250 Francs Queen Astrid

Queen Astrid of Belgium died on 29 August 1935 when the car her husband King Leopold III was driving left a road near Küssnacht, Switzerland and plunged into a lake. She was 29. The accident triggered genuine mass mourning across Belgium — her popularity was unusual in its depth and breadth — and her image remained politically untouchable for decades afterward.

This 1995 issue marked the 60th anniversary of her death, part of a broader Belgian commemorative program that leaned heavily on the royal family throughout the 1990s.