King Albert II and Queen Paola - Current events part 4 - (July 2013 - current)


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.

MAfan

Super Moderator
Site Team
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
6,381
City
N/A
Country
Italy
150px-Belgium_coa.png


Welcome to the 4th thread for King Albert II and Queen Paola's current events.

The previous thread can be found here.

Please post current news and pictures of King Albert II and Queen Paola in this thread.



While doing so, please remember to follow the TRF Posting Rules & Guidelines:
  • In order to legally post copyrighted material, you must obtain written permission from the copyright owner.
  • No more than 20% of the text of an article can be posted, along with a link to the original article.
  • It's a copyright violation to post translations of entire articles.
  • Hotlinking of content from other websites is not permitted.
  • We expect our members to treat each other with respect.
 
Last edited:
King Albert II and Queen Paola are vacationing in Northern Italy, in the area of Veneto. Apparently they are using a rented car and travel to see various cathedrals and monuments, among them the lovely villla rotonda by Palladio. The trip was a birthday present of Albert II to his wife.

For a picture see this article:
Albert en Paola duiken op in Italië - HLN.be
 
Thank you guys for posting the article about Queen Paola's surgery.
Glad to know that she is doing well.
 
.

King Albert attended the Land of the Future Award of the Queen Paola Foundation at the Palais des Academies in Brussels today, October 16. The prize is given in collaboration with the Dirk Frimout Foundation and aims to encourage technical, professional, artistic and specialized education.




** Pic ** belga gallery ** apa/picturedesk ** gettyimages **
 
Magazine 'Dag Allemaal' published an article about the lovers of Queen Paola.... and there were many according to them:

- Aldo Vastapane, importer of Mercedes cars and became rich with duty free shops in airports. He was rumoured to be the father of Laurent.

- Salvatore Adamo, singer.

- François-Xavier de Donnéa, former mayor of Brussels.

- Albert de Mun, French photographer.

- Piero Della Rosa, banker from Rome.

The list also contains a member of the Belgian aristocracy, a former minister and an art-maecenas.

For a while prince Laurent spoke about his mother as 'la pute Italliene' to the staff.
Paola had pied-a-terres at Avenue Louise in Brussels and in Paris where she received her lovers.

Explosief: de minnaars van koningin Paola - HLN.be

The magazine is a gossip magazine but they claim to have good sources and the article is all over the press in Belgium and The Netherlands.
 
Le Chevalier de Donnea celebrated as Mayor of Brussels the Civil Wedding of Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde !
 
Magazine 'Dag Allemaal' published an article about the lovers of Queen Paola.... and there were many according to them:

- Aldo Vastapane, importer of Mercedes cars and became rich with duty free shops in airports. He was rumoured to be the father of Laurent.

- Salvatore Adamo, singer.

- François-Xavier de Donnéa, former mayor of Brussels.

- Albert de Mun, French photographer.

- Piero Della Rosa, banker from Rome.

The list also contains a member of the Belgian aristocracy, a former minister and an art-maecenas.

For a while prince Laurent spoke about his mother as 'la pute Italliene' to the staff.
Paola had pied-a-terres at Avenue Louise in Brussels and in Paris where she received her lovers.

Explosief: de minnaars van koningin Paola - HLN.be

The magazine is a gossip magazine but they claim to have good sources and the article is all over the press in Belgium and The Netherlands.

Very busy lady. Lucky for her she did not have to work for a living.
 
Philippe must be *thrilled* that this came out right now, it's just what he needs *rolleyes*
 
I don't think it will harm Philippe one bit actually, very little of the content will have come as a surprise to most Belgians.
 
Le Chevalier de Donnea celebrated as Mayor of Brussels the Civil Wedding of Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde !

*So who married you?
Oh, it was my mother's ex-lover, who happened to be Brussels mayor at the time* :ermm:
Talk about awkward ;)
 
It will not warm Philippe at all, this was known in Belgium .
Adamo said recently he never was Paola's lover!
Some Belgians are still sure that Laurent is the son of Aldo Vastapane ?
With our new King and Queen this will never happen anymore !
 
If I don't mistake, also Vastapane has already said several times that he has never been Queen Paola's lover and that during the 1960s they actually had only few occasions to meet.
 
The new hot news about Albert today is that he asked for contacts to be made with the prime minister with a request for higher income than what was decided at the time of his abdication!!
In fact the government just made a shift between the income of both the crown prince at that time and the outgoing king. The matter was already brought to the attention of the Parliament which expressed negative views on any change to be made.
This is commented very negatively in the press.
 
yes, the vibe i got from the articles i read was more-or-less "we all have to economize, maybe K.Albert should first try to economize too before asking for more money", he gets a little over 900000 euro a year at the moment
 
I find King Albert's request for more funds puzzling. He is privy to complex workings in the government and internal situation. Given the attempts to reduce all expenses associated with the royal family and a gloomy economic situation in Europe, King Albert should not expect the government to be accommodating. Hopefully this request will not reflect on King Philippe's image.
 
