In 1966, the Hollywood movie The Singing Nun was released, a biopic about the life and career of The Singing Nun, aka Sœur Sourire, Sister Luc-Gabrielle, Jeannine Deckers and Jeanne-Paule Deckers. At the end of the movie, she is shown in an idyllic scene, watching giraffes in the former Belgian Congo.
Real life wasn't like that. 34 years and 9 days ago, she and her gay partner committed suicide. 1966, the year that the movie starring Debbie Reynolds was released, was the year in which she was forced out of her convent.
In the 1970s, the Belgian government demanded a huge sum from her in back taxes from her earnings as The Singing Nun. They were undoubtably aware that she hadn't received any money and that any money that was not taken by her producer and recording company went to her convent. Her convent did help by giving her enough money to get an apartment but it was not nearly enough to solve her financial problems. Governments charge a lot of interest.
On March 29th 1985, The Singing Nun and her partner took overdoses, leaving a note explaining that it was the only way out of their financial ruin.
The author Douglas Adams wrote that "Belgium" is the rudest word in the Universe but Jeannine Deckers was alive at the time and I don't know what provoked him to publish such an awful national insult. I can't help wondering whether he was aware of Belgium's apparent vendetta against one of its own citizens. He was unfair of course, as Belgium as a nation can't be intrinsically worse than others except in the sense that over centuries, it has been the battlefield of choice for other countries. I have only known five Belgians. One I didn't like, one was nice enough, two were very nice and the other was probably the most gallant person I have ever met so, in my limited experience, they are on the whole as nice as anyone else.
Even so, I can't help hoping that if there is a God, some Belgian bureaucrats will have to explain to Him why they drove one of his treasures, and her partner, to commit what they regarded as as the unforgivable sin of suicide.
