Princess Louise and Princes Nicolas and Aymeric - News and Pictures 1

[Alexandria]

Colorpress

Virelles, Belgium - Prince Laurent, Princess Claire and baby Louise in Virelles.

Pretty in pink

Louise makes 3

Louise and Mommy

Doting Mama Claire

Family walk

Over the bridge we go, 1

Over the bridge we go, 2

Water reflection

Moderator Note: Picture links don't work

[Gabriella]

Thank you for those pictures Alexandria! I haven't seen any of her since she was born. She is absolutely beautiful. She looks so sweet.

[Fireweaver]

Louise is adorable. She doesn't look very happy in some of the pictures though. Maybe Mommy and Daddy have her up past her naptime :)

[Dennism]

Or she`s hungry or she is upset that Belgium lost to Germany the other day or she is thinking about a solution to a chemistry problem.

[Alisa]

Or she`s hungry or she is upset that Belgium lost to Germany the other day or she is thinking about a solution to a chemistry problem.

Chemists don't have problems, they only have "solutions" :P

[Dennism]

Yes. I know. She is cold! That is a distinct possibility.

[Alexandria]

Originally posted by Dennism@Apr 3rd, 2004 - 9:35 pm
Yes. I know. She is cold! That is a distinct possibility.

Actually, parents are more likely to over dress their babies than under dress them, as it is always easier to remove layers than add layers. So maybe she is too warm ...?

Or she is just being a baby and her facial expressions don't have particular meaning at all!

[Dennism]

Originally posted by Alexandria+Apr 3rd, 2004 - 10:39 pm--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Alexandria @ Apr 3rd, 2004 - 10:39 pm)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Dennism@Apr 3rd, 2004 - 9:35 pm
Yes. I know.&nbsp; She is cold! That is a distinct possibility.

Actually, parents are more likely to over dress their babies than under dress them, as it is always easier to remove layers than add layers. So maybe she is too warm ...?

Or she is just being a baby and her facial expressions don't have particular meaning at all! [/b][/quote]
Yeah, probably that last thing.

[Jelka]

Louise hasn't changed a bit, her face looks exactly the same as on her first pictures!!
What were they doing there? I mean there are so many people, is it just a walk with the family or what?

[sara1981]

I wanted know when Prince Laurent and wife's baby have christening ? like this summer or in months ? since birth February her baby daughter now as about 2-3 month old.

Sara Boyce

[didem]

Princess Louise very sweet
thank you for photos

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Laurent and Claire want their daughter's baptism to be 'secret'. Claire's grandmother, Marie-Louise Mertens, told a Flemish news paper that by the time the press will find out, the child will already be baptized.
Louise is nearly 6 months old. The palace says they don't know anything about the date either. ' Normally a prince or princess is baptized within 4 months'.

The priest who will baptize Louise is Guy Gilbert, who has already spoken to the girl's godfather, but he does not wish to tell who it is.

source: VRT

[Hannelore]

How stupid, they could just at least do a little gesture towards the public. Like Filip and Mathilde did, by anouncing it beforehand, so people who are interested can come and greet them.

Oh well, I suppose Laurent doesn't really care about the public :( :(

[Genevieve]

Originally posted by Hannelore@Jul 25th, 2004 - 11:26 am
How stupid, they could just at least do a little gesture towards the public. Like Filip and Mathilde did, by anouncing it beforehand, so people who are interested can come and greet them.

Oh well, I suppose Laurent doesn't really care about the public :( :(

I don't find it "stupid" per se -- as that is a pretty harsh word. I think that it's the language that has been used in regards to Louise's baptism that I find disrespectful for the Beglian people who may be interested in Laurent, Claire and Louise and want to wish them well as you say. It's that Laurent and Claire want the baptism to be "secret" as opposed to "private." Two very distinctly different explanations for a non-public baptism.

Phillippe and Mathilde opted for private baptisms for both their children -- not a lot of fuss or media presence as was the case in Ingrid of Norway's baptism, but some pictures would be released. And in asking for a "private" baptism, Phillippe and Mathilde made it clear that it was a family-only occasion and not one for a lot of public fuss and attention, but at the same time respecting and honouring the public's curiosity and interest in their family. Laurent and Claire seem blatantly disrespectful of this interest in saying it's a "secret" baptism. Yes, they have a right to their privacy, but what's the big deal of saying that it's a "private" baptism and asking the public to leave them alone for this one day.

Good thing Laurent and Claire will not be the future King and King consort of Belgium!

[Danielane]

Originally posted by Genevieve+Jul 25th, 2004 - 10:35 am--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Genevieve @ Jul 25th, 2004 - 10:35 am)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Hannelore@Jul 25th, 2004 - 11:26 am
How stupid, they could just at least do a little gesture towards the public. Like Filip and Mathilde did, by anouncing it beforehand, so people who are interested can come and greet them.