Last edited:
Although I like Albert a lot, this request seems rather out of touch. His salary has been based on the salary of the present king and queen as duke and duchess of Brabant. They were able to manage (and had four children to support), why wouldn't Albert and Paola?

I don't know where the king spends his money on, but 900.000 should be enough for a (free) house, some travelling here and there, a secretary and a cleaning lady. The press says that the main issue are his holidays btw. Even if his income doesn't cover his costs: that happens to many/most retired people, who sadly need to turn to their savings to cover the gap between their pension and costs. However, Princess Beatrix gets 1.413.000 euros of which 947.000 euros is for ´functional costs´. If the costs of the king are simular, thta means that his dotation doesn´t even cover his expenses for his function completely and it doesn´t cover his private expenses at all.

It is a pity that Albert is getting in the way of his son like this, who is doing a good job at the moment, he even seems to have found a way to neutralize the loose cannon of the family (Laurent). The obsession of the public with other people´s money makes this issue rather sensitive.
 
Last edited:
And you also have to add that issue with the property they are building in Namur and one wonders if they are actively trying to sabotage their son or they are just being their usual utterly selfish selves ¬¬
 
I find King Albert's request for more funds puzzling. He is privy to complex workings in the government and internal situation. Given the attempts to reduce all expenses associated with the royal family and a gloomy economic situation in Europe, King Albert should not expect the government to be accommodating. Hopefully this request will not reflect on King Philippe's image.

I completely agree with you. It is a completely inappropriate request.
 
And you also have to add that issue with the property they are building in Namur and one wonders if they are actively trying to sabotage their son or they are just being their usual utterly selfish selves ¬¬

Wasn't that blow out of proportion a bit? I believe that even the local people said that the Queen actually dropped by in person and was willing to take their suggestions seriously. I understand that she wants a higher fence for privacy and security issues. There was a simular problem for the fence of Beatrix castle, which was also much more visible than villagers hoped it would be.
 
Last edited:
It really puzzles me that Albert thought he will get away with this. During their weekly meetings the Prime Minister for sure informed him on the budget cuts his government had to perform. And only this January Albert had to deal with Fabiola's financial adventures, openly criticized her and agreed with the reduction of her dotation. And now this? :ermm:
What also disappoints me is that he did all this behind Philippe's back. It's disrespectful, especially since there's the Delphine case already. I really hope Albert is a teamplayer from now on.
 
The King of Belgium says his £770,000 a year allowance, handed to him after he abdicated in July, is not enough to live on.
But Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said there would be no negotiations and the money paid to King Albert II would remain the same.
'The government is not going to change one comma' of the accord thrashed out earlier this year on annual payments to the royal family, he said.
Read more: King of Belgium says he cannot live on £770,000 a year as government rules out increasing his allowance | Mail Online
 
I don't understand my former King. He knew that Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo would refuse. Himself said that each Belgian have to make restrictions !
 
And you also have to add that issue with the property they are building in Namur and one wonders if they are actively trying to sabotage their son or they are just being their usual utterly selfish selves ¬¬

Indeed! I keep hoping that something was lost in the translation here. I cannot accept that the King is really this stupid and selfish.:sad:

I can't help feeling a bit sorry for Philippe. He seems to be doing a great job so far, but it's going to be a looong uphill struggle for him!
 
Last edited:
Wasn't that blow out of proportion a bit? I believe that even the local people said that the Queen actually dropped by in person and was willing to take their suggestions seriously. I understand that she wants a higher fence for privacy and security issues. There was a simular problem for the fence of Beatrix castle, which was also much more visible than villagers hoped it would be.

One thing is a castle or a royal villa and another buying a property next to neighbors, try to make a massive fence there.
It might not be such a big deal but every single little thing she and Albert come up with is directly or indirectly affecting Philippe's reign and is better that either they start helping or keep a very low profile and stop demanding more than they were given.:bang:
 
I have often wondered if Albert was somewhat a bit jealous of his son, he seems like he never really got along with Phillip. Could this be a ploy of his to try to make things more difficult for his son? And I get the feeling that perhaps Albert is regretting giving up the throne........could be his ego is in the way and he can't face getting older. He to me is a disgrace to the people, he is no better then those that have 1 one hundredth of what he lives on and they make do. He is looking like a really selfish greedy old man right now and this does not make him look well in the eyes of the people. Then I wonder, does he really care what the people think of him........asking for this raise, no he doesn't give a darn.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom