King Albert II Announces his Abdication: July 3rd 2013


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Combining everything on the 21st is a good thing in my opinion. All the military and politicians would allready be in Brussels for the National Day and thus much extra costs for a seperate abdication/enthronisation are avoided.
Good point about combining to reduce costs!

I too hope for summer pictures. Last years pictures were beautiful! Can't wait for tomorrow though. The activities of the princely couple aren't cancelled, so there will be lots of journalists to ask a reaction/congratulate them.

UK is never going to abdicate. The tradition of the monarchy is so old there, that abdicition doesn't seem possible. Charles will have to wait :D

I also heard on the news that on 21 july, there first will be the Te Deum in the church, with King Albert and after that he will abdicate. So that the two royal couples can enjoy the rest of the festivities together.
 
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I also heard on the news that on 21 july, there first will be the Te Deum in the church, with King Albert and after that he will abdicate. So that the two royal couples can enjoy the rest of the festivities together.

So after the Te Deum and before the Miltary Parade? But will they have also the time to go the Parliament so that Philippe can take the oath. or will that take place at another day?
 
I love Albert II and Paola , but it was time for Albert to abdicate.
I also like this new trend ( abdicating ) it's much better than a sad and depressing inaguration IMO.
I don't think that the Belgians are going to adore Philippe for some time but I believe we all are gonna love the new Queen Mathilde.
 
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OMG so the rumours we heard were true! :eek:

I'm so happy this is happening, I think Philippe is going to be a great king :flowers:
 
So after the Te Deum and before the Miltary Parade? But will they have also the time to go the Parliament so that Philippe can take the oath. or will that take place at another day?

It will be the same day as I understand it. But I have no idea how they will do it :D Perhaps they will postpone some of the festivities like the parade? This does imply however that there will be no big ride or other things like in the Netherlands. As fas as I know, the only things needing to happen is the signing of the abdication by Albert and the oath in 3 languages of Filip. This will not take up too much time, I suppose.
 
So after the Te Deum and before the Miltary Parade? But will they have also the time to go the Parliament so that Philippe can take the oath. or will that take place at another day?

Normally on National Day the Te Deum is in the morning and the military parade in the afternoon.

A minister said on TV that the Te Deum will be moved forward a bit.
So that the abdication and oath can happen between the Te Deum and the parade.
And it was allready decided that the tribune for the military parade would be facing the palace this year instead of standing in front of it. Maybe that means that a balcony appearance could happen.

I don't know where the abdication will take place, in the palace or the parliament. Anyway, both are only seperated by a park. So it won't take long to go from palace to parliament.


The flemish news site also has a page in English, Flandersnews.be , where you can find more articles about the abdication, information and portraits.


Do you think anything will change about the visit of W-A and Maxima, now that Belgium will have a new King and Queen when they'll visit?
There are some protocally rules about a new King and Queen visiting other countries first, before inviting. Maybe they can meet at the border :)
 
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What are coronation or inauguration procedures in Belgium?
 
What are coronation or inauguration procedures in Belgium?

I believe it is a very simple ceremony. The new king will swear in front of the parliament and his family are also present of course. And there are no crowns in Belgium. There might be some festivities.
 
The Dutch King Willem-Alexander has to make a new appointment to come in Brussels. It was schdueld on 14 October for Willem Alexander and Maxima to go on introductory visit to King Albert II and Queen Paola.

It is a custom that the head of state visits first the longer reigning colleague. With the resignation of King Albert on July 21 in favor of Prince Philippe, the roles are reversed. Not Willem-Alexander but King Philip is the 'junior' head of state, and therefore the first visit needs to take place in Holland. An easy solution is available by maintaining the date and invite Philippe and Mathilde in The Hague.

As the visit is planned for 14. October perhaps they can schedule a short Visit of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde to the Netherlands before it.
 
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I have thought that the king has been looking a bit frail. And I've thought the same re king harald of Norway. Phillipe seems to be a kind and gentle person and a loving husband and father. That kind of person worked out well for England in Queen Elizabeth's father.
 
