King Philippe, Q. Mathilde and Family, General News, Part 1 (July 2013 - Sept. 2017)


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MAfan said:
If so, they cannot be considered indicative of what the King and Queen did during the first day of the lockdown.
Besides, I believe that with Bruxelles locked down it must have taken some time to arrange the safe return of the King.
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Plus by the lightening, this looks like early afternoon, so the shooting wouldn't have taken place yet in Paris and they wouldn't have possibly known that there was going to be a lockdown in Brussels the next week.

And they were in the city during the work days of the lockdown as well.
 
Marengo said:
According to Flandersnews.be the king speaks about 'futilities':

Read more here.
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There is too much on this unpleasant affair to discuss. Of course, the spa thing is a big PR mistake from every point of view. It has nothing to do with the fact that they would not have been that useful in Brussels anyway. They should have cancelled the trip and stayed in Brussels, IMO. And the King should probably have spoken to the Nation when the situation became so worrying (I know that depends on the Government but anyway massive PR fail from all parts).

Then again, P&M have been done a flawless job since they became monarchs, and everybody makes mistakes. They are not the first royals to fail this way nor will they be the last ones. I expected from them to recognize their fault in what it takes and go on.

But. I think it's not a mistake what defines a royal, or a person, for that matter, since we all make mistakes. It's the reaction to your own mistake what does. And you have this:
"King Filip has clearly been irritated by reactions and speaks of 'futilities'"
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I know Belgium is not Spain and so I don't expect Philippe to apologize in public à la Juan Carlos, but comment nothing at all would have been a thousand times more appropriate that insinuating that the anger caused for your own mistake is a "futility".

That single quote speaks a lot more to me (and not in a good way) than the supposed scandal by itself.
 
ANNIE_S said:
There is too much on this unpleasant affair to discuss. Of course, the spa thing is a big PR mistake from every point of view. It has nothing to do with the fact that they would not have been that useful in Brussels anyway. They should have cancelled the trip and stayed in Brussels, IMO. And the King should probably have spoken to the Nation when the situation became so worrying (I know that depends on the Government but anyway massive PR fail from all parts).

Then again, P&M have been done a flawless job since they became monarchs, and everybody makes mistakes. They are not the first royals to fail this way nor will they be the last ones. I expected from them to recognize their fault in what it takes and go on.

But. I think it's not a mistake what defines a royal, or a person, for that matter, since we all make mistakes. It's the reaction to your own mistake what does. And you have this:

I know Belgium is not Spain and so I don't expect Philippe to apologize in public à la Juan Carlos, but comment nothing at all would have been a thousand times more appropriate that insinuating that the anger caused for your own mistake is a "futility".

That single quote speaks a lot more to me (and not in a good way) than the supposed scandal by itself.
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King Philippe is completely justified to talk about "futilities". During the lockdown, he used his personal relationship with the King of Morocco to gather useful intelligence about the terrorist threat in Belgium. Both he and the Queen also took part in public events in Brussels during the lockdown week. Since then, King Philippe has also met with families of the victims of the Paris attacks and has taken part in meetings related to programs to combat radicalization of Muslim youth in Belgium.

The "spa controversy" is a non-issue manufactured mostly by the press from France and the Netherlands, which have been engaged in a great deal of "Belgium bashing" lately. This factoid was later seized by the Flemish papers , which of course wouldn't miss an opportunity to attack the King.
 
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Nothing has been manufactured in the Netherlands AFAIK. The French newspaper published the photos. This was shared en masse by the Belgian media. The other French media didn't pay much attention to it. The Dutch media seem to have copied some articles from Flemish newspapers with whom they sometimes cooperate.

The king was right that it is a futility in the larger picture of things. He said those words in the context of his meeting with Belgian survivors of the Bataclan attacks. However, he should be the last one to make such a comment. Again it is very bad PR even when he is right.

Also: the attacks happened on the 13th. It was known during the whole week that something was brewing in Brussels. France was on the edge for the whole week. On the 20th in the morning the city closed down. A decision that they probably didn't take within a few minutes.

It is hardly worth the storm, but it all just leaves the impression -IMHO wrongly- that the king is detached from reality and prefers his own weekend plans over solidarity with his fellow Belgians. He is after not a private citizen but the king.

