Royal Belgian Calendar

[Hannelore]

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[purple_platinum]

MAY 2006

06/05/2006
Prince Laurent
Inauguration
Inauguration of the exposition "ScienCofolies", organized by the Sainte-Croix College and Notre-Dame de Hannut. This initiative consists of creation and animation, during about fifteen the science of the College, of an interactive museum of sciences and technology, intended for the pupils of the 6th primary year.

07/05/2006
Prince Laurent
Marche International of Blankenberge
the Prince takes part in the International Walk of Blankenberge which, in 2005, gathered more than 9000 walkers coming from 26 different countries. The purpose of this initiative is (to re)découvrir the richnesses of nature in Western Flanders and along the coast.

09/05/2006
the King
Visit to Courtrai
Visit to Courtrai, to "Provinciaal Technisch Instituut" which celebrates its 150ième anniversary.
The King takes part in it in a meeting of work on provincial technical teaching. Then, the City presents at the King his project "Kortrijk, designregio".

09/05/2006
Princess Mathilde
Prize-Ceremony
The Princess Mathilde will present "InBev-Baillet Latour de la Santé 2006" Prize at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels.
"Price InBev-Baillet Latour of Health 2006", have the topic "Immunity and infectious diseases".

13/05/2006
Prince Laurent
Visit
Visit to the Center of Revalidation for handicapped birds of the Area of Brussels-Capital, emanation of the Belgian Royale league for the protection of the Birds, at the time of its open days. The Center of Revalidation will present at this occasion its vision of the protection of fauna in our cities as of the councils concerning the procedure if one would find a savage animal wounded or a bird fallen from the nest.

16/05/2006
The King, The Queen
Visit
Visit to Brussels to “Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg”, recently renovated. The Sovereigns also attend to with it the representation “Winch Only” of Christopher Marthaler within the framework of KunstenFestivalDesArts.

16/05/2006
Prince Laurent
Inauguration
Inauguration at Libramont, of the new barracks of the Civil Protection which will bear the name of the Prince.

16/05/2006
The King
Audiences
- Audience with Mr. Rudy Demotte, Minister for the social Affairs and the Public health.
- Audience with S.E. M. Evo MORALES AIMA, Président of BOLIVIA.

17/05/2006
The King
Visit
The King goes to Dessel et Mol. He returns initially a visit to the Sibelco company in Dessel, specialized in the sand extraction, his transformation and his distribution.
Then, the King goes to the SCK-CEN (Center of Study of the nuclear Energy) where he visits the engine of research BR-1 which has existed for 50 years.

17/05/2006
The Queen
Queen Paola Prize
The Queen presents, in the Green house of Laeken, the diplomas of the Queen Paola Prize for the Teaching 2005-2006 which relates to this year maternal and primary education. The Queen Paola Prize for the Teaching, decreed annually with a teacher or a group of teachers, puts at the honor the creativity and the devotion of the teachers in their concrete and original teaching achievements. At the time of the tenth birthday of the Prize, the ceremony is preceded by a buffet with the former prizes winner.

18/05/2006
Princess Mathilde
Microfinance
Conference on the “Microfinance”, organized by the Commission Globalisation of the Senate.

18/05/2006
Centenaire
the King goes to Laeken, with the Royal Yacht Club of Brussels at the time of his centenaire.

22/05/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visit
Visit to the company of work adapted "La Ferme Nos Pilifs" at Neder-over-Heembeek.

23/05/2006
The King, The Queen
Visit
At the time of the 50th anniversary of the tragedy of Marcinelle, the Sovereigns attend the inauguration of the second and third phases of work of requalification of the old site of the Bois du Cazier (forging mills, memorial and installation of a spoil heap in semi-industrial park).

23/05/2006
Princess Astrid
Academic meeting
Academic meeting which will be taken place at the time of the official inauguration of the new building of University of Antwerpen and Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Campus CDE, in Antwerp.

23/05/2006
Princess Astrid
Visit
Visit to the services of Neuroradiologie and Neuro-anaesthesia of the Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc de l'Université Catholique de Louvain à Woluwe-St –Lambert (University Private clinics St-Luc of the Catholic University of Leuwen with Woluwe-St - Lambert).

24/05/2006
The King, The Queen
Inauguration
Inauguration of the 25th edition of the “National Plays Special Olympics” for mentally handicapped person athletes, in the “Sportpaleis” of Antwerp.

25/05/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Procession in Bruges
the Princes assist, in Bruges, with the Procession of Saint-Sang.

29/05/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visit
Work visit to the SHAPE in Mons, on invitation of General Jones, SACEUR. While the Prince receives a “update briefing”, the Princess, guided by Mrs. Jones, visits the international school and a multinational project in “American School”. Then, the Princes meet together a delegation of the Belgian collaborators of the SHAPE.

[purple_platinum]

JUNE 2006

04/06/2006
Prince Laurent
Visit
Participation in the 8th `Festival of the Environment' of the Area of Brussels-Capital.
This event, organized by the Cabinet of the Minister for the Environment of the Area of Brussels-Capital and by the IBGE, proceeds in the Park of Cinquantenaire and testifies to the dynamism of the Area, the common inhabitants of Brussels and various associations in the field of the Environment.

06/06/2006
Princess Astrid
Work Visit
Work visit within the framework of the Red Cross, in Province of Hainaut, in the local sections of the Red Cross of Nimy, Jurbise and Montignies-on-Sambre.

