Royal Family of Belgium - Current Events Part 9 (Jan 2019 - present)


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The Day 2 starts with a visit to a reception center for vulnerable children in the outskirts of the capital Nairobi.


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Also Queen Mathilde with UNICEF Kenya Representative Maniza Zaman and UNICEF President of Board Ronald Steisel, met with CS Education George Magoha discussing progress to improve access to quality of education in Kenya.


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And meet with the First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta


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If she chooses to have heirs, Elisabeth will be a really great mother one day as she's been fantastic with the children during the Kenya visit so far. I love this photo in particular.
 
Lovely dress by the way ! Pity Lisa wasn't with her !
 
 
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Lovely to see them ! They are both beautiful !
 
I think this is the first interview Elisabeth has ever given.
As far as I can see, her Dutch is pretty flawless, no traces of any French accent whatsoever.
 
Although I don’t speak a word of Dutch, I do think she looks and sounds very poised. Good job!
 
leidi said:
I think this is the first interview Elisabeth has ever given.
As far as I can see, her Dutch is pretty flawless, no traces of any French accent whatsoever.
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Wow...I wish her grand uncle Baudouin and Fabiola were around to see her blossom...:whistling:;)
 
leidi said:
I think this is the first interview Elisabeth has ever given.
As far as I can see, her Dutch is pretty flawless, no traces of any French accent whatsoever.
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I am seriously about to cry...I feel like a proud auntie seeing her talking to journalists this way! She feels confident and her Flemish seems perfect, you can't hear any French accent indeed, but we already knew the Belgian royal kids were going to be the first generation of the Belgian Royal Family to be totally bilingual.
 
Marchesina said:
I am seriously about to cry...I feel like a proud auntie seeing her talking to journalists this way! She feels confident and her Flemish seems perfect, you can't hear any French accent indeed, but we already knew the Belgian royal kids were going to be the first generation of the Belgian Royal Family to be totally bilingual.
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The decision of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz to enroll their children in a Dutch speaking school seems to have reaped dividends. When Prince Amedeo talked with reporters after the birth of his first child his Dutch was also said to be without a trace of an accent. I am not sure if the same applies to Princess Louise and her brothers, who were enrolled in a French speaking school though the city where their family is based is in Flanders.

Considering that King Philippe and Prince Laurent married French speakers and Princess Astrid married a Frenchman, it would be nice if some of Philippe's children married Dutch speakers, who represent two-thirds of the public but are not really represented in the royal family. However, that will be unlikely if the family continues their preference for consorts of noble descent, as the Belgian nobility is a Francophone one.
 
Tatiana Maria said:
Considering that King Philippe and Prince Laurent married French speakers and Princess Astrid married a Frenchman, it would be nice if some of Philippe's children married Dutch speakers, who represent two-thirds of the public but are not really represented in the royal family. However, that will be unlikely if the family continues their preference for consorts of noble descent, as the Belgian nobility is a Francophone one.
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But isn't Mathiulde from a flemish noble Family? I remember at the time of the engagement it was pointed out that has routes in both parts of the country as she is froma flemish noble fFamily but grow in Wallíne.

And i wouldn't say that Lorenz is a frenchman he is austrian noble but grow up in France and studied in Switzerland and Austria.
 
Stefan said:
But isn't Mathiulde from a flemish noble Family? I remember at the time of the engagement it was pointed out that has routes in both parts of the country as she is froma flemish noble fFamily but grow in Wallíne.

And i wouldn't say that Lorenz is a frenchman he is austrian noble but grow up in France and studied in Switzerland and Austria.
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I was referencing the personal backgrounds of Mathilde, Lorenz, and Claire rather than their family roots. As you said, all three grew up in French-speaking countries (Mathilde and Claire in Wallonia and Lorenz in France) and spoke French as their native tongue, whereas none of the consorts were raised to speak Dutch.

Interestingly, only France recognized Lorenz with a title of nobility at birth; for Austria he was born Mr. Lorenz Habsburg-Lothringen.
 
Was there any French speaking reporter who recorded the same message in French the way they always do with both the King and the Queen?
 
Tatiana Maria said:
The decision of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz to enroll their children in a Dutch speaking school seems to have reaped dividends. When Prince Amedeo talked with reporters after the birth of his first child his Dutch was also said to be without a trace of an accent. I am not sure if the same applies to Princess Louise and her brothers, who were enrolled in a French speaking school though the city where their family is based is in Flanders.

