![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Caroline died on 12 February 1948 at Cambo, France. 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. 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. 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. As Caroline largely profited off the income from the colony, she became known as la reine du Congo. 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. Leopold lavished upon her large sums of money, estates, gifts, and a noble title, Baroness Vaughan. They soon embarked upon a relationship that was to last until his death in 1909. She met the king in Paris as a young girl, when she was only 16 and he was 65. Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, better known as Caroline Lacroix ( – 12 February 1948) was a French-Romanian prostitute well-noted in her lifetime for being the most prominent and notorious of Leopold II of Belgium's mistresses. ![]()
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