Prince Laurent in Hospital; March 2014


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It is also because they don't want to be in Belgium for the State Visit from China.
 
leidi said:
Albert en Paola nog ‘enkele dagen’ op vakantie - Het Nieuwsblad

Le prince Laurent est en colère contre son père - RTL people

So, it seems like Albert and Paola can't cancel their holidays for this...
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I don't really see a problem with them not traveling back home for Prince Laurent's stay in the hospital. If he is under the competent care and the treatment he is getting is within normal range for his particular pneumonia, why should they be around in order to sit around and wait? Laurent has both siblings and a wife nearby. For Claire to also have her parents-in-law around while having her husband in the hospital for what appears to have been non-life threatening care would just have added more stress for her. Had I been one of Laurent's parents, I would have conferred with Claire and respected her wishes if she wanted me there for support or just being in phone contact when needed.
 
maria-olivia said:
It is also because they don't want to be in Belgium for the State Visit from China.
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Why don't Albert and Paola want to be in Belgium during the State Visit from China?
 
King Albert and Queen Paola retired and should enjoy their retirement. The state visit from China is the work for King Phillipe and Queen Mathilde and possibly other active members of the royal family (Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid).
 
grevinnan said:
I don't really see a problem with them not traveling back home for Prince Laurent's stay in the hospital. If he is under the competent care and the treatment he is getting is within normal range for his particular pneumonia, why should they be around in order to sit around and wait? Laurent has both siblings and a wife nearby. For Claire to also have her parents-in-law around while having her husband in the hospital for what appears to have been non-life threatening care would just have added more stress for her. Had I been one of Laurent's parents, I would have conferred with Claire and respected her wishes if she wanted me there for support or just being in phone contact when needed.
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I would normally agree with you if we were talking about a normal family with normal dynamics among their members. but we're talking about someone with well known complicated family issues. and press (and people in general) in Belgium kept the whole situation under scrutiny, ready to point the finger at the first wrong step. and to me, Albert and Paola made the worst step possible here.
RTL.be speculates here on the real reason behind their absence and the whole situation
 
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Personally I can not imagine any parent happily staying out of the country while their child is in hospital. Its not as if laurent went in for a cut finger he's been kept in for nights and has even been placed in a coma to help him recover, no matter how much of. Routine procedure this my be surely no parent would sty away if they had the means to get home to see them.
IMO this shows how distant Albert and Paola are from their children, to me its indicative of a couple who allowed their children to be raised by nannies, staff or other family.
I've never been a big fan of Laurent but this shows me actually mybe I feel sorry for him and its not his fault he's always seemed, well, lost.
 
tommy100 said:
Personally I can not imagine any parent happily staying out of the country while their child is in hospital. Its not as if laurent went in for a cut finger he's been kept in for nights and has even been placed in a coma to help him recover, no matter how much of. Routine procedure this my be surely no parent would sty away if they had the means to get home to see them.
IMO this shows how distant Albert and Paola are from their children, to me its indicative of a couple who allowed their children to be raised by nannies, staff or other family.
I've never been a big fan of Laurent but this shows me actually mybe I feel sorry for him and its not his fault he's always seemed, well, lost.
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precisely. and it also show they never cared much of anything. many royal families have cold and distant relationships due to their upbringing and formal education (nannies and others)...but most of them keep up appearances at least. you're a public person...you should behave as people expect you to behave
 
It's hard for me to imagine a situation where I wouldn't return from holiday to see my son if he was seriously ill. With that said, we don't know what the family's dynamics are like. Maybe the relationship between Laurent and his parents is so poor at this point that Albert and Paola knew Laurent wouldn't want them at the hospital. If they wouldn't/couldn't visit him there anyway, and if Claire is updating them regularly, it doesn't make a lot of difference where they are.
 
In those circumstances I would still likely want to at least me in the same country as my child. Not continuing with a holiday, but I'm not royal...
 
According to père Gilbert, Prince Laurent cried of happiness when he woke up from a coma. The priest, Claire + childre, king Philippe and Princess Astrid were saying a prayer around the bed of Laurent, and after they were done the prince suddenly opened his eyes. 'It was wonderful' says the priest. He looked around, had tears of happiness and said all their names. They all said something to him in turns as well.

It was princess Astrid who called Gilbert from Saudi Arabia (she was on a trade mission), who lives in Paris, and asked him to come. She also collected him from the train station.

