Belgian National Day - 21 July, 1: 2009-2022


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What a pity that Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz were not present,I don't particularly care for Prince Laurent so I did not miss him ;)
 
Dear Lucien ,Astrid was King's Daughter and now King's Sister. Nothing to do with the van V. but more like Prince Constantijn.

When Albert II was King each 3 Children had their part of job , now all is centralised by the new King.

The 21 juillet is for us like Trooping de Colours, Koningsdag, King's birtday (Sweden/Norway) where all the Royal Members of the Family are attending even if it is boring.

Have you seen Princess Astrid's face at the Yesterday Evening Concert Event ?

Everybody knows that the van Belgie/de Belgique are not an united family like generations ago (Charles Count of Flanders , Lilian, Princess de Rethy) and it is seen publicly. A Shame.
 
Well, even the seperatist NVA ministers who dislike everything Belgian are there and attend the parade. If they manage to show up what kind of excuse is there for the absent members of the BRF who owe almost everything to Belgium: their social status, their generous salary, their comfortable homes, etc? None! They need their priorities checked asap.
As for Astrid. She behaves unprofessional imo. Every job comes with difficult and unpleasant moments. Grow up and deal with it instead of letting the comapny down. Two years ago she was complaining about too much work, now its too little work. And tomorrow its something else I guess. She better makes peace with her new position or she will end up being on everlasting strike like her mother Paola during the 70ties and 80ties.
 
Astrid did go to a Te Deum this morning. Tonight she has another thing to go to.

Where is Claire. Laurent looks lonely on his own little stage.
 
To be fair: Princess Astrid did attend a concert, did attend a Te Deum and will attend another event. It is not that she remained home or so. The royal family just split up to "cover" parts of the country. Rightly so: Belgium is more than only Brussels.
 
cdm said:
Astrid did go to a Te Deum this morning. Tonight she has another thing to go to.

Where is Claire. Laurent looks lonely on his own little stage.
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On vacation apparently :ermm: I don't know who plan those things, but even a place next to the children for Laurent would have been better. But there, all alone, it was quite sad to see.
 
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Princess Astrid & husband did attend the Te Deum in Arles ánd the concert on the evening before. If she wanted to protest wouldn't she have stayed absent from those occassions too? In the afternoon she and her husband had an event in Namur.

Laurent's seat - seperate from everybody else for some reason - was noted by the press too.

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/947/Royalt...urent-zit-helemaal-apart-tijdens-defile.dhtml

Never a dull moment with the Coburgs ;).
 
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Ow ow Laurent... In grand military tenue, on a dais and under a canopy, telephoning while detachements are parading in front of him, in the sweltering heat??? What a gaffe. And that is supposed to be a (naval) officer?

Imagine Prince Philip blabbing into a phone while the Trooping is under way on Horse Guards' Parade?
 
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Thanks for photos and updates!:flowers:
It is nice to see Princess Astrid and Archduke Lorenz attending the celebrations. It is unfortunate that Prince Laurent could not undertake an engagement without sour-faced attitudes. King Philippe and his family were impeccable as usual. Princess Elisabeth, The Duchess of Brabant, and Prince Gabriel will start helping their parents very soon.
 
Marengo said:
Princess Astrid & husband did attend the Te Deum in Arles ánd the concert on the evening before. If she wanted to protest wouldn't she have stayed absent from those occassions too? In the afternoon she and her husband had an event in Namur.

Laurent's seat - seperate from everybody else for some reason - was noted by the press too.

Opvallend: Laurent zit helemaal apart tijdens defilé - HLN.be

Never a dull moment with the Coburgs ;).
Click to expand...
It would have been easy for Astrid to attend both events, the parade in the afternoon and the folk festival in Namur in the evening - if she really wanted that. And she very well knew what kind of headlines her absence during the main National holiday event will create. It was all over the papers and she did nothing to correct this image.



Regarding Laurent’s seating. That was stupid. He was seated in the lower box like all the years before but this is a sorry sight when there is just one person to take place. They should have seated him on the main stage this year.
 
Ah, that explains it, thank you Mara.

I suppose we do not know what exactly happened but a rift is likely indeed. We do not know if this was casued by Astrid or by the palace. Of course it is not the first time that everybody was absent, it happened in winter too at the Te Deum for deceased members of the RF. Princess Esmeralda and Princess Lea were the only ones to attend apart from the king and queen.