07/06/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visit to Opwijk et Asse in the Province of Brabant Flemish
The Princes take note there of projects concerning the road safety, the control of the bicycle and education with the environment organized by the elementary school `De Boot' and the school of teaching specialized `Heiveld' in Opwijk. In the Provincial Center of Formation to Adze, the Princes take part in a meeting of work on the mobility and a session of drive of fire control. Contacts with the communal authorities and the population are also envisaged in Opwijk and Asse.

12/06/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
60th birthday of the Accession to the Throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Ceremonies organized in Bangkok in Thailand, at the time of the 60th birthday of the Accession to the Throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

13/06/2006
Princess Astrid
Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation
The Medical Foundation Queen Elizabeth (FMRE) honours, with the Royal Palace, two teams of university research which works in the field of the neurosciences. The activity of the FMRE is entirely dedicated to the study of the nervous system under the normal conditions and in the event of disease, for example the disease of Alzheimer, the multiple sclerosis, the Parkinson's disease, vascular accidents cerebral etc….
The board of directors, surrounded by his scientific committee chaired by Professor Thierry de Barsy, selected work of Dr. Pierre Vanderhaeghen of the Université libre de Bruxelles and those of Professor Rufin Vogels, of “Katholieke Universiteit Leuven”. They will respectively deserve the UCB Award (€ 25.000) and the price Baron van Gysel de Meise (€ 12.500). This partnership enters the Foundation of research, the world of industry and the private patronage falls under the line line of the project of the founder the Queen Elizabeth in 1926. She wished already an effective and concrete bringing together between all the actors of ground in the field of health. Crowned work this year is devoted to L `study of the development of the cerebral cortex on the one hand and to the analysis of the phenomena of vision in response to our environment on the other hand. A better comprehension of these fundamental mechanisms will facilitate the development of therapeutic and more targeted and more adequate strategies. The selection of the prizes winner is done among the 17 university teams already retained by the FMRE and divided in the 9 universities of the country. The handing-over of these prices in the form of appropriations with research is annual and is added in a specific way to the already allocated appropriations each year.

14/06/2006
Princess Astrid
Meeting
Meeting of the Royal Circle of the Insurers of Belgium, at the Hilton Hotel in Brussels, at the time of the 70 years of existence of the Circle.
Princess Astrid, President of the Red Cross of Belgium, will make an address there.

14/06/2006
The King
Visit
The King goes to the province of Limbourg, at the time of the 15th birthday of “Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn”. He visits there successively the building of the direction with Hasselt and the handing-over with Winterslag.

15/06/2006
Princess Astrid
Visit
Visit to the registered office of l'sbl De Poel at Schepdaal, within the framework of the celebration of jubilée 30 years of existence.
The asbl accomodates mentally handicapped person adults.

15/06/2006
The King
Audience
- Audience with Mrs. Laurette ONKELINX, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for Justice.
- Collective Audience :
H.E. Mr. Jaffer Hamed Mohamed JAFFER, Ambassador of the Republic of YEMEN
H.E. Mr. Toufik SALLOUM, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic, and his wife
H.E. Mr. Joao Diogo NUNES BARATA, Ambassador of the PORTUGUESE Republic
H.E. Mr. John BJORNEBYE, Ambassador of the Kingdom of NORWAY,
H.E. Mr. Walter WOON, Ambassador of the Republic of SINGAPORE, and his wife.


16/06/2006
Princess Mathilde
Seminar
Within the framework of “International Day of the African Youth” /Journée International for African Youth (IDAY), international seminar concerning the second objective of Development of the Millenium: a free primary education of quality for all for 2015.
This seminar takes place in the buildings of the European Parliament in Brussels. Princess Mathilde will stressed on several occasions the importance of “teaching for the children”, a central topic at the time of her missions in Niger, Mali and more recently in Tanzania.

17/06/2006
Prince Lorenz
General meeting
Statutory general meeting of the Royal Association of the Historical Residences and Gardens of Belgium (ARDH&JB), at “the Farm of Wild boar” with Hemptinne Fernelmont.
Prince Lorenz is a honorary president of this association.

20/06/2006
The King, The Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
State Visit
State Visit by H.M. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. (until June 22).
special thread for the state visit : Dutch State Visit to Belgium

23/06/2006
Queen Fabiola
Concert
Concert of the Notre-Dame Abbey du Val-Dieu, organized within the framework of the fortieth edition in the Concerts du Printemps du Val-Dieu (Concerts of the Spring of Valley-God.)

23/06/2006
Prince Laurent
Visit
To the invitation of the students of 4th and 5th years of the elementary school of Tongrinne, the Prince returns visit as part of the PICVerts Network (Plane of Green Communal Routes) that these pupils decided to maintain. The PICVerts Network is an initiative of the Walloon Area and consists of a cyclo-pedestrian grid between various communes; in this case, they are the Communes Gembloux, Perwez and Sombreffe.

24/06/2006
Prince Laurent
Music Celebration
Prince Laurent attends part of the concerts organized within the framework of the Festival of the Music, on the Place des Palais à Bruxelles

25/06/2006
Prince Laurent
Visit
Visit with the Natural reserve of deux Ourthes. The topic of this annual festival will be: “The rurality of our ancestors at our days”. The Natural reserve, located in the middle of Ardenne, covers the six communes of Bertogne, Gouvy, Houffalize, La Roche-en-Ardenne, Sainte-Ode and Tenneville and extends on 76.000 ha.

