (1834–1909), British Ambassador to France, regarding the arrest, that very day, of Jean-Baptiste Sipido (1884–1959, a Belgian anarchist who, on April 4, 1900, attempted to assassinate the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII). Leopold II was in Paris in October 1900 and was actively seeking to have France arrest Jean-Baptiste Sipido and then hand him over to Belgium. On October 16, he went to the British Embassy and spoke for over an hour with Sir Edmund Monson, whom he asked to intervene with Delcassé. Monson did indeed meet with the French minister on October 22 and 24; on the 24th, Delcassé informed him that the French government had decided to extradite Sipido if he were found in France. Then, on October 26, 1900, Sipido was arrested in Paris. Leopold therefore wrote to Monson that very same day to inform him of—or react to—the success of their efforts. This letter thus marks the resolution of a minor Anglo-Belgian-French diplomatic crisis. Enclosed is a letter from Leopold III, King of the Belgians, 1901–1983, dated April 1, 1936, 1 p., in-4, on letterhead from the Palace of Brussels, with a mourning border, addressed to Prince Chigi Albani, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, to whom he expresses his gratitude for offering to allow him to keep the Grand Cross insignia that had been worn by his dear and late wife (Astrid of Sweden, who died on August 29, 1935, in a car accident).