The article goes on, noting that there was a lot of criticism on Paola and Albert for not returning from Italyn(they have returned this weekend btw). But it also mentioned that Paola was the only family member who visited Laurent when he was hospitalized 15 years ago and emphasized that they were in touch with Claire every day.

HLN speculates about bi-polar disorders and the sort and mentions that the prince is extremely tidy and forced his mother to take of her shes outside when she visited him. Queen Paola refused and left.

"Prins Laurent huilde van geluk bij ontwaken uit coma" - HLN.be
 
I have to say I never thought Laurent was close to his siblings but they seem to have put any differences they may have had to one side to ensure they are there to support their brother. Reading the HLN article about how Princess Astrid got in touch with Laurent's 'mentor' and even picked him up from the airport shows just how concerned and obviously devoted she is to her brother. I wonder if now Philippe is King if the 3 siblings will become a little closer with maybe Astrid acting a bit as a mother figure to them?

I won't even bother to comment on the behaviour of Laurent's parents
 
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Wow, it only took them 11 days to come back and visit their son, maybe they couldn't get a refund from their holiday package so they had to stay in Italy... :cool: :hammer:

Astrid and Laurent have had their differences but as soon as he fell ill, she ran to his side and got his mentor to be there with him, that's what family does.

Same for Philippe, who's in the middle of a very intense agenda but still found time to be by his brother's side.
 
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Marengo said:
According to père Gilbert, Prince Laurent cried of happiness when he woke up from a coma. The priest, Claire + childre, king Philippe and Princess Astrid were saying a prayer around the bed of Laurent, and after they were done the prince suddenly opened his eyes. 'It was wonderful' says the priest. He looked around, had tears of happiness and said all their names. They all said something to him in turns as well.

It was princess Astrid who called Gilbert from Saudi Arabia (she was on a trade mission), who lives in Paris, and asked him to come. She also collected him from the train station.

The article goes on, noting that there was a lot of criticism on Paola and Albert for not returning from Italyn(they have returned this weekend btw). But it also mentioned that Paola was the only family member who visited Laurent when he was hospitalized 15 years ago and emphasized that they were in touch with Claire every day.

HLN speculates about bi-polar disorders and the sort and mentions that the prince is extremely tidy and forced his mother to take of her shes outside when she visited him. Queen Paola refused and left.

"Prins Laurent huilde van geluk bij ontwaken uit coma" - HLN.be
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Glad to read that he has woken up and is doing better.
 
Queen Paola of Belgium issued a press release on Wednesday discussing her feelings about Prince Laurent's illness. She said that she and her husband were very moved to visit Laurent upon their return to Belgium. Since Laurent became ill, they have been in close contact with Claire who they hold in high esteem. "Day after day, we followed the state of his health with the concern of a father and mother." Paola said that Laurent is her most vulnerable child right now and she will give him all of her love and attention. They are particularly concerned for and wish to help Laurent develop a fulfilling and rewarding future with his family once he is out of the clinic.
 
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Lindy said:
Queen Paola of Belgium issued a press release on Wednesday discussing her feelings about Prince Laurent's illness. She said that she and her husband were very moved to visit Laurent upon their return to Belgium. Since Laurent became ill, they have been in close contact with Claire who they hold in high esteem. "Day after day, we followed the state of his health with the concern of a father and mother." Paola said that Laurent is her most vulnerable child right now and needs all of her attention and affection. They are particularly concerned for and wish to help Laurent develop a fulfilling and rewarding future with his family once he is out of the clinic.
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There are at least two separate issues here.

One is concern for Laurent's healthy recovery from pneumonia, for which an induced coma was recently used as one of the tools of treatment.

The other is the broader issue of minor royals having a role.

If politicians deliberately reduce a minor royal's civil allowance, and yet continue to expect him or her to refrain from party politics and from business ventures which might conceivably be controversial, then it becomes increasingly difficult for that person.

I don't think some Belgian politicians have got the message. One of Laurent's foundations had to close down some years ago.
 
leidi said:
Astrid and Laurent have had their differences but as soon as he fell ill, she ran to his side and got his mentor to be there with him, that's what family does.

Same for Philippe, who's in the middle of a very intense agenda but still found time to be by his brother's side.
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Sometimes it is a little difficult for outsiders to understand the family dynamics of siblings. If, for whatever reason, they become estranged or distant, it is often a crisis that shows that regardless of whatever else is happening they still love each other.

