Caroline Lacroix | |
|---|---|
| Baroness Vaughan | |
 | |
| Full name | Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix |
| Born | 13 May 1883 Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | 12 February 1948 (aged 64) Cambo-les-Bains, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France |
| Buried | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Issue | Lucien Philippe Delacroix Durrieux Philippe Henri Delacroix Durrieux |
| Father | Jules Delacroix |
| Mother | Catherine Josephine Sebille |
Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, better known as Caroline Lacroix (French pronunciation: [kaʁɔlin lakʁwa]; 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 from prostitution. 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, baronne de Vaughan (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 from the king's income from the colony, she became known as La reine du Congo ("The Queen of the 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 void 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 recover some of this wealth, with their success varying depending on the case. Caroline died on 12 February 1948 in Cambo-les-Bains, France.