Best wishes to King Albert and Queen Paola and to The future King Philippe and Queen Mathilde!

I am somewhat surprised that Belgium is the next on the abdication 2013 train .... I really thought it would be Spain given the various issues with the King, Inaki, etc ...

Oh well!
 
I think it's very likely that there will be abdications in the scandinavian countries as well. In Norway, the crown prince couples children are in school (not too small). In Denmark the crown prince has small kids, but they're likely done with having kids (Mary's almost 40 and they have four kids). In Sweden, I guess that Victoria and Daniel will have more kids, aka not a great time to take over the throne. If they had been on the same time schedule as the norwegian prince couple, I actually think that king Carl Gustav would have abdicated already.

So, yes, I think we will see abdications in the scandinavian royal houses over the next decade or so. In the UK? No way. That lady isn't going anywhere :)

No

Haakon might be appointed Crown Prince Regent at some point like Harald was during King Olavs last year but Harald will never abdicate. Same for Margrethe / Frederik.

Don't think my own King will abdicate. There is absolutely no tradition of abdicating in Sweden and the only one who actually has Gustaf IV Adolf was because of a coup. Victoria and Daniel will likely try to get 1 or 2 more children and i hope they will be allowed to live a normal family life for some years before they have to take over the "top job"
 
No

Haakon might be appointed Crown Prince Regent at some point like Harald was during King Olavs last year but Harald will never abdicate. Same for Margrethe / Frederik.

Don't think my own King will abdicate. There is absolutely no tradition of abdicating in Sweden and the only one who actually has Gustaf IV Adolf was because of a coup. Victoria and Daniel will likely try to get 1 or 2 more children and i hope they will be allowed to live a normal family life for some years before they have to take over the "top job"

And Queen Kristina voluntarily
 
No

Haakon might be appointed Crown Prince Regent at some point like Harald was during King Olavs last year but Harald will never abdicate. Same for Margrethe / Frederik.

Don't think my own King will abdicate. There is absolutely no tradition of abdicating in Sweden and the only one who actually has Gustaf IV Adolf was because of a coup. Victoria and Daniel will likely try to get 1 or 2 more children and i hope they will be allowed to live a normal family life for some years before they have to take over the "top job"

Oh, I totally agree that Victoria and Daniel should be given another ten years or so before they take over. I'm fully aware that there isn't a tradition of abdication here in Sweden. However, as conservative as the King might be, he's also done some things that surprised people. "För Sverige i tiden", you know :) To take a current example, he allowed Sofia in the family pictures for the wedding bans of Madeleine and Chris. There is certainly no tradition of things like that...

Belgium doesn't have a tradition of abdication. In fact, I think that the Netherlands is an exceptions. But there are new winds blowing in most of the royal houses in Europe these days. I think we'll se more abdications over the next decade. My guess: Spain, Norway and perhaps also Denmark.
 
I think it's very likely that there will be abdications in the scandinavian countries as well. In Norway, the crown prince couples children are in school (not too small). In Denmark the crown prince has small kids, but they're likely done with having kids (Mary's almost 40 and they have four kids). In Sweden, I guess that Victoria and Daniel will have more kids, aka not a great time to take over the throne. If they had been on the same time schedule as the norwegian prince couple, I actually think that king Carl Gustav would have abdicated already.

So, yes, I think we will see abdications in the scandinavian royal houses over the next decade or so. In the UK? No way. That lady isn't going anywhere :)

I don't see the Swedish king near abdicating at all, neither margarethe of Denmark , she still is an energetic, popular queen. The Norwegian king , maybe , but not now ,Some years from now . I also don't think queen Elizabeth will ever abdicate.
 
What a surprising year we've got! Many major Royalty news happening now and then...

