Royal Family of Belgium: Current Events Part 5

[Hannelore]

latest episode of Royalty:

http://www.vtm.be/tv/index_programma...multimedia.htm

part 1:

-prince Filip and the duke of Edinburgh at the celebration for the 350th anniversary of the grenadier guards in Bruges.
- Behind the scenes of "mounting the guards" in London.
- the link between king Charles II and Bruges.
- reception at the royal palace in Brussels for the new consuls and ambassadors.
- Princess Mathilde visits the gala of the circus school of Brussels, that celebrates its 25th anniversary.
- queen Paola has donated one of her vintage Chanel tailleurs (from 1961) to the Antwerp fashion museum. She has donated 2 others as well, but they're not yet on display.

part 2:

- look back on the party for young people at the castle of Laken last week. Swinging Fabiola "I've always adored dancing", also having a word with some of her godchildren "You should live and enjoy every moment as it comes, not worry about the past and the future". (Fabiola steals my heart :))
Also Amedeo talking PERFECT Flemish, saying he's a terrible cook, that it's usual pasta or pizza he has for dinner.
- Japan: princess Kiko gives birth to a son.
- short news from Luxemburg, Holland & Spain.
- the new film "the queen" about the difficult time queen Elizabeth II went through after the death of princess Diana.

[alexandresylvie]

NEW BOOK: With the Attention of its majesty the King

Except Great Britain and Spain, monarchies which remain in Europe
relate to the small ones, even of very small States. Does Belgian monarchy lose its force or it became so obvious that one
tends to underestimate his role? Why Belgium did obtain at the same
time with a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system?
This book which raises multiple questions about the significance of
monarchy, is read like a radioscopy of monarchy in Belgium. Three
specialists in the constitutional law present considerations detailed
on the role, the function, the capacities and the value symbolic
system of the King in Belgium . Source (proxis.be)

[Marengo]

Just a quick question on the Belgian royals:

will the family vote this weekend, when they have elections for the municipalty? In Belgium every citizen is obliged to vote, by law. So hence the question.

[johann]

You´re right. All Belgian citizens are obligated to vote and this applies to all adult members of the royal family as well - with the exception of the king and the queen, they have to remain strictly neutral. Philippe, Mathilde, Astrid, Amedeo and Maria Laura are casting their votes in Laeken and Claire and Laurent in Tervuren.
The pics below are from the European elections in 2004. Claire even was an assessor in Tervuren´s election office then. And I guess she was the only one with personal police protection in whole Belgium. (credit: Belga)

[johann]

An addition to the elections:
Princess Mathilde found herself in the vote flyer of the flamboyant Belgian state secretary Van Quikenborne (alias Quick). Quick pimped his flyer with this pic
(vrt) showing his agenda including an image of Mathilde, Nelson Mandela and himself.

The story behind this pic: Mathilde dedicated this photo to Quickenborne after the much criticised economic mission to South Africa earlier this year. She wrote the following words on it: “Greetings Mathilde P.S. You have been a pleasant tour guide”.
Quick was the person in charge of the government and defended Philippe against the criticism. And he obviously enjoyed the tour since many photographers complained it was hard to shoot a pic of the princely couple without his head showing up between them. Quickenborne earned mockery for this behaviour back then and his latest stunt has been sneered at as well. Quick is unperturbed and stated this flyer has been a shoot in the bull´s eye.

The spokesmen of the court declared that the majority of politicians abstain from this kind of PR but in fact there is no instrument to prevent this. I assume Mathilde is not amused and thinks twice about sending a pic in the future.

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Originally Posted by johann

You´re right. All Belgian citizens are obligated to vote and this applies to all adult members of the royal family as well - with the exception of the king and the queen, they have to remain strictly neutral. . (credit: Belga)

Actually the king and queen are also obliged to go voting, like all other Belgians. They chose not to, to remain neutral, and are probably the only ones who don't get fined for this.

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Thanks for the Van Quickenberghe story Johann! It's typical for him, he'll do anything to get atention from the press. He started off being against the monarchy, untill he got the chance to go to South Africa with the economic mission Philippe presided, he then became a personal heel licker of Philippe and showed up everywhere the prince went, to make sure he was present on all the photos with people like Mandela etc.
Bad taste to use this picture, but I do think it's a nice gesture of Mathilde to write those words on the card.

[johann]

You´re right Cathérine - a rather strange attitude since van Quickenborne is also well-known for his republican ideas.
This is all part of the “Belgian disease” and I fear today’s elections will reflect this self-destructive manner as well.
BTW here are Fabiola, Mathilde and Philippe voting in Laeken today (Oct. 8th). No special treatment - they stand in line like anybody else. And Mathilde carries a bag with a photo of Elisabeth on it. (ap via yahoo, polfoto, getty)

[Marengo]

Thanks Johann. I really dislike how the Flemish press is treating the Duke of Brabant and the RF in general. Always trying to mock, most of the time without a reason (and in bad taste).

And I agree, the royal court will definately not be amused by this! It is rather strange t use such a private message for a political campaign.

[mandyy]

Princess Mathilde of Belgium votes in a polling station in Brussels, Sunday Oct. 8, 2006. Belgium's local elections are taking place Sunday in the whole country, where the vote is compulsory for citizens except for the King and the Queen who can not vote.

from Polfoto

[rominet09]

Lovely bag, I suppose Gabriel and Emmanuel's pix are on the other side !

[johann]

...and some additions from Belga and nieuwsblad:


Belga discovered the bag as well...

[mandyy]

Belgium's Prince Philippe (back L) and Princess Mathilde (back 2ndL) wait to cast their ballot in a polling station in Brussels, 08 October 2006, during the Belgian municipal and provincial elections. Belgian voters go to the polls Sunday for municipal elections which have already highlighted the growing rift between the Dutch-speaking north and the francophone south, with far-right parties exploiting the tension.

from Profimedia

[johann]

You can catch a glimpse of the elections here. (go to Zondag 08/10 13 u, the clip starts at about 33:20 min run time)

There is sad news from Fabiola. Her eldest brother died on Friday and she had to catch an airplane to Spain this morning to be present at his funeral today. Therefore she had to jump the queue. This was a source of embarrassment to her and she apologized for this many times while passing the waiting voters. During electing she told the assessors that she disliked not being able to wait like anyone else and would have preferred to stand in line - but then she would miss her plane. In the mean time Philippe and Mathilde arrived and lined up. They bid farewell to Fabiola who regretted once more that she had to push to the front.

The rest of the clip deals with Mathilde´s bag and casting the ballots.

[johann]

And here are Astrid, Amedeo and Maria-Laura in their polling station. (belga)

[kaydura0717]

Cool thanks for the pics. Who won the elections?

[aliocha]

I love this one http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php..._122_444lo.jpg

What a beautiful smile....

[GrandDuchess]

It's quite funny to see royals at the polling station. It doesn't happen very often, but it's good to see that the Belgian royals even stand in line like everyone else!

[Marengo]

Now I only wonder what they have voted... all Christian Democrats I suspect

The Duke of Brabant must be pleased (as most people are) that Vlaams Belang lost/was stopped in Antwerp, considering what he said about that party in the past.

[johann]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Now I only wonder what they have voted... all Christian Democrats I suspect

I´m not sure about Laurent. I have a hunch that he could be a supporter of Green/ecolo!

The Duke of Brabant must be pleased (as most people are) that Vlaams Belang lost/was stopped in Antwerp, considering what he said about that party in the past.

Philippe surely is pleased; nevertheless the 33% that Vlaams Belang scored in Antwerp are still terrifying.