Royal Family of Belgium: Current Events Part 5

[johann]

and the last ones (senate.be) They pampered their guest with well-known Belgian specialities: chips, beer and patisserie.



and yes, the castle of Laeken is large and beautiful….


several more pics can be found here: http://www.senate.be/oscepa-brussels/index.html

[Peaches]

Look at the very last pic that Johan posted, the one with the guy talking on his phone. Can you see the escape ladder, especially towards the roof of the building? Isn't that the coolest escape ladder you've ever seen?

[Emily]

Yes, it is an escape ladder with character! Johann, thank you for these wonderful high quality photos -- what a treat to get to see all the details of the buildings, people's faces and their clothing!

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Thanks Johann! Lovely photos, Paola looks especially nice I think.

[johann]

Today, King Albert and Queen Paola host a reception for 600 young people (aged between 16 and 21), who engage themselves in social and community service-related activities. Each Belgian province is requested to send a delegation consisting of 60 young volunteers, social workers and one show act (=bands, theatre groups, etc.).

The artists will perform in the presence of royal spectators in the Royal Castle of Laeken. Albert and Paola are going to watch the theatre company “Fabuleus”. Fabiola, Laurent and Claire will listen to the band “Mint”, whose bassist already joked he would like to see a head banging Fabiola. Philippe and Mathilde are going to enjoy the music of the band “Absynthe Minded” whilst Astrid and Lorenz will follow the singer-songwriter “Axl Peleman”.
Afterwards there is a reception for everybody and time to exchange experiences.

A very nice gesture of appreciation towards all these young volunteers and their commitment and surely a lot of fun! Even if Fabiola will listen without shaking her head up and down.

[johann]

Here are some pics from today. (getty)

[johann]

...and Astrid´s children are present too, meanwhile Claire is missing because one of her kiddies is sick.
(belga, more pics can be found here: http://picture.belga.be/cgi-bin/belg...es/159831.html)

[Emily]

Karin you're a gem....these pictures are wonderful to see and the video of Fabiola rockin' to the beat are great! As a diehard BRF fan, it is nice to see them out and about again.

[johann]

Originally Posted by Emily

Karin you're a gem....these pictures are wonderful to see and the video of Fabiola rockin' to the beat are great! As a diehard BRF fan, it is nice to see them out and about again.

Thanks –it was a great pleasure to do so! And it´s not over yet. Seegerpress has some pics too. (www.seegerpress-online.de/seegerpress-cgi/topixx, type in: Belgien)


featuring the dancing queen

and belga added some new pics!

[johann]

King Albert, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde hosted a reception for the Belgian Ambassadors abroad in the Royal Palace of Brussels today. The reception took place during the Diplomatic Contacts Days.
(PPE, more can be found here)




And some impressions from belga, follow this link to see more

[selminha]

Wow!!! Mathilde has looked wonderful at all her events.

[Sister Morphine]

I agree....Mathilde has looked smashing. I really like the color of her dress/jacket in the above pictures. Usually I don't like really bright colors, but that color looks quite good on her.

[johann]

Fabiola surprised everybody with her dancing performance. She made the headlines of some newspapers today and even was topic of the evening news.
http://www.vtm.be/nieuws/index_bekijkonline.htm
(go to Maandag04/09, 19u, the clip starts at about 3.30min running time)

You can watch her leaving her folding chair just after the Mint singer dedicated the following song to her. She was vividly swinging around and interacting with the young people. Mint’s bassist afterwards commented that it was “bizarre but fantastic”. Many people are surprised by her dashing manner since Fabiola is seen as a very devout and secluded woman. (Annotation: The TV-commentator notes that she is somewhat misunderstood and explains her way of acting with her involvement in the charismatic movement and her contact to the youth culture due to her closeness with Astrid’s young children.)

(source: Het Laatste Nieuws)

[magnik]

Wow! What a surprise! This Lady is just great :punk:

[johann]

For those who are interested, the new episode of Royalty is online
http://www.vtm.be/tv/index_programma...multimedia.htm

Part One:
1. The reception for 600 young people in Laeken with swinging Fabiola again
2. Gabriel’s first school day: Gabriel and his cousin Laetitia Maria visit the same class; Mathilde is versed in leaving a kid in school for the first time, in contrast to Elisabeth’s first day of school she shed no tears this time; Maria Laura begins her studies in management and sinology in London next month; and according to Mathilde Gabriel is used to the Sint Jans Berchmans college, because he picked up his sister several times.
3. Prince Philippe visits an air show
4. Princess Esmeralda, Prince Alexander and his wife open an exhibition of photos taken by King Leopold III. in Waterloo; there are about 50.000 photos, so drawing up a shortlist was difficult
Part Two:
1. Paola’s injury
2. Beatrix and Philippe visit the shooting match in Stramproy
3. Belgium’s National Day
4. Wedding of Elisabeth d'Udekem d'Acoz & Marquis Alfonso Pallavicini
5. various royal news from around Europe (e.g. Masako, Naruhito and Aiko visiting The Netherlands)

[Marengo]

This is really great Johann! I was so surprised when I read about a dancing Fabiola in my (dutch) newspaper this morning! Her spanish roots show, even at 78 (something I keep forgetting)!


on a different note: her dutch is really perfect IMO.

-

To johann: I reposted the link (with credits to you) at the Benelux Royals MB, as I was unable to see it there and I know that posters there would love to see Fabiola dancing to. I hope you don´t mind.

[crisiñaki]

Fabiola Rocks!:punk::punk:
What I love the most about her is that you think you have her figured out and then she goes and does something like this!
I love that she keeps a young spirit and isn't afraid to show it!

[aliocha]

silly question what is sinology ??

[johann]

Originally Posted by aliocha

silly question what is sinology ??

Sinology is the study of Chinese language, literature, history and culture.

[aliocha]

Originally Posted by johann

Sinology is the study of Chinese language, literature, history and culture.

Thanks a lot

when I saw the answer, I said myself that the question was really ridiculous ...