King Juan Carlos and Queen Margrethe both stated that they won't abdicate, so for them is ultimate death.
Queen Elisabeth II, King Harald and King Carl Gustaf belong to the tradition of "Monarch until death", so they won't abdicate either.
I think we won't get any more abdications in the near future, if we're going to have a new monarch and consort, then that means that the current one passed away.
 
I don't see the Swedish king near abdicating at all, neither margarethe of Denmark , she still is an energetic, popular queen. The Norwegian king , maybe , but not now ,Some years from now . I also don't think queen Elizabeth will ever abdicate.

I'm not saying that Carl Gustav or Margrethe will abdicate in a near future. But i do think they will abdicate. Just because it's not tradition doesn't mean it can't happen. Just look at Belgium.
 
Anybody who is Netherlands and Belgium if you tune in to canvas now .. They have documentary about King Albert and family ..
 
what a great news! of course there's a bit of sadness of Albert, especially after hearing that he's retiring because of health problems. but I'm liking this new succession trend more and more. When a new sovereign accede to the throne after a death there's always a shade of melancholia all over the ceremonies...instead now we can all enjoy the celebrations being in a good mood.
I thought they were going to have the abdication/accession on the King's day, in order to have a proper celebration for Albert's 20th anniversary. But now I think it's just great that they're doing it on the National Day. As Belgian Prime Minister said it'll be a great celebration for both the Kings, the new Queen of course and the whole nation.
and since it's sunday...let's all enjoy this altogether here lol
 
Totally unexpected to me.. A choc !
HM was standing before the Painting of our first King Leopold I and was reading his speech. He did it perfectly and then our Prime Minister said he was worried about the King's health and to-morrow they will start to prepare the future King's Investiture.
All will happen the same Day our National day 21/7 , we will have 2 Kings, 3 Queens and a Crown Princess.
4 young children will be King's Children and their life and future will change.
The Dotations of the King's brother and Sister will change.
The most important : The Future King's power will change also .
The small commune of Laeken may not have a King in its Castle , a King in Belvedère Castle and a widow Queen in Stuyvenberg Castle.

All this was to quick and too unexpected to me and it is to early to say I am really happy !
 
what about little Elisabeth now? will she be styled Duchess of Brabant?
 
Can we expect another Van Rossem type incident when Philippe is sworn in? I expect it.
 
Totally unexpected to me.. A choc !
HM was standing before the Painting of our first King Leopold I and was reading his speech. He did it perfectly and then our Prime Minister said he was worried about the King's health and to-morrow they will start to prepare the future King's Investiture.
All will happen the same Day our National day 21/7 , we will have 2 Kings, 3 Queens and a Crown Princess.
4 young children will be King's Children and their life and future will change.
The Dotations of the King's brother and Sister will change.
The most important : The Future King's power will change also .
The small commune of Laeken may not have a King in its Castle , a King in Belvedère Castle and a widow Queen in Stuyvenberg Castle.

All this was to quick and too unexpected to me and it is to early to say I am really happy !

I hadn't thought about residences but I assume the new King and Queen will continue to reside at the Royal Palace of Laeken with Albert & Paola at Belvédère.
 
This totally took me by a surprise. While I think that Philippe and Mathilde will do a great job, I admittedly am sad to see King Albert leave. He is the epitome of a great monarch who has managed to support and gather the Belgians the best way he could. I understand him though, he's not young anymore and I guess it was the right thing to do.

Regarding other European abdications, you can almost be 100% certain that QMII wont follow the same path. She said an excellent thing a couple of years ago, "jeg bliver på pinden, til jeg falder af den" (bad translation: "I stay on my branch/stick till I fall off"). With all due respect to the monarchs who have abdicated, I think that to QMII, abdication isn't even an option. The role as a monarch is something you have for life (which I think she's actually said once).
 
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I love King Albert and I already love Philippe and Mathilde ! I am happy for them....
Long live the Royal Family !
 
I wonder if there will be a party after the ceremony like in Holland ? I'd love that but I fear everyone is on holiday then !
 
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