26/06/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Economic mission to Russia
From June 26 to July 1, 2006, Prince Philippe chairs an economic mission to Russia. Princess Mathilde will also take part in it.
special thread for the economic mission : Phillipe & Mathilde's Visit to Russia



27/06/2006
Princess Astrid
Work Visit
Work visit, within the framework of the fight against poverty, to Province of Limbourg, in Hasselt and Houthalen-Helchteren.
This visit is initiated by the Interparliamentary Working group “Fourth World” under the guidance of the sénatrice Mrs Jacinta De Roeck.

[purple_platinum]

JULY 2006

02/07/2006
Prince Philippe (with Queen Beatrix of Netherlands)
Feest
The Prince goes, in company of H.M. Queen Beatrix, in “Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest” in Stramproy (Weert).
This annual event, in which take part more than 160 circles of shooting coming as well from Dutch Limbourg as from Belgian Limbourg, celebrates this year its 100th edition under the current name. With the support of 1600 volunteers, the edition 2006 is organized in Stramproy (Weert), because in 2005 the club of shooting “St Catharina” of Stramproy brought back the trophy of the winner. According to the tradition, gaining it has the honor to organize the following edition.

03/07/2006
The Queen
Audience
Audience with Mr. André FLAHAUT, Minister for Defense.

03/07/2006
The King
Audience
Audience with Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister.

03/07/2006
The King, The Queen, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Reception
Reception at the Castle of Laeken, for the participants in the 15th Session of the Parliamentary Parliament of the OSCE

04/07/2006
The King
Visit
Visit to the “ICP - Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology” at Woluwé-Saint-Lambert.

07/07/2006
Prince Laurent
175/60th Anniversary of Marine
Military ceremony in Ostend which marks the 175/60th Anniversary of the Navy.

13/07/2006
The Queen
Exposition
Visit to the Project Beaufort 2006, the tri-annual of contemporary art to the sea. The visit begins in the Museum of Modern Art of Ostende. Then, the Queen visits several works of art along the coast, in particular in Bredene, De Haan, and Blankenberge.

17/07/2006
The King, The Queen
Visit an Exposition
The Sovereigns visit in Veurne, the exposition devoted on arrival of Léopold I in Belgium and then, attend in the “Leopoldfeesten” à De Panne. Here, 175 years ago, Prince Léopold of Saxony-Cobourg-Gotha was accomodated solemnly in Belgium. On July 17 exactly, he arrived by the beach, of Dunkerque à De Panne. Four days later, he would lend oath in Brussels as first King of the Belgians. At De Panne this event is regarded at the time of the “Leopoldfeesten”, of the 17 at July 20, 2006.

18/07/2006
Prince Laurent
Inauguration
Participation in an event organized by the working group “Plecotus” of the ASBL Natagora, in Belvaux: the inauguration of the natural Reserve of the Gallery Saint Nicolas's Day for the preservation of Petit Rhinolophe, one of the species of bats the most threatened in Walloon Area.

19/07/2006
The King, The Queen
Exposition “Sciences aux Palais” - Opening at the Royal Palace
The King and the Queen take part in the Palace of Brussels, the opening of “Sciences aux Palais”. From July 25 to September 10 - period of annual opening of the Palace to the public - the Federal Scientific Policy and its ten scientific Establishments on the one hand, Technopolis on the other hand will join their forces to propose there to the many visitors of the Palate a sensitizing to the importance and the interest of sciences in the contemporary company.
The Sovereigns, accompanied by the responsible authorities, will discover “Sciences aux Palais” with a young public invited on this occasion. Their visit will be preceded by a press conference.

20-21/07/2006
The King, The Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire, Princess Elisabeth
National Day
for more news & photos of the national day, please go here

[purple_platinum]

August 2006

25/08/2006
Prince Philippe
Memorial of Ivo Van Damme
30th anniversary of the Memorial of Ivo Van Damme, at the Stade King Baudouin in Brussels.

September 2006

01/09/2006
Prince Philippe
Anniversary Ceremony
Ceremony of Beauvechain, organized on the occassion of the 60th anniversary of the reactivation of the air Component after the second world war.

03/09/2006
The King, The Queen
Reception
The King and the Queen receive at the Castle of Laeken, some 600 young people between 16 and 21 years, engaged in the social action, of which an about sixty teachers of street.
The young people come from each province, which also delegates a musical and artistic group. The King, the Queen, and the other members of the Royal family thus wish to meet the young people and to give the opportunity to them to better know each other.

08/09/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Gala Evening
Soiree de gala (gala evening) at the l’Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles (School of Circus of Brussels), on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.
The Princes thus wish to encourage the development of the art of the circus in Belgium.
Alumni of the school of the circus as of the experienced artists take part in the spectacle, on the ground of Tour&Taxis in Brussels.

10/09/2006
The King, The Queen
Exposition
The King and The Queen took part on July 19, 2006 in the Palace of Brussels, at the opening of “Sciences at the Palace”.
From July 25 to September 10 - period of annual opening of the Palace to the public - the Federal Scientific Policy and its ten scientific Establishments on the one hand, Technopolis on the other hand will join their forces to propose there to the many visitors of the Palace a sensitizing to the importance and the interest of sciences in the contemporary company.
The Sovereigns, accompanied by the responsible authorities, discovered “Sciences at the Palace” with a young public invited on this occasion.

11/09/2006
Princess Astrid
Conference
Conference within the framework of the Red Cross: “Red Cross-country race Red Crescent: making a difference in Africa”, at the Palace Residence in Brussels.

