King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and Family, General News 2, Sep. 2017 - Dec. 2023

[victor1319]

Isn't it odd that the Belgian taxpayers should pay for a foreign prince's housing?

Oh, Come on!

 

[kathia_sophia]

Isn't it odd that the Belgian taxpayers should pay for a foreign prince's housing?

I believe the prince receives an allowance from his parents. Besides, I don't see any problem with Mathilde and Phillippe having a family member living with them for a while. Many families do this.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

It feels strange not to have Elisabeth at this event now she's at the academy. But nevertheless it was nice to see the rest of the family.

It's Leopold, the son of Guillaume and Sibilla of Luxembourg. A magazine article on the occasion Elisabeth's birthday last year mentioned that he studies in Brussels and lives at Laeken castle with Philippe and Mathilde's family.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

It's nice that Leopold is living with someone he knows whilst he is studying abroad. I'm sure it made the whole transition much easier for him!

 

[W.Y.CII]

Isn't it odd that the Belgian taxpayers should pay for a foreign prince's housing?

That "foreign prince" is a relatives of a Belgian king, a grandson of a Belgian princess, and a great grandson of another Belgian king.

 

[paola]

Well, in that castle of Laken, for which the Belgian taxpayer already pays, they probably still had a room somewhere that was empty.?
And since Princess Elisabet enjoys room and board at the Military School, they probably have a bite to eat for the young man too.?
One person more or less makes no noticeable difference to the total costs for which the Belgian taxpayer has to pay.?

 

[Marengo]

The 4-part documentary 'Filip van België, een lange weg naar de troon' (Filip of Belgium. The long road to the throne) has aired on the Flemish broadcaster VRT/CANVAS last Monday.

The first episode deals with his youth. 3 other episodes are planned for the next Sundays.

The episodes is/ will be available on the VRT website after registering:

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a1/

Part 1 deals with the youth and the broken family.
Part 2 focusses on the words of marshal of the court Herman Liebaers who said 'He can't do it' in 1991. Some call it 'character assassination'.
Parts 3 and 4 focus on his marriage with Mathilde, his family, and on the recent years.

The documentary is supposed to be filled with praise for the King. Former courtiers have been interviewed. They want to correct the image that people have/ had of Filip.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

[...]

Part 1 deals with the youth and the broken family.
Part 2 focusses on the words of marshal of the court Herman Liebaers who said 'He can't do it' in 1991. Some call it 'character assassination'.
Parts 3 and 4 focus on his marriage with Mathilde, his family, and on the recent years.

The documentary is supposed to be filled with praise for the King. Former courtiers have been interviewed. They want to correct the image that people have/ had of Filip.

Interesting, thank you for the summary. Does that hint that the documentary will be critical of his parents and former courtiers? I'm curious to know what incentivized the King to "correct his image" at this time. It seems to me that his image is already excellent in comparison to most of his family.

 

[Marengo]

The VRT does not say that the king wants to correct his image, but they do say that former courtiers want to correct it. The documentary is made on the occassion of his 60th birthday. A journalist behind it is Pascale Mertens, whose father General Guy Mertens served as a mentor / father figure to the prince in the early 80s. General Mertens was asked by King Baudouin to guide the prince. I suppose that link may have made some former courtiers more talkative than they would normally be.

Up to now the documentary is not overly negative about Albert or Paola. They focus on the marriage trouble indeed but also point out that Paola was very young and totally unprepared for what awaited her. The comparison with her sister-in-law always was negative for her. On the one hand you had Baudouin and Fabiola - almost a priest and nun as some claim- and on the other hand the frivolous Albert and Paola. During an event at the palace Paola once started to cry in front of journalists, exclaiming 'the only thing I can do well is to cook spaghetti'.

They note that one year Filip, Astrid and Laurent were supposed to be alone in the Belvédère on Christmas eve. A member of the staff took pity on them and took the three children to his/her home for the evening. When it was clear that B&F could not have children, they decided it was necessary to step in more often. Filip and Astrid have lived at Laeken for some time. They tried the same with Laurent but that did not work out.

 

[leidi]

The 4-part documentary 'Filip van België, een lange weg naar de troon' (Filip of Belgium. The long road to the throne) has aired on the Flemish broadcaster VRT/CANVAS last Monday.

The first episode deals with his youth. 3 other episodes are planned for the next Sundays.

The episodes is/ will be available on the VRT website after registering:

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a1/

Part 1 deals with the youth and the broken family.
Part 2 focusses on the words of marshal of the court Herman Liebaers who said 'He can't do it' in 1991. Some call it 'character assassination'.
Parts 3 and 4 focus on his marriage with Mathilde, his family, and on the recent years.

The documentary is supposed to be filled with praise for the King. Former courtiers have been interviewed. They want to correct the image that people have/ had of Filip.

Thanks for the heads up! It's really interesting to see A&P in their younger years in video, it's something a bit foreign for us non Benelux-ers and it's a great historical document.

Would you mind posting the rest of links as soon as they are being broadcasted? Thank you very much!

 

[Marengo]

Thanks for the heads up! It's really interesting to see A&P in their younger years in video, it's something a bit foreign for us non Benelux-ers and it's a great historical document.

Would you mind posting the rest of links as soon as they are being broadcasted? Thank you very much!

