When a breeze blew several documents onto the floor during a meeting with his ministers one day, King Leopold ordered Prince Albert - his nephew and heir apparent to the Belgian throne - to pick them up.
He then turned to address his ministers, who were clearly embarrassed by the sight of a future king crawling about upon the floor. "Leave him alone," Leopold declared. "A constitutional king must learn to stoop.*"
Leopold II, (1835-1909) Belgian king (1865-1909) - noted for his harsh rule of the Congo Free State (1876-1904)
stoop = Bücken
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heir apparent noun
: an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be defeated if that person outlives the ancestor.