15/09/2006 Princess Mathilde
Visit
Visit to the elementary school “Chouette” at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
At the time of the Days of the Inheritance, the pupils invite the Princess to discover the history of their school and their district of the Place of the Duchess of the Brabant.

18/10/2006
The King
Visit
Visit to the Institute von Karman de Dynamique des Fluides at Rhode-Saint-Genese at the time of the 50th anniversary of this international center of excellence of research and teaching of postgraduate level.

[purple_platinum]

October 2006

14/10/2006
Princess Astrid
National homage
Statutory general meeting of the Red Cross of Belgium, in the Expo room in Heisel in Brussels This assembly is followed ceremony of national homage of the prizes winner and donors blood and plasma.

17/10/2006
Prince Philippe
Visit
Visit to the Colruyt à Hal firm for official opening of the `Semaine of the Durable Development' placed this year under the sign of durable consumption. Colruyt managed to integrate a whole series of durable actions in its industrial processes.
Thus green energy occupies there a place of choice because of the use of the wind power like by the installation of greatest surface of solar panels in Belgium. Moreover, one judicious policy is pursued as regards prevention of waste and thanks to an opened policy of human resources to the multiculturalism, more than 70 nationalities are represented among the personnel of the group which occupies more than 16.000 people.
Prince Philippe is a Honorary president of the Federal Council of the Durable Development.

18/10/2006
The King
Visit
Visit to the Institute von Karman de Dynamique of Fluides à Rhode-Saint-Genèse at the time of the 50th anniversary of this international center of excellence of research and teaching of postgraduate level.

18/10/2006
The Queen
Exposition
Visit to the retrospective of the work of “Leon Spilliaert, a free spirit” with the Royal Museums of the Art schools of Belgium (Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgiquein) in Brussels.

19/10/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde (with Prince Willem-Alexander & Princess Maxima)
Exposition
Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde Princess inaugurate in company of Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima, the exposition “Rubens in Brueghel Samen”, in Mauritshuis in The Hague (Netherlands).
Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Old one belong to from Antwerp painters most famous of the 17th century. Very active and of a great technical skill, they directed very productive workshops. For their artistic development, the two painters remained a few years in Italy. They were familiarized thus with the rules of the international diplomacy. Between the two artists was born an exceptional bond. Their true friendship doubled of a profitable collaboration. Each one of them specialized in a specific field, they joined their creative forces to carry out phenomenal tables together. Most beautiful are exposed at the exposition “Rubens in Brueghel Samen”. In addition to twelve common paintings of Rubens and Brueghel, one will be able to see there the other works carried out in collaboration with contemporaries (p.ex. Brueghel with Hendrick de Clerck, Rubens with Frans Snijders). Tables come in particular from Prado in Madrid, Gemäldegalerie Kassel and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exposure was carried out in collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles where it was shown during the summer 2006. The exposiytion “Rubens and Brueghel Samen” will be held of October 20, 2006 to January 28, 2007 to Mauritshuis.

for special thread, please go here : WA & Maxima with Philippe & Mathilde at Rubens in Brueghel Samen exposition 19.10.06


19/10/2006
The Queen
Reception
Reception at the Palace of Brussels for the Management Committee of the International Center for Missing Children and Sexually exploited (ICMEC), who holds his annual meeting in Brussels.

22/10/2006
Prince Philippe
Ceremony
Prince Philippe represents Belgium in Budapest (Hungary) at the time of the ceremonies organized at the time of the 50th birthday of the Hungarian Revolution.

24/10/2006
The Queen
Visit
Play of the Company of Taupinière “Emilie Jolie” at the Royal Institute for Deaf persons and Blind men (IRSA) in Uccle, in company of pupils of regular and specialized primary education teaching. The Company of Taupinière is a theatrical troop made up pupils and alumni of the blind IRSA or partially-sighted persons. They worked two years with the setting in scene of the musical tale of Philippe Chatel.

25/10/2006
Prince Philippe
Visit
Within the framework of the project of transborder mobility of employment, visits to the call center of the FOREM with Mouscron and to the purse of the use of the VDAB with Wevelgem.
The interregional job offers are presented at the time of this purse at the Flemish and Walloon researchers of use of the Courtrai/Mouscron/Tournai area. This area is a precursor in the field of the transborder mobility of employment. Thus the trainees of an area supplement their formation in the other area. The trainees of the VDAB carry out a training course in the call center FOREM and the Walloon trainees follow a vocational training in the logistics and transport sector in the center of formation of Wevelgem. The three services of placement and formation VDAB, FOREM and ORBEM wish, in collaboration and with the support of the Funds Prince Philippe, to reinforce this form of interregional collaboration and to extend it within the three Communities and Areas of the country.

25/10/2006
Princess Astrid
Exposition
Opening of the exposition “Anonymous Heroes, Heroic Mission; the Red Cross of Belgium during the Second World war” and academic meeting.
This exposure takes place with the Archives du Royaume, in Brussels.

25/10/2006
The King
Audiences (Receiving Credentials)
- Mr. Sulieman AHMED, Ambassador of ERYTHREE
- Mrs. Nijole ZAMBAITE, Ambassador of the Republic of LITHUANIA
- Mr. Barry FAURE, Ambassador of the Republic of the SEYCHELLES
- Mrs. Laurette GLASGOW, Ambassador of CANADA

28/10/2006
Princess Astrid
National Homage
National homage to Work and the Workers in the “Auditorium 2000” of the Exhibition Site at Heysel in Brussels.

29/10/2006
The Queen
Concert
Official concert for opening of Brussels-All Saints' Day 2006, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Koekelberg.