Again: Leopold III lost his throne because he did not seem to undergo the same fate as his fellow Belgians soldiers during the war. Although it is clear that the king must have suffered during the war as he was in a deep depression- he did lose his throne due to a perception of him being detached, enjoying himself with miss Baels while the country was suffering. Perceptions do matter, even when they are wrong.
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I have understood:
- sometime on Friday Philippe and Mathilde were pictured in a spa in France;
- later on Friday night there was the attack in Paris;
- on Saturday it emerged that likely an attack could take place also in Belgium; the King was in constant touch with the Government; Bruxelles was locked down;
- on Sunday the couple returned in Bruxelles.
I believe it may have taken some time to arrange a safe return back to (the by the time locked down) Bruxelles.
Maybe they could have indeed returned already on Saturday, but maybe it wouldn't have been much safe. However I doubt that many details about who, how and when such decisions have been taken.
In conclusion, I don't think they could have done something more or more quickly.

Besides that, I wonder: why to wait so much time for raising the issue?
 
The attack in Paris was the week before, on the 13th. In the week that followed many things led to Molenbeek in Brussels. It was coninuously on the news, several arrests were made before the lockdown.

Friday the 20th the king goes to the wellness resort, this is also the day that the pictures were taken. The next morning, saturday the 21st Brussels is closed down due to terrorist threats. The king stayed in Bretagne for the day, according to the court he was regulary updated about the situation. Sunday the couple planned to go home. According to the court they left home a little earlier then planned.

Besides that, I wonder: why to wait so much time for raising the issue?
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The absense of the king was already noted by some newspapers. I suppose that only two days ago the press saw these pictures and the comment from sources in the French security services that were amazed that the king didn't return to Brussels right away.

***

Anyway, though it is a PR blunder the Belgians can also laugh about it. Instead of 'terror level 4' the press now refers to 'wellness level 4'.
 
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Marengo said:
The attack in Paris was the week before, on the 13th.
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My fault, don't know why but I've mixed up the dates and "postdated" the Paris attack.
 
In Point de Vue this week : the bad choice of the King !
You see a picture of our great Grand Place empty with only militairies with guns and car, and anther picture of our King drinking a cocktail in a Thalasso equipment !
 
maria-olivia said:
In Point de Vue this week : the bad choice of the King !
You see a picture of our great Grand Place empty with only militairies with guns and car, and anther picture of our King drinking a cocktail in a Thalasso equipment !
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Is the press still trying to milk this factoid ? I thought it had become clear that the "cocktail picture" was taken before the terrorist threat level was raised in Brussels.
 
In Belgium it is his Thalasso equipment who makes us joking.
They travelled and booked on a private name such as Mr and Mrs Van Laeken ?
 
maria-olivia said:
In Belgium it is his Thalasso equipment who makes us joking.
They travelled and booked on a private name such as Mr and Mrs Van Laeken ?
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AFAIK Philippe is not legally allowed to do that anymore, he has to take military planes wherever he goes.
 
maria-olivia said:
In Belgium it is his Thalasso equipment who makes us joking.
They travelled and booked on a private name such as Mr and Mrs Van Laeken ?
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I imagine what happens with this whole issue in the Social media there and not to blame ;) I hope the Kings have enough humor to bear it :)
 
King Philip has given away 104.000 euro an people/ familys in need

article
 
Poor Gabriel, his brother trolled him well :lol: when that snow melts and goes down your spine, it REALLY makes you feel cold :D

I love how playful and relaxed they are :wub:

And do you want to see how a Queen gets a snowball in the chest? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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Marchesina said:
really ... aren't they tired to rehash the same joke all over again?!:bang::bang::bang:
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No, because they have to find something to bash him, so it's the good ol' jokes when there isn't anything else to say.

Pitiful to say the least :rolleyes:

iceflower said:
That's what sibblings are for, isn't it? :D

Here are two more nice galleries with large pics:


** pm gallery: La reine Mathilde lance la saison royale de ski **


** pp: Philippe et Mathilde de Belgique : Chaude ambiance à Verbier avec leurs enfants **
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The best part was Mathilde running to save poor Gabriel, while Eleonore was already throwing balls at Philippe.

The youngest ones seem to be a handful :ROFLMAO:
 
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leidi said:
No, because they have to find something to bash him, so it's the good ol' jokes when there isn't anything else to say.
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This is for sure! The King and Queen and his beautiful family do not give many excuses them for anything like his father or his brother. So as they can regurgitate the same things.
 
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CNN said that the Royals have been evacuated from the Palace because there was a suspicious package.

Prayers for the people of Belgium :(
 
King Filip will address the Nation this evening at 19.00PM local time,GMT+1.

:easter:
 
Princess Pris said:
CNN said that the Royals have been evacuated from the Palace because there was a suspicious package.

Prayers for the people of Belgium :(
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That was false. The official Twitter confirmed the Family are still in the Palace.
 
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