In this case we have seen a brother and sister respond to the needs of their brother and his family because they love them regardless. That this may also signal a better relationship is terrific but in the final analysis, we don't know exactly what is was or will be. They may have just grown a little apart over time.

It is wonderful to know Laurent is awake, on the mend and surrounded by those he loves.
 
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Lindy said:
Queen Paola of Belgium issued a press release on Wednesday discussing her feelings about Prince Laurent's illness. She said that she and her husband were very moved to visit Laurent upon their return to Belgium. Since Laurent became ill, they have been in close contact with Claire who they hold in high esteem. "Day after day, we followed the state of his health with the concern of a father and mother." Paola said that Laurent is her most vulnerable child right now and she will give him all of her love and attention. They are particularly concerned for and wish to help Laurent develop a fulfilling and rewarding future with his family once he is out of the clinic.
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This doesn't make any sense-Laurent is her most vulnerable child but she waited a week to see him in the hospital?
 
casualfan said:
This doesn't make any sense-Laurent is her most vulnerable child but she waited a week to see him in the hospital?
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isn't it also amazing how this only comes out when she and Albert are back at home. personally i think they have now seen how the media have questioned them not returning earlier from their holiday and have now had the use of the palace pr machine to help them put out a statement to smooth the waters.
I completely agree about your point above , if she has been that worried and concerned why have they stayed away?
 
And the saga continues...

According to the newspaper 'Het Nieuwsblad', king Filip is angry with his mother. The king knew nothing of the action of his mother and felt insulted as it implied that also he doesn't have enough appreciation of his brother. The king is said to have been doing quite the opposite and tries to involve his brother more. At his fathers court he had become a persona non grata. Newspapers speak about a 'bizarre letter' of Paola.

Koning Filip kwaad na brief Paola | Prive | Telegraaf.nl

http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20140403_01053310

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Binnen...zarre-brief-van-Paola-maakt-Filip-kwaad.dhtml

A crisis expert calls the letter of Paola a clumsy attempt to justify her own absence in the last days, which led to quite some criticism. The letter raises more questions than awnsers.
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/947/Royalt...t-Paola-haar-afwezigheid-te-banaliseren.dhtml
 
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For what I've been able to see, Belgian media (and the people commenting on it) are pretty unforgiving towards Albert and Paola in this issue, call them cold and unfeeling and say that the letter is just something to save face.

BTW: why wasn't it done in both her and Albert's name? That's another PR blunder tbh.

MARG said:
Sometimes it is a little difficult for outsiders to understand the family dynamics of siblings. If, for whatever reason, they become estranged or distant, it is often a crisis that shows that regardless of whatever else is happening they still love each other.

In this case we have seen a brother and sister respond to the needs of their brother and his family because they love them regardless. That this may also signal a better relationship is terrific but in the final analysis, we don't know exactly what is was or will be. They may have just grown a little apart over time.

It is wonderful to know Laurent is awake, on the mend and surrounded by those he loves.
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I agree with you here and this shows that if siblings could put aside their differences to come for their brother in his hour of need, why couldn't their parents do the same?

Frankly, Philippe has been trying to involve Laurent in activities since he became King and was one of the few who publicly supported him (or at least didn't shun him outright) during his Navy trial days, I think everyone knows that and this whole issue kind of show that he's a better man than his father ever was, at least more family oriented and forgiving.
 
Marengo said:
And the saga continues...

According to the newspaper 'Het Nieuwsblad', king Filip is angry with his mother. The king knew nothing of the action of his mother and felt insulted as it implied that also he doesn't have enough appreciation of his brother. The king is said to have been doing quite the opposite and tries to involve his brother more. At his fathers court he had become a persona non grata. Newspapers speak about a 'bizarre letter' of Paola.

Koning Filip kwaad na brief Paola | Prive | Telegraaf.nl

Bizarre brief Paola maakt Filip kwaad - De Standaard

Bizarre brief van Paola maakt Filip kwaad - HLN.be

A crisis expert calls the letter of Paola a clumsy attempt to justify her own absence in the last days, which led to quite some criticism. The letter raises more questions than awnsers.
"Met dit persbericht probeert Paola haar afwezigheid te banaliseren" - HLN.be
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To be honest I found the attitude of Albert & Paola has been very cold towards their younger son's hospitalisation and not what you'd expect from his parents.
 
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Who knows what really happened in family.
 
Usually when a member of a family is seriously ill, everybody rush to him and forget the past....
 
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