Considering that King Philippe and Prince Laurent married French speakers and Princess Astrid married a Frenchman, it would be nice if some of Philippe's children married Dutch speakers, who represent two-thirds of the public but are not really represented in the royal family. However, that will be unlikely if the family continues their preference for consorts of noble descent, as the Belgian nobility is a Francophone one.
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Well, Claire is not of noble birth and Mathilde is actually the first Belgian-born Queen. Prior to her, kings and future kings of the Belgians actually married foreign royal princesses or foreign noble women. Except for Queen Louise-Marie, none of the other Belgian Queens before Mathilde were actually native French speakers, but I can understand that , for a Spaniard like Fabiola or, even more so, an Italian like Paola, it should be much easier and far more comfortable to speak French than Dutch.

Dutch shouldn’t be too difficult for native speakers of Germanic languages like Astrid of Sweden or, especially, Elisabeth of Bavaria, but I guess that, at their time, Dutch was a low prestige language in Belgium and not at all equal in social status to French.

Given the current relaxed attitude as far as royal marriages are concerned, it is not at all far-fetched that Princess Elisabeth might end up marrying a commoner and he may well be Dutch-speaking or not. I don’t think though that It will be a priority for her to marry a Flemish man because that would be politically expedient. Like most modern young royals, I think she will marry whom she likes, whether he is noble or not, and regardless of his native language or nationality.
 
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Her school year would have just ended.

I was shocked to realize missed this trip. Late to game but better late then never.

Wonderful seeing Élisabeth and such a surprise. I love she accompanies then to events at home when not in school but a trip like this is a big step. I love how they are introducing her to her future role.

Also great project to bring her on. It’s great Mathilde brings information back for her kids but this hands on trip is so much more.

I am sure she does her family proud and will her people.
 
That's a grand picture! Great to see their whole offspring honouring the old couple. Even though Astrid and Laurent are looking their miserable selves as per usual.
 
Not all of them are present.
 
eya said:
King Albert and Queen Paola gathered, on the occasion of their diamond wedding, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren on the new Family picture!!


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The grandchildren all look so different from their older pictures !

Where is Joachim BTW ?

EDIT: I am always struck by Philippe and Mathikde’s humility. In other countries, the reigning monarch and his consort would always be in the front row when taking a picture.
 
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Great picture! Pity though Joachim is missing, otherwise we would have had the first complete picture of the family in ages. The last one was done a few weeks after Eleonore's birth.
It is nice to see a little interaction between Louise and Elisabeth (note Louise's hand resting on Elisabeth's shoulder) and what a striking resemblance between Luisa Maria and Elisabeth...the most beautiful of the lot together with Eleonore. Gabriel is now taller than his father...how time flies!!!
 
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Mbruno said:
EDIT: I am always struck by Philippe and Mathikde’s humility. In other countries, the reigning monarch and his consort would always be in the front row when taking a picture.
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But this photo was taken on the ocasion of the Diamond Wedding of King Albert and Queen Paola, so they as the main "heroes of the day" sit in the front.
 
Lovely group family photo but sadly Laurent and Astrid both look miserable as sin.
 
Biri said:
But this photo was taken on the ocasion of the Diamond Wedding of King Albert and Queen Paola, so they as the main "heroes of the day" sit in the front.
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As current King and Queen, they are usually expected to be front stage together with those to whom the celebration is dedicated. Take Queen Elizabeth II...she was always sitting next to William and Kate in the pictures from their children's christenings.
Philippe and Mathilde could have posed sitting together with Albert and Paola, signalling their are at the top of the "firm". Yet they decided to pose together with the others.
 
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:previous: That is Laurent's permanent look, I am afraid.

I struggle to recall ever seeing the poor man smile or laugh, not even at his wedding.:sad:
 
Wonderful pic ! Lovely to see how the children have grown !
 
A nice and relaxed photo and it must be quite special for Albert and Paola to have all of their children, grandchildren and great-grand child there. Minus Prince Joachim that is. As for Laurent: at least he showed up, which with him is never a certainty.

Indeed some of the children have grown a lot since we last saw them. Prince Gabriel is now taller than his parents!
 
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It's actually a lovely picture, who would have thought these two would get to be married this long? :lol:

Nicolas is much taller than Aymeric, I think both him and Gabriel are going to be the tallest ones in the family, it's actually remarkable how much Elisabeth and Luisa look alike, you can see a strong family resemblance there, the genes of this family are quite something: Nicolas looks like a mini-Laurent, Emmanuel looks like a mini-Philippe, Laura looks like a young Astrid, etc :D
 
Excuse me I don't see Princess Luisa-Maria on this photo.


May you help me, please ?


Thanks
 
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