[purple_platinum]

November 2006

04/11/2006
Princess Mathilde
Film
At the cinematographic complex Kinepolis in Brussels, projection of film “IRIS”, offered free by the National League Alzheimer to people confronted with this disease, is within the family circle or within the professional framing.
This year celebrates the 100th birthday of discovered of the disease by Dr. Aloïs Alzheimer.
By her presence, the Princess not only wishes to testify her support for the patients and the teams which support them within the various organizations, but especially to express her deep recognition with the families of the people touched by this disease.

05/11/2006
Prince Philippe
Economic Mission to Canada
The Prince is accompanied by Mr. Marc Verwilghen, Minister for the Economy, Energy, the foreign Trade and the scientific Policy. Mr. Jean-Claude Marcourt, Minister for the Economy, Employment and the Trade foreign of the Walloon Government and Mrs. Fientje Moerman, Vice-Minister-President and Minister for the Economy, the Companies, Science, the Innovation and the Trade foreign of the Flemish Government take part in the mission as members of the regional governments. The delegation goes to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

07/11/2006
Princess Astrid
Academic meeting
Academic meeting at the time of the inauguration of the new building “De Schommel” located at Maaseik. “De Schommel” is a centre for children with a severe or polyhandicapés handicap.

11/11/2006
The King
Ceremony of Homage
Traditional ceremony of homage to the Unknown Soldier at the time of the birthday of the Armistice.

11/11/2006
The King
Bookfair
King Albert visits the bookfair at Antwerp Expo. It´s the 70th edition of this event.

13/11/2006
The King, The Queen, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
Concert
Concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels to mark the 175th return of the accord of London as well as the presence of the dynasty of Saxe-Coburg in Belgium.
Prior to the concert there will be a dinner in presence of the King, the Queen, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde as well as high ranked guests from Belgium and abroad, who will also attend a symposium organised by the Foreign office on November 14th.

14/11/2006
Prince Philippe
“Great Wallonia Prize of Export”
Presentation of 10th edition of the Great Wallonia Prize of Export, at hotel Chateau du Lac, at Genval. At the time of this ceremony, trophies are given to 8 companies particularly deserving as regards export. Prince Philippe gives this day the trophies “Great Wallonia Prize of Export” for Europe and “Great Export” (except Europe).

14/11/2006
The Queen
Concert
Concert at the time of the 50th birthday of the Media-Library of the French Community of Belgium, at the Palais des Beaux-Arts of Brussels.

15/11/2006
The King, the Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
King´s Feast
Te Deum at the St. Michael and St. Gudula-Cathedral in Brussels

15/11/2006
The King, the Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
King´s Feast
Festivity organised by the federal parliament, the senate and the federal government to mark the 175th anniversary of the monarchy and the constitution in Belgium.

16/11/2006
Princess Astrid
Visit
Visit to Marche-en-Famenne, in Arlon and Libramont with various projects of fight against poverty in Province of Luxembourg.

17/11/2006
Princess Astrid
Anniversary
Festivities at the time of the 50th anniversary of asbl “FESJTE” - Federation of the Establishments and Services for Young Workers and Students, at "Le Prestige” at Gozée (Thuin).

19/11/2006
Princess Mathilde
World day for prevention of child abuse
On the occasion of the world day for prevention of child abuse Princess Mathilde attends the presentation of the safety plan “Kinderen in Nesten (= children in nests) by BZN De Stobbe and BZN Atlas in the Schouwburg of Antwerp in presence of all contributors to this project. Factual reports, speeches and live presentations will follow one another.
At the same time the artists Achilles Cools and Brénine will build a large, cosy and safe nest for children in front of the Schouwburg. Princess Mathilde wants to assure again her concern for the problems around domestic violence and the ill-treatment of children and she wants to support those who engage themselves for the good of the society.

19/11/2006
Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz
Gala
Gala hosted by the “European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer" (EORTC) in the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels

22/11/2006
Princess Astrid
Academic meeting
Academic meeting at the time of the 100th birthday of existence of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Prince Léopold, in amphitheatre P.G. Janssens at the Rochus Campus in Antwerp.

22/11/2006
Princess Mathilde
Afternoon of reading
The Princess attends at the Zoo of Antwerp, one afternoon of reading to high voice, within the framework of the “Voorleesweek” organized on the 17 to 26November by “Stichting Lezen”.
Three classes of 6 year old pupils (one of each Community of our country) are invited. By her presence, the Princess wishes to underline how much it is important that the parents make the reading with their children, and this not only to increase their linguistic and social aptitudes or to stimulate the development of a good culture of the reading, but more especially like means of deepening of the family bonds between parents and children.
With this occasion, the Princess also receives the book “Tales for a Small Princess”, written by the youth author Henri van Daele and illustrated by Domenica Mertens.
This work gathers tales coming from the various countries in which our Belgian Queens are originating. This book of tales, realized by the Editions Coat, is dedicated to Princess Elisabeth, and Princess Princess wrote the foreword of the book.

[stephanievl]

December 2006

01/12/2006
Princess Astrid, Prince Laurent
Academic session
Academic session in the Senate on the occasion of the 20th the anniversary of the passage of the bill concerning the protection and the well-being of the animals.

01/12/2006
Princess Astrid
Lunch
Within the framework of the World Aids Day Princess Astrid attends a lunch organised by Armand de Decker, Federal Minister for Development Cooperation, in the Egmontpaleis in Brussels.