Oh well, I suppose Laurent doesn't really care about the public&nbsp; :(&nbsp; :(

I don't find it "stupid" per se -- as that is a pretty harsh word. I think that it's the language that has been used in regards to Louise's baptism that I find disrespectful for the Beglian people who may be interested in Laurent, Claire and Louise and want to wish them well as you say. It's that Laurent and Claire want the baptism to be "secret" as opposed to "private." Two very distinctly different explanations for a non-public baptism.

Phillippe and Mathilde opted for private baptisms for both their children -- not a lot of fuss or media presence as was the case in Ingrid of Norway's baptism, but some pictures would be released. And in asking for a "private" baptism, Phillippe and Mathilde made it clear that it was a family-only occasion and not one for a lot of public fuss and attention, but at the same time respecting and honouring the public's curiosity and interest in their family. Laurent and Claire seem blatantly disrespectful of this interest in saying it's a "secret" baptism. Yes, they have a right to their privacy, but what's the big deal of saying that it's a "private" baptism and asking the public to leave them alone for this one day.

Good thing Laurent and Claire will not be the future King and King consort of Belgium! [/quote]


I don't think it's disrespectful. But I hope that, as for Lady Louise's baptism in England, there will be at least one official photo.
It's IMO precisely because Laurent will never be King that Claire and him don't want as much fuss as for Elisabeth and Gabriel. And I guess that, if her mother hadn't for a very long time so close to the throne, Laetitia Maria's baptism would never have been what it was.

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Joanna Grant (Claire's sister), will be Louise's godmother.

Rehza Pahlavi (son of the former sjah of Iran) will be her godfather. He will be an 'unofficial' godfather, because the roman catholic church doesn't allow people with a different religion than the roman catholic to become godparent. (and Rehza Pahlavi is a muslim). He will however be present at the baptism, which will take place in September.

Father Guy Gilbert will baptize Louise.

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

On the site of father Guy Gilbert you can read that Louise will have two godmothers (????) and that -as said before- Reza Pahlavi will be her 'parrain de coeur'. The never ending story I guess, let's just wait and see what happens when she eventually does get baptized.

Meanwhile, Laurent & Claire took their little one with them to France in August to visit Gilbert on his 'farm'.

[Alisa]

From all accounts that I have read on the BRMB he appears to be a rather liberal priest. Can you explain a little more about him Catherine?

thanks:)

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Originally Posted by Alisa

From all accounts that I have read on the BRMB he appears to be a rather liberal priest. Can you explain a little more about him Catherine?

thanks:)

He is liberal and not liberal actually.

He is a bit of a rebel and I understand very well that Laurent likes him so much. Father Gilbert has always been concerned about the cast outs. He's different from a parish priest, because he dedicates himself solely to young criminals, drugusers, people who come out of jail and have nowhere to go, who apparently have no future. Those young people are welcome on his farm and by taking care of the animals, and living together he tries to reinsert them in society. He also says mass every day on his farm.

So this is all very liberal but he does also stay very close to the church. In an interview he said that he is against homosexuals getting married. He likes the pope (but not as much as he likes Louis de Funès -a French actor- :) ), and he said the only reason why he buys condoms for his young people, is because they're not in a condition where they're capable of raising children.

He's a good priest IMO who doesn't want to exclude anyone: at the marriage of Laurent he also welcomed the divorced people in church, and who were watching TV. His speech was wonderful and moved everyone. He adressed the royal guests by saying: "you may have all the titles and all the money in the world, if you don't have love, you're nothing." He also asked to pray for "the child that's not yet born, and that's sleeping in the temple of his mother's body", which made Mathilde (who was expecting Gabriel) wipe away a tear :) .

Guy Gilbert has also written several books, but I haven't read them (yet), so I can't say anything about them. He looks a bit strange (bewildered :) ), but he does a very useful job, and stays close to the church at the same time. At the time of the wedding he said he was proud to be standing near to an archbishop. He's very down to earth and knows how to say things in a direct but beautiful way.

I think that Laurent's current popularity, is largely due to his friend Guy Gilbert (btw he also knows the rest of the royal family. He met Astrid & Philippe and their families when he was in Belgium, and Paola & Albert have also visited him on his farm).

[MoonlightRhapsody]

Originally Posted by Cathérine Bergeyck

Joanna Grant (Claire's sister), will be Louise's godmother.

Rehza Pahlavi (son of the former sjah of Iran) will be her godfather. He will be an 'unofficial' godfather, because the roman catholic church doesn't allow people with a different religion than the roman catholic to become godparent. (and Rehza Pahlavi is a muslim). He will however be present at the baptism, which will take place in September.

Father Guy Gilbert will baptize Louise.

You know, I don't know what Tehran is whining about with Pahlavi being an unofficial godfather of choice by Laurent. They're making the son pay for the acts of his father and it's not as if he's there as an official representative of Iran, he just happened to be Iranian in ethnicity.

Frankly, I applaud having someone from a different religion as a godparent, official or otherwise. I'm catholic myself, but I think that having a different perspective on the religions of the world will promote tolerance and peace. That understanding will go especially far with a member of a royal family since they're supposed to set the example.