courtesy of daylife

Belgian Royals celebrated The King’s Feast (Koningsfeest in Dutch and Fête du Roi in French) on November 15 – a day that has been marked by celebrations in honour of the Belgian Monarch since 1866. Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Queen Fabiola were all present.

The celebrations started with a Service at Brussels Cathedral, which was attended by all members of the Royal Family with the exception of the King, the Queen and Princess Claire. King Albert and Queen Paola don’t usually attend the Service as protocol decrees it would be inappropriate for the Monarch to honour himself. Although always present at The King’s Feast Day celebrations, Princess Claire was absent this year, presumably because she wasn’t able to find anyone to babysit the children.

courtesy of daylife

Also present at the Service was Queen Fabiola – the first time she has been seen in a long time. The past few months have been marred by concerns for Her Majesty’s health and even false death announcement. Although the Queen was recovering in Spain, she insisted on attending the Service, although she did not attend the ceremony at the Parliament: the Royal Watchers were undoubtedly delighted to see Her Majesty in apparently good health.

Since 2001, the Service has been followed by a ceremony held by the Belgian Parliament in honour of the King, in the presence of members of the Belgian Royal Family and other dignitaries.

November 15 is the name day of Leopold (the feast of Saint Leopold) and Albert (the Feast of Saint Albert the Great), two names that are of great importance for the Belgian Royals: Belgium’s first, second and fourth Monarchs were named Leopold, while the third King was called Albert, as is the current king. In 1951, King Baudouin decided to honour the day, and King Albert II continued the tradition. November 15 and April 8 (King Albert’s birthday) are two days when His Majesty honours distinguished citizens by presenting them with the Order of Leopold. Although November 15 is not a public holiday, civil servants are allowed to have a day off.

To learn more about the King’s Feast, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Archduke Lorenz, King Albert II, Prince Laurent, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola, The King’s Feast

courtesy of Yahoo! news

King Albert II led the Royal Family and Government officials in solemn commemoration ceremonies in Brussels today.

The King, Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy and Belgian veterans placed wreaths at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Thousands turned out to pay their respects to the fallen heroes. At exactly 11:00, people paused for two minutes’ silence to mark the 91st anniversary of the end of The Great War.

His Majesty talked to the veterans and thanked them once again for their great sacrifices. He also stressed how important it is to remember all the heroes who gave their lives during World War I and preserve their memory.

courtesy of Yahoo! news

In Ieper (better known by its French name, Ypres), tens of thousands of people lined the streets of the town, which was left in ruins during The Great War. Ieper is now a world symbol of peace.

Eight Belgian fire brigade buglers led a solemn last post ceremony at the Menin Gate war memorial. The Menin Gate has the names of 55 000 missing soldiers engraved on its limestone walls. According to authorities, some 500 000 people a year visit memorials and battlefields in Flanders, and the number increases as the 100th anniversary of World War I approaches.

Marsel Belgian Royals Armistice Day, King Albert II, Memorial, Remembrance Day, World War I

Several days ago, “De Morgen” newspaper announced the death of Queen Fabiola on their website.

courtesy of Telegraph

The announcement read: “Sixteen years after the death of her husband King Baudouin, Her Majesty passed away at the age of 81. Her health has been frail in the last few years and the pneumonia she suffered from recently proved fatal”.

The Royal Palace was quick to deny the news and the “De Morgen” apologized for the mistake. This is not the first time Queen Fabiola’s death was erroneously declared: earlier in January, VRT and Gazet van Antwerpen made a similar mistake, issuing premature arbitraries.

This is a very unfortunate time for such mistakes as there has been an increasing concern for Her Majesty’s health; just about two weeks ago, the Palace announced that Queen Fabiola will not attend any official functions in near future because of her frail health.

Queen Fabiola is currently recovering in Spain.

For more news and information about the Queen, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Death, Health, Media, Queen Fabiola

Click to see full image at Belga

The Royal Palace of Laeken was nominated third in a list of ugliest buildings of Belgium. Groep Jan Stallaert, a building/demolishing company, organised the contest in which people could nominate the ugliest buildings in Belgium. The group would then offer to demolish the winner for free.

The Royal Palace of Laeken came out third in the list. However, the first two nominees are suspected of cheating, so it is still possible the Palace ends up first. The company, however, does realize it is highly unlikely they will be allowed to tear it down.

Check this thread for more info on the Royal domain in Laeken and all buildings there.
Check this article in Dutch for more info about the contest.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Palaces, Royal Palace of Laeken

Three months ago, prince Laurent of Belgium had the dead body of his favourite dog frozen. The prince was upset by the death of the Berner Senner and wanted to wait until an appropriate time, to say goodbye to the dog.

click on image to see photo at nieuwslog.nl

The Swiss dog was his favourite for seven years, and died of cancer. After his death the prince took the body to the veterinary medicine faculty of the university of Gent. At the university they froze the body, until the prince found the time ripe to say goodbye to his dog. On thursday, a few days before all saints, the prince thought that the time was ripe, the prince told public channel VRT through the telephone.

According to professor Chiers, of the university of Gent, several limbs of the dog were deformed because the body was frozen on the flat floor.  When the prince announced that he wanted to collect the dog, the staff had to hurry to dry the hairs and bend the body in the original shape.  When the prince arrived, the staff had to leave as the prince was quite emotional and wanted to be left alone with his dog.

In a reaction on the VRT the prince said that there is too little attention for the role that pets play in our daily lives. ‘People are very attached to their pets, when they die it hurts’, says Laurent. ‘All Saints is a day to pay attention to that’.

Marengo Belgian Royals Animals, Pets, Prince Laurent

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, met with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Belgium, Prince Philippe.

Prince Philippe is currently visiting the country for two days on an economic mission. Sheikh Mohammed and Prince Philippe discussed economic and investment ties between the UAE and Belgium.

View the economic mission thread here.

dazzling Belgian Royals, UAE Royals Economic Mission, Prince Philippe, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

courtesy of WAM

Her Highness Sheikha Fatima hosted a banquet in honour of Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium. Among dignitaries present were Her Highness Sheikha Salamah bint Hamdan (wife of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces), Her Highness Sheikha Shama bint Zayed (wife of His Highness Sheikh Surur bin Mohammed Al Nahyan) and Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan (wife of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Representative of Ruler in Western Region).

Before the banquet, Sheikha Fatima and Princess Mathilde exchanged views on a number of issues connected with women’s rights. Sheikha Fatima briefed the Crown Princess about the UAE national women empowerment and the role they play in the development process in the country. Sheikha Fatima, who is the Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, has always been actively involved in women’s rights issues.

courtesy of WAM

Princess Mathilde highly praised the Sheikha’s role in the empowerment of women in the community and her efforts regarding the issues of childcare, environment and social development. The Crown Princess also lauded Sheikha Fatima’s humanitarian contributions both on local and international levels.

Later in the day, Princess Mathilde paid a visit to the Khalifa Fund for Development of Enterprises. The Princess was given a presentation on the Fund’s objectives, programmes and achievements in the promotion of the culture of entrepreneurship among the UAE citizens. The Princess was very impress by the achievements of the Fund since its founding two years ago and praised its important role in promoting development of entrepreneurship among various sectors of the UAE society.

Today was the final day of Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde’s economic mission to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

To learn more about economic mission, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals, UAE Royals Economic Mission, Princess Mathilde, Sheikha Fatima, Women's Rights

The King, the Queen, Princess Astrid, Prince Laurent and Princess Claire attended the Autumn Concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels yesterday.

courtesy of Belga

The Autumn Concert is organized in collaboration with the Festival of Flanders and the Festival of the Walloon Region.

The Festival of the Walloon Region (Festival de Wallonie) is an annual event that offers 70 concerts in 4 parts of the Walloon Region and in Brussels. The common theme of the concerts is the aspiration to tell people about the region’s architectural and musical heritage, a strong inclination towards parties and conviviality.

This year, the Festival’s main theme is “Britannia”. The concerts are dedicated, as the name suggests, to the United Kingdom, which either gave birth or welcomed four great composers, whose anniversaries are celebrated this year – Purcell (350th birth anniversary), Handel (250th death anniversary), Mendelssohn (200th birth anniversary) and Haydn (100th death anniversary).

To learn more about the Belgian Royal Family, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Concert, Music, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Queen Paola

click on image to see photo at hln.be

As has been reported in the Flemish press, queen Fabiola left Castle Stuyvenberg and stayed at Villa Astrida in Spain. According to Spanish website ideal.es the Queen arrived in Motrtil on October 15th and left for Belgium two days ago. Last week the palace announced that queen Fabiola would not have any official duties in the near future as she is recoverning from a pneunomia.

Villa Astrida was bought by the queen and her late husband, king Baudouin, in the sixties. The villa is located in Motril, near Granada. Villa Astrida is named after king Baudouin’s mother, queen Astrid. In 1993 king Baudouin died in the villa from a heart attack.

To learn more about Queen Fabiola’s current activities, visit this thread.

Marengo Belgian Royals Health, Queen Fabiola, Spain

Yesterday Queen Paola of the Belgians took four of her grand children to the circus Bouglione  (near the Anatomium) in Brussels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola / Het Werk Der Wiegjes Prinses Paola” .

Click on image to see photo at Zimbio

The queen, accompanied by her daughter princess Astrid and her daughter-in-law princess Claire took four of her grand children along: princess Laeticia Marie (daughter of princess Astrid) and princess Louise, prince Aymeric and prince Nicholas (children of prince Laurent and princess Claire. Apart from the royals many other attended the special show,. For the event 1000 children from underpriviledged families were invited.

L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola (the work of the cradles of princess Paola) was founded in 1876. The original name of the charity was ‘the foundation of the blacks’. In order to raise money and save the nursery, a group of well-off gentlemen decided to create ‘African Academy’; they disguised themselves as black people to avoid recognition in restaurants they frequented as clients. They blackened their faces and put on costumes of white top hat, a black coat and bright-coloured baggy trousers. The ‘Academy’ was very successful and raised enough money to save the nursery. Over the years, raising money for charity in this way has become one of the finest (and funniest) folklore traditions of Brussels.

Click on image to see photo at gva.be

In 1959, shortly after her marriage, Princess Paola accepted the post of Honorary President of the “African Academy”, which was re-named “L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola”. The foundation helps children from underprivileged environment; the help manifests itself in covering medical expenses, acquiring necessary food, clothing, school supplies, etc.

A gallery of pictures is available at the website of the Gazet van Antwerpen, click here. A thread about the current events of the Belgian royal family an be found here.

Marengo Belgian Royals Circus, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Queen Paola