Royal Profile: Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium, Lady Moncada

Princess Marie-Esméralda Adelaide Lilian Anna Léopoldine of Belgium, Lady Moncada was born 30 September 1956, as the second daughter and youngest child of King Leopold III of Belgium and his second wife, Lilian, Princess of Réthy {Source}. She has five older siblings, three of whom are from her father's 1st marriage, and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews{Source}:

1. Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, Princess of Belgium (1927-2005, half-sister)
1. Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (1921)
1. Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria, Princess of Luxembourg (1954)
1. Archduke Carl Christian  of Austria (1954, m. 1982)
   1. Archduchess Marie-Christine of Austria, The Countess of Limburg-Stirum (1983)
   1. Count Rodolphe of Limburg-Stirum (1979, m. 2008)
      1. Count Léopold of Limburg-Stirum (2011)
      2. Count Constantin of Limburg-Stirum (2013)
   2. Archduke Imre of Austria (1985) 
   1. Archduchess Kathleen of Austria (1986, m. 2012)
      1. Archduchess Maria-Stella of Austria (2013)
      2. Archduchess Magdalena  of Austria (2016)
   3. Archduke Christoph of Austria (1988)
   1. Archduchess Adélaïde of Austria (1988, m. 2012) 
      1. Archduchess Katarina of Austria (2014)
   4. Archduke Alexander of Austria (1990)
   5. Archduchess Gabriella of Austria ( 1994)
2. Grand Duke Henri of  Luxembourg (1955)
1. Grand Duchess María Teresa of Luxembourg (1956, m. 1981) 
1. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (1981)
1. Princess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, Countess de Lannoy (1984, m. 2012)
2. Prince Félix of Luxembourg (1984)
1. Princess Claire Margareta of Luxembourg (1984, m. 2013)
1. Princess Amalia de Nassau (2014)
3. Prince Louis of Luxembourg (1986)
1. Princess Tessy of Luxembourg (m. 2006)
1. Prince Gabriel de Nassau (2006)
2. Prince Noah de  Nassau (2007)
4. Princess Alexandra  of Luxembourg (1991)
5. Prince Sébastien  of Luxembourg (1992)
3. Prince Jean of Luxembourg (1957)
1. Hélène Vestur (1958, m. 1987-2008?) 
1. Princess Marie-Gabrielle de Nassau (1986)
2. Prince Constantin de Nassau (1988)
3. Prince Wenceslas de Nassau (1990)
4. Prince Carl-Johan  de Nassau (1992)
2. Diane De Guerre (2009)
4. Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, Princess of Liechtenstein (1957)
1. Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (1947)
1. Prince Leopold of Liechtenstein (1984-1984)
2. Princess Maria-Anunciata of Liechtenstein (1985)
3. Princess Marie-Astrid of Liechtenstein (1987)
4. Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein (1989)
5. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (1963)
1. Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg (1968, m. 1994)
1. Prince Paul Louis de Nassau (1998)
2. Prince Léopold de Nassau (2000)
3. Princess Charlotte de Nassau (2000)
4. Prince Jean de Nassau (2004)
6. King Baudin I of Belgium (1930-1993, half brother)
1. Queen Fabiola of Belgium (2013)
7. King Albert II of Belgium (1932-, half brother)
1. Queen Paola of Belgium (1937, m. 1959)
1. King Philippe of Belgium (1960) 
1. Queen Mathilde of Belgium
1. Princess Elisabeth of Belgium,The Duchess of Brabant (2001)
2. Prince Gabriel  of Belgium  (2003)
3. Prince Emmanuel  of Belgium (2005)
4. Princess Eléonore of Belgium (2008)
2. Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (1962)
1. Prince Laurent of Belgium, Archduke of Asutria-Este (1963)
1. Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (1986)
1. Archduchess Elisabetta "Lili" of Austria-Este (1987)
1. Archduchess Anna-Astrid of Austria-Este (2016)
2. Princess Maria-Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (1988)
3. Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (1991)
4. Princess Luisa-Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (1995)
5. Princess Laetia Maria of Belgium , Archduchess of Austria-Este(2003)
3. Prince Laurent of Belgium (1963)
1. Princess Claire of Belgium (1972)
1. Princess Louise of Belgium (2004)
2. Prince Nicolas (2005)
3. Prince Aymeric (2005)
4. Prince Alexander of Belgium (1942-2009, full brother)
1. Princess Lea of Belgium (1951, m. 1991)
5. Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium (1951-, full sister)

Her family ties also make her (in addition to being the aunt of members of the Belgian Royal Family) an aunt to members of the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg.

She grew up with her parents and siblings in Belgium and her brother, King Albert II is one of her godparents. Due to her father having an out of order marriage ceremony for his second marriage, Princess Marie-Esméralda and her siblings are not in line for the Belgian Throne. If they were, Princess Marie-Esméralda and her siblings would be no higher than 14th place (currently occupied by her great-nephew Prince Aymeric).

She married Salvador Moncada on 4 April 1998 in London {Source}. Together, they have two children {Source}:

• Alexandra Léopoldine Moncada (1998)
• Leopoldo Daniel Moncada (2001)

While she has primarily stayed from the limelight, Princess Marie-Esméralda has made it her mission the last decade or so to keep the memories of her parents alive, mostly through documentary films. She has published two books dedicated to her father, Léopold III, mon père and Léopold III photographe{Source}. She is the president of the Fonds Léopold III pour l'Exploration et la Conservation de la Nature{Source}.


In March 2014, Princess Marie-Esméralda took part in a trip to Egypt to document her grandparents' visit to Egypt {Source}. This documentary is slated for release on Belgium television sometime in October {Source}.

Princess Marie-Esméralda trained as a journalist and writes under the name Esméralda de Réthy. In 2001, the Princess teamed up with Jean-Louis Peareau to write Christian Dior: The Early Years:1947-1957 {Source}.