01/12/2006
Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz
Concert
Concert in the St. Michaels and Gudule Cathedral Brussels preformed by the choirs of the European Union and organised by the ”Association Entraide et Fraternité-Action Vivre Ensemble”

01/12/2006
Prince Laurent
Vernissage
Vernissage organised within the framework of the exhibition of the Dadaist Wout Hoeboer. The exhibition is a cooperation of KINT and the René Magritte Museum in Jette with support of the gallery J.-P. Alaerts. The exhibition runs from December 2006 till February 2007.

04/12/2006
Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz
Gala
Gala "Nuit Internationale de l'Enfance" organised by Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes (spouse of the former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing), foundress and chairwomen of the "Fondation pour l'Enfance". The gala is held at the Palace of Versailles and is also attended by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

05/12/2006
Princess Mathilde
Princess Mathilde Prize
Award ceremony of the Princess Mathilde Prize. The prize is awarded for the sixth time by the Princess Mathildefonds. This year the focus is “Women and Health”. The laureates are
the Brailleliga, project "Blind mommies are good mommies too” which supports visually handicapped mothers-to-be;
and the vzw "La Bobine" (Liege), project "Coin de Terre Communautaire" which guides migrant women and e.g. cares for healthy nutrition.
The academic session and the award ceremony take place in the Royal Palace of Brussels.

06/12/2006
Princess Astrid
Visit
In conjunction with the fight against poverty Princess Astrid visits the vzw “De Lage Drempel” in Mechelen.

06/12/2006
The King
Audience
The king receives Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazachstan, in audience.

07/12/2006
Princess Astrid
Symposium
Symposium "Orphan Drugs in Belgium" in the congress hall of the Federal Parliament in Brussels

07/12/2006
The king
Academic session
Academic session at Brussels´ Egmontpaleis marking the 175th anniversary of the audit court

07/12/2006
The King
Opening session
Official opening session of the 35th assembly of the European Olympic Committees at the Flagey/Brussels (also marking the 100th anniversary of the Belgian Olympic Committee)

07/12/2006
The Queen
Visit
Queen Paola visits the “Music Fund” an organisation which gives material support to young musicians and music schools in developing countries and conflict regions.
Music Fund collects music instruments, organises their reparation or refurnishment, and makes sure that they are delivered in the music schools in need of them. The Queen speaks with musical instrument constructors from the West Bank/Gaza Strip and Mozambique and with their trainee teachers.

09/12/2006
Princess Mathilde
National family-info-Day
Princess Mathilde participates in the national family-info-days at the cantonment Major Housiau in Peutie. This annual event is organised by the defence department. Princess Mathilde meets the families and affiliates of Belgian soldiers who serve in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, at the Balkan, in Lebanon and elsewhere.

10/12/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Economic mission
Prince Philippe chairs an economic mission to Bulgaria (and Romania), Princess Mathilde will accompany him.
The mission is organized by the Agency for the Foreign Trade in close cooperation with Flanders Investment & Trade, Brussels Export and Awex. Marc Verwilghen, Federal Minister of Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, and Science Policy will represent the Federal Government.
The delegation will go to Sofia and Varna.
Princess Mathilde focuses herself on events that promote the image of Belgium. She will also visit some microfinance projects that are supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
On December 14th, Prince Philippe and Minister Marc Verwilghen will go to Romania and participate in some seminars in Bucharest.

14/12/2006
The King
Visit
Work visit to the company Ter Beke in Marche-en-Famenne

19/12/2006
Prince Philippe
Award ceremony
Award ceremony for the competition Belgodyssée at the Royal Palace in Brussels. This project has been contrived on initiative of Radio 2 and Vivacité in close cooperation with the Prince Philippe Fund. Sixteen young people formed teams (=1 French and 1 Dutch speaking youngster per team) and created a radio report across the language border. The two laureates receive an internship for six month at the national broadcasters VRT and BRTF.

19/12/2006
Princess Mathilde
Exhibition
Princess Mathilde visits the exhibition “Vrouwelijk meervoud - Féminin Pluriel” in the Beursschouwburg Brussels. The association Flora won the Princess Mathilde Prize 2004 for this social-artistic project. The visit underlines Princess Mathilde´s persistent commitment for vulnerable women and the organisations which support them.

19/12/2006
Princess Astrid
Visit
Princess Astrid visits the Cyclotron research centre of Professor Moonen at the University of Liege, which is supported by the Foundation Queen Elisabeth Foundation.

20/12/2006
The King, the Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
Christmas concert
The King and the Queen offer a Christmas concert followed by a reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels. That way the King and the Queen want to emphasize their gratitude towards these persons who contributed to the positive course of the royal activities in 2006. The concert will be performed by the Young Philharmonic orchestra, Sinfonietta and soloists of the Queen Elisabeth College of Music under the conduction of Arie van Lysebeth.

22/12/2006
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visit
Christmas visit to the residents of the "Centre Hospitalier Spécialisé (CHS) l’Accueil" in Lierneux. This psychiatric centre of the Province Liege assures the admission and the medical and psychological attendance of adults with mental-health problems. The CHS has a unique concept: It works together with the citizens of Lierneux and the surrounding communities. Roundabout 120 residents are not staying in the centre itself but are taken care of in “foster families”.
The princely couple meets the residents of the psycho-geriatric department as well as suicidal youngsters and finally those residents who stay in foster families and the foster families themselves.