Perhaps the king made the -highly necessary - changes in such a high pace that forgot to get his relatives aboard. Let's hope they will find a way to work things out.
 
It's really funny/sad that the only one that deemed to show up was Laurent, the black sheep of the family.

I had a very different impression of Astrid but she's letting me down lately, she has to help her brother whenever he needs her, not when she wants to.
 
*Mara* said:
It would have been easy for Astrid to attend both events, the parade in the afternoon and the folk festival in Namur in the evening - if she really wanted that. And she very well knew what kind of headlines her absence during the main National holiday event will create. It was all over the papers and she did nothing to correct this image.



Regarding Laurent’s seating. That was stupid. He was seated in the lower box like all the years before but this is a sorry sight when there is just one person to take place. They should have seated him on the main stage this year.
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Precisely, both Laurent and her have attended in the past Te Deum services outside Brussels and then joined the rest of the family for the parade in the afternoon. She has specifically decided to avoid the event that involved the presence of her brother as Head of State and Chief of the Army.
Of course I appreciate that they don't hide themselves under a facade of happy family, but the National Day is a moment when all the difficulties in the Royal Family should be put aside and celebrate the Nation. This year in particular, the Army and what it has done (and it's still doing) to fight the terrorism needs to be formally recognized and celebrated by all the members of the royal family.
 
I am a big fan of Philippe and Mathilde but I am shocked to see where Laurent was placed....
 
HI&RH Princess Astrid & HI&RH Prince Lorenz,Archduke of Austria Este attended the Te Deum Mass at l'Eglise Saint Martin in Arlon.


Belga Image - Editorial
 
Indeed, Laurent is Laurent... At least he greeted his nieces and nephews.

There were still 60.000 people celebrating in Brussels, despite the tightened security measures and last week's attack on the French national holiday. The security forces must be relieved that the day ended without a drama.
 
Though I don't really have much time for Prince Laurent it was kind of sad to see him on his own without his wife/children,does anyone know as to why Princess Claire was absent from the Belgian National Day celebrations?
 
Marchesina said:
That was very sweet from him...he's just a complicated man. Again, pity he was left alone in that corner...shame on whoever planned it...
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The Prince was not really "left alone in that corner": that specific place on the dais was always for members of the royal family, but yesterday it happened to be only one person. Apparently the Court was not that flexible to fix the seating arrangements, probably it did not even cross the minds of the organisators that it would result in an unlucky photo opportunity for the media.

An Ard Ri said:
HI&RH Princess Astrid & HI&RH Prince Lorenz,Archduke of Austria Este attended the Te Deum Mass at l'Eglise Saint Martin in Arlon.


Belga Image - Editorial
Click to expand...

Interesting enough there was plenty of decorum around Princess Astrid, with all those military aides-de-camp and the civil authorities with their sashes. It did not look "lesser" than the Te Deum in Brussels.
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
Interesting enough there was plenty of decorum around Princess Astrid, with all those military aides-de-camp and the civil authorities with their sashes. It did not look "lesser" than the Te Deum in Brussels.
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Yes I noticed that too and also the church looked like a very splendid and historic building,perfect setting for a Te Deum.
 
I was sad to see Laurent alone , it was a mistake of the palace to put him apart, he would be near the children, it would be nice..
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
The Prince was not really "left alone in that corner": that specific place on the dais was always for members of the royal family, but yesterday it happened to be only one person. Apparently the Court was not that flexible to fix the seating arrangements, probably it did not even cross the minds of the organisators that it would result in an unlucky photo opportunity for the media.
Click to expand...

I know that it's the usual place for members of the extended royal family. But you can't deny having him there, all alone (without his family or at least his sister), looked off. I have to say, if it was a decision from the Court, it was a very bad one. They know that any tiny faux pas is inevitably judged and over analyzed, and given Laurent was the only one in attendance, they could have easily arranged a seat for him in the main dais.
 
Given the terrible events in Belgium earlier this year it would be nice to see a united Royal Family,the absence of Princess Claire in particular struck me as selfish seeing as it was National Day!
 
Selfishness is not something I can easily attribute to Princess Claire, I must say. Maybe there are deep waters between Prince Laurent and his spouse. Claire has not exactly married the most goodnatured and easygoing dude, we must admit...
 
We pay the Royals to do their job.
Their Job is to work a little bit and attend at least our National Day!
 
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