| Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide |
This text is from the E-book Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide by Christopher J. Morley (2005). Click here to return to the table of contents. The text is unedited, and any errors or omissions rest with the author. Our thanks go out to Christopher J. Morley for his permission to publish his E-book.
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Suspected of being Jack the Ripper by the writer Jaquemine Charrot Lodwidge, while undertaking research for theorist and author Daniel Farson. Lodwidge noticed the following points about Leopold and became suspicious. That he led a scandalous life, that during his reign Belgium retained possession of the Congo and during these visits to the Congo may have developed a sadistic nature, after observing Congolese customs and rituals. And whose house in London may have been the one, medium Robert Lees, led the police too after he had received a psychic impression of the murderer.
Louis Marie Philippe Victor was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835 and was a member of the Saxe Coburg family. His mother Louise, was a descendant of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, as was his future wife. He ascended the throne at the age of 30 on 17 December 1865, on the death of his father Leopold I. He took the name Leopold II and married Marie Henriette of Habsburg Lorraine Archduchess of Austria, on 22 August 1853, and they had four children.
He greatly admired his father's attempts to increase Belgium's influence in the world, ideas he shared. His long held belief was that Belgium should become a colonial power, he wanted to give Belgium an Empire which was consonant with those of Great Britain and France. He also wanted a Merchant Navy and outlets for his country, his speeches in the Senate were indicative to his ideas, and he proclaimed that, 'All I desire is to leave Belgium larger, stronger and more beautiful'.
He was instrumental in launching several major public works aimed at improving the country's economic infrastructure, such as the modernization of Antwerp Harbour, and the building of the Gileppe dam. He wanted to turn Brussels into a real capital city and commissioned the mapping-out of broad thoroughfares and parks, and invested a major part of his income in public works.
His life however was not without scandal, as he amassed a personal fortune by exploiting free slave labour. Belgium gained recognized possession of the Congo in April 1884 and did not relinquish control until 10 August 1908, shortly before his death, during which time the Congo was exploited and stripped of much of its natural resources. Mark Twain called Leopold, 'The slayer of 1.5 million Congolese, and a greedy, grasping, avaricious, cynical, bloodthirsty old goat'. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Crime Of The Congo, an account of how under Leopold's rule the Congolese had been robbed of all they possessed on such a scale that has never, to my knowledge, occurred before in the whole course of history. Over the time of Leopold's rule the population of the Congo declined from an estimated 20-30 million to less than nine million.
Leopold married his lover Blanche Delacroix, on 12 December and died five days later from a stroke, on 17 December 1909.
There is no evidence Leopold II was in London at the time of the Whitechapel murders. The London residence identified by Lees was clearly described as belonging to an eminent Physician. Charrot Lodwidge is incorrect when stating that Leopold observed Congolese rituals, Leopold never visited the region, but instead ruled by decree from Belgium.
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