[stephanievl]

January 2007

11/01/2007
The King, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Reception
New Years reception for the heads of the diplomatic missions accredited in Brussels, held at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

12/01/2007
Princess Astrid
Show
Princess Astrid opens the 85th show for light commercial, recreational vehicles and motorcycles at Brussels Expo.

16/01/2007
Princess Astrid
Award ceremony
Princess Astrid attends the award ceremony of the Foundation van Gysel for biomedical research in Brussels´ Palace of Acedemies. This year’s laureate is Prof. Leena Peltonen-Palo (Department for "Medical Genetics" at the University Helsinki).

17/01/2007
Prince Philippe
Visit
Prince Philippe will visit the Volvo Cars Company in Ghent. Volvo Ghent manufactures 250.000 cars per year and counts 4.700 employees. Philippe will take part in a work meeting, have a look into some departments of the factory and in the end an informal meeting with employees and managers will take place.

17/01/2007
The Queen
Meeting
At Mrs Chirac´s invitation Queen Paola will join a meeting of the Honorary Committee of the International Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children (Child Focus) at the Elyssée Palace on Wednesday 17th. Other participants of this meting are Queen Silvia of Sweden, Mrs. Laura Bush, Mrs. Mubarak, Mrs. Kwasnieska (wife of former Polish president), Mrs. Barroso, Mrs. Putina et al. The meeting will be followed by a dinner, a plenary session (amongst the participants is Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel) and a reception.

18/01/2007
The King, the Queen, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Reception
Reception for the NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the permanent delegates of the North Atlantic Council, the civil and military members of the International Secretary of the NATO and the high ranking officers of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).

24/01/2007
The King, The Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent
Reception
New Year reception for the Belgian dignitaries

26/01/2007
The King
Visitation
King Albert visits the new building of the commercial broadcaster RTL-TVI. Topics of the programme are an academic session and a visitation of the radio- and TV studios.

28/01/2007
The King
Visitation
King Albert is present at the finish of the World Championship Cyclo-Cross in Hooglede-Gits and visits the Institut Dominiek Savio for handicapped persons.

30/01/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Exhibition
Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde will attend the opening of the exhibition “De Schoonheid en de Waanzin” (=The beauty and the madness) in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. This exhibition has been compiled on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of Philip the Handsome. The exhibition was on display in Burgos/Spain till the end of 2006 and is under the patronage of King Juan Carlos I. and King Albert II.

30/01/2007
The King
Visitation
King Albert visits the software company Star-Apic in Angleur.

[lucien]

February 2007

01/02/2007
Prince Philippe
Award ceremony
Prince Philippe hands over the National Trophy for Sporting Merits 2006 to the athletes Kim Gevaert (European champion 100 and 200 m sprint) and Tia Hellebaut (European champion high jump) in Brussels town hall.

01/02/2007
Princess Mathilde
Princess Mathilde receives Sister Jeanne Devos, founder of the “National Movement of Domestic Workers” in India.

01/02/2007
Princess Astrid
Visitation
Princess Astrid will visit the “Children´s -hemato/neuro-oncologie” service at the laboratory for experimental immunology at the Academic Hospital of Leuven

01/02/2007
The Queen
Exhibition
Queen Paola will visit the exhibition “GOD(S), USER'S MANUAL - THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE” at the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels

05/02/2007
Prince Philippe
Visitation
Visit to two educative centres, which presented a project for the “UNIZO Prijs Ondernemende School 2007” (UNIZO prize for enterprising school 2007). This prize is supposed to stimulate the entrepreneurship, creativity and teamwork of young students.
Prince Philippe will visit the Catholic Highschool of Mechelen (presented three projects) and the Technical and Commercial College in Nijlen (esp. the project “Green motor”). This visit takes place within the Entrepreneurship Week (Feb. 5th-9th).

06/02/2007
Princess Astrid
Visit
Princess Astrid will visit the Centre Artevelde in Ghent. This Centre takes care for homeless persons in and around Ghent.

06/02/2007
The, King, the Queen
Visitation
King Albert and Queen Paola will visit the township Fleurus
Items on agenda: Reception at the town hall; meeting with the citizens of Fleurus, visitation of the mail sorting centre (Albert) and the “Home Fernand Philippe” (Paola); reception at the tourism centre.

06/02/2007
Princess Mathilde
Exhibition
Visit to the exhibition “Sphix, the keepers of Egypt” at the ING culture centre in Brussels.

08/02/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visitation
Visit to the association Rozemarijn in Keerbergen. Rozemarijn offers support, daycare and assisted living for handicapped persons and aims at their integration into the community.

09/02/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Play
Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde watch the play “Face de Cuillère” about an autistic girl at the Théâtre du Méridien in Watermael-Bosvoorde. Afterwards they meet with representatives of associations who are concerned with autism and with persons from the cultural sector.

13/02/2007
The King
Visitation
Visit to the research group Fotonica at the University of Ghent (Department Information technology). Items of the agenda: work meeting and visit to the “clean rooms”

14/02/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Working visit
Working visit to the association “Hefboom”. Hefboom is an organisation that offers financial support and advice to companies and associations of the social sector in Flanders and Brussels. The meeting takes place in Oostkamp, at the association Loca Labora, a client of Hefboom, which employs handicapped or long-term-unemployed persons.

15/02/2007
The King, The Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz
Commemoration Mass
Commemoration Mass for the deceased members of the Royal Family at the Church of Our Lady in Laeken.

26/02/2007
Prince Philippe
Conference
Opening of the "International Conference on Sustainable Forest Management in the Democratic Republic of Congo" at Brussels' Egmont Palace.

28/02/2007
The Queen
Visitation
In her capacity as honorary chairwoman of Child Focus Queen Paola will visit the “Federal Crime Computer Unit ” of the Federal Police in Brussels. Paola will be informed about the fight against child pornography in the World Wide Web.

[leanne]

March 2007 (part I)

01/03/2007
Princess Mathilde
Visitation
Visit to the Centre for Basiceducation in Maasmechelen. Princess Mathilde attends the granting of “Certificates Ambassador of Basiceducation” and meets with participants of reading and writing courses. The newly appointed Ambassadors of Basiceducation will share their experience in improving their literacy with illiterates.

01/03/2007
Prince Laurent
Award ceremony
Prince Laurent attends the award ceremony “Terre de Femmes 2007” in Ukkel. This prize is granted by the "Fondation Yves Rocher - Institut de France" in cooperation with KINT and honours women who are involved with ecological aspects and sustainable development.

02/03/2007
Prince Philippe
Working visit
Prince Philippe attends a work meeting at the NATO Defence College in Cecchignola near Rome and opens the 110th session of the Senior Course by delivering a speech.

05/03/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Audience
Audience for Senator Pierre GALAND, newly appointed chairman of the “Centre d’Action Laïque”.

06/03/2007
Princess Astrid
Visitation
Visit to the „Huize Effeta“ in Ronse, a living community of AIDS patients and friars.

07/03/2007
Princess Mathilde
“The strength of women“
Final ceremony of the three years sequence “The strength of women” (2004-2006) of the Princess Mathilde Fonds. The event takes place at the association Amazone in Brussels.

07/03/2007
Prince Philippe
Exhibition
Prince Philippe attends the official opening of the exhibition “The Science Tunnel – A journey into the future of scientific discoveries”.
The exhibition is presented by the German Max Planck Society on the occasion of the launch of the 7th EU Research Framework Programme and is located within the framework of the 2007 German Council Presidency.

08/03/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Lunch
Private lunch for twelve high profile female guests on the occasion of the International Women's Day hosted by Prince Philippe and Princes Mathilde at Laeken castle.

08/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Fernand KOEKELBERG, General Commissary of the Federal Police

09/03/2007
Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde
Visitation
Visit to the Centre for Experiential Education at the Catholic University of Leuven

09/03/2007
Princess Mathilde
Lecture
Princess Mathilde attended a lecture at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel about “Human Rights, Women´s Right: The situation of claimants before the European Court of Human Rights”. The lecture has been given by Prof. Dr. Françoise Tulkens, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven.

09/03/2007
Princess Astrid
Conference
Princess Astrid attends the conference “The Digital Gap” organised by the interparliamentary workgroup Fourth World at the senate.

09/03/2007
Queen Fabiola
Award ceremony
Queen Fabiola awards the Prize of the “Fondation de Physiopathologie Professeur Lucien Dautrebande” to the laureate Prof. Bernd Nilius at Brussels´ Palace of Academies.

10/03/2007
Princess Astrid
Performance
Princess Astrid attends the programme “Première Imago Tijl 50” at the Dommelhof theatre in Neerpelt. The performance marks the 50th anniversary of the dancing company Imago Tijl.

12/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Sonja EGGERICKX, chairwoman of the Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen

13/03/2007
The Queen
Visitation
Visit to the “Athénée Royal Gatti de Gamond” in the centre of Brussels. This school hosts the exhibition “les mathématiques s’exposent”. This exhibition has been awarded with the Queen Paola Prize for Secondary Education 2005.

13/03/2007
Princess Mathilde
Visitation
Visit to the association “Lire et Ecrire” (=Read and write) in Tournai. The princess attends a work gathering and meets with course participants from Tournai and Verviers.

13/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Angel GURRIA, Secretary-General OSCE

14/03/2007
Prince Philippe
Conference
Prince Philippe attends the opening session of the conference “Improving Governance and Fighting Corruption – New Frontiers in Public – Private Partnerships” organised by the World Bank Institute, the OECD and Belgium's Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs.

14/03/2007
Princess Mathilde
Award ceremony
Princess Mathilde presents the “Womed Award” granted by MARKANT, a network of enterprising women, in Brussels. The “Womed Award” honours self-employed women, who succeed in combining their business life, their private life and their social involvement.

14/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Marti WAALS, project co-ordinator MEMISA

14/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience the athletics Kim Gevaert and Tia Hellebaut, European Indoor Champions

15/03/2007
The King
Conference
King Albert attends the closing session of the conference “Improving Governance and Fighting Corruption – New Frontiers in Public – Private Partnerships” organised by the World Bank Institute, the OECD and Belgium's Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs.

15/03/2007
The King, the Queen, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid
Audience
Lunch at the Palace of Laeken for Their Royal Highnesses Prince Hassan, Princess Sarvath and Princess Sumaya of Jordan.

15/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience H.E. Ellen JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, President of Liberia

19/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Mary Mc ALEESE, President of Ireland.

19/03/2007
The King
Audience
The King receives in audience Gérard MORTIER, currently director of the “Opéra national de Paris” and newly appointed general manager and artistic director of the “New York City Opera”.

20/03/2007
Prince Laurent
Visitation
Prince Laurent visits the "Institut Saint-Charles" in Luingne and takes part in an ecological day of action. This event is the highlight of the project “L’éco(le-)logique”, which raises the awareness for environment protection.

20/03/2007
The King, The Queen, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire
State visit
The Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess of Luxemburg pay a state visit to Belgium from March 20 till 22.