The second episode is now available online :

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a2/

The episode starts with Philippes's 18th birthday and the 'wooden behavior' of the prince. They blame the home situation, which made the king fearful of mistakes. They are talking with two child psychiatrists who claim that in today's values his childhood would be unacceptable and could be considered a form of child abuse.

The documentary continues about his attendance of the military school. A teacher says that he was 'one of the guys' though due to his personality he made sure he always stayed out of trouble. Philippe had his own bedroom, separated from the rest of the group. They claim he was sporty and had a strong physique. Teachers again emphasize that Philippe was a normal student. He was not brilliant but he was not among the worst of the class either.

In the 80-ties colonel Guy Mertens was asked to be an advisor of the then 21 y/o prince. They emphasize that the admission to Stanford University was difficult, but he managed to get in on his own account. He seemed to have a busy social life and after two years he received his diploma, in the presence of both his mother as his father.

They tell about the reconciliation of Albert & Paola, after Astrid begged them to attend a charismatic meeting with her. Apparently there was a sort of marriage counselling sessions at the castle of Ciergnon. They decided to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in a convent in Colen. After that Albert visited Sybille one more time in London to tell her that he chose to mend his marriage.

After Philippe returned from the US his uncle made an apartment available in the Royal Palace in the center of Brussels. The apartment had been a large salon which was divided into smaller compartments. Those interviewed mention that it was monastary cell and that it was lonely as he was there all alone.

The change of succession happened when Laurent was for 1 1/2 years in the USA. It was regarded as a vote of no confidence of Baudouin in Laurent. In the USA the prince did internships at the embassy in Washington. Apparently the staff there didn't know what to do with him. All he did was turning out wrong, the employees of the embassy eventually didn't know what to do with him. it lead to embarrassing situations wherever they took him. The ambassador even flew to Belgium to meet the king. Baudouin said that the longer he could keep Laurent in the US the better. Baudouin used the time to change the Salic law, without notifying Laurent.

In 1991 in an interview with a newspaper the marshal of the court (Liebaers) says: 'it is sad to say, but he isn't up to the job. A sad case.'. Commentators judge that remark as 'a great shock', 'unforgivable' , 'you don't do such a thing', 'I got angry, yes angry' and 'I do not understand how a no1 employee of the king could do such a thing'. Afterwards, according to the journalist who recorded the words, 'all hell broke loose'. It was character murder of a prince who could not defend himself. Liebaers must have known very well how his words would land. After this politicians thought: if Liebaers can say this, so can I. It was then that the attacks on the prince started.

 

[leidi]

The second episode is now available online :

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a2/

The episode starts with Philippes's 18th birthday and the 'wooden behavior' of the prince. They blame the home situation, which made the king fearful of mistakes. They are talking with two child psychiatrists who claim that in today's values his childhood would be unacceptable and could be considered a form of child abuse.

The documentary continues about his attendance of the military school. A teacher says that he was 'one of the guys' though due to his personality he made sure he always stayed out of trouble. Philippe had his own bedroom, separated from the rest of the group. They claim he was sporty and had a strong physique. Teachers again emphasize that Philippe was a normal student. He was not brilliant but he was not among the worst of the class either.

In the 80-ties colonel Guy Mertens was asked to be an advisor of the then 21 y/o prince. They emphasize that the admission to Stanford University was difficult, but he managed to get in on his own account. He seemed to have a busy social life and after two years he received his diploma, in the presence of both his mother as his father.

They tell about the reconciliation of Albert & Paola, after Astrid begged them to attend a charismatic meeting with her. Apparently there was a sort of marriage counselling sessions at the castle of Ciergnon. They decided to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in a convent in Colen. After that Albert visited Sybille one more time in London to tell her that he chose to mend his marriage.

After Philippe returned from the US his uncle made an apartment available in the Royal Palace in the center of Brussels. The apartment had been a large salon which was divided into smaller compartments. Those interviewed mention that it was monastary cell and that it was lonely as he was there all alone.

The change of succession happened when Laurent was for 1 1/2 years in the USA. It was regarded as a vote of no confidence of Baudouin in Laurent. In the USA the prince did internships at the embassy in Washington. Apparently the staff there didn't know what to do with him. All he did was turning out wrong, the employees of the embassy eventually didn't know what to do with him. it lead to embarrassing situations wherever they took him. The ambassador even flew to Belgium to meet the king. Baudouin said that the longer he could keep Laurent in the US the better. Baudouin used the time to change the Salic law, without notifying Laurent.

In 1991 in an interview with a newspaper the marshal of the court (Liebaers) says: 'it is sad to say, but he isn't up to the job. A sad case.'. Commentators judge that remark as 'a great shock', 'unforgivable' , 'you don't do such a thing', 'I got angry, yes angry' and 'I do not understand how a no1 employee of the king could do such a thing'. Afterwards, according to the journalist who recorded the words, 'all hell broke loose'. It was character murder of a prince who could not defend himself. Liebaers must have known very well how his words would land. After this politicians thought: if Liebaers can say this, so can I. It was then that the attacks on the prince started.

Thank you so much!
The last part, it was about Philippe or Laurent?

 

[Marengo]

The last part was about prince Philippe. It is an infamous quote that opened the flood gates to the criticism that the prince received in the decades after that.

 

[leidi]

The last part was about prince Philippe. It is an infamous quote that opened the flood gates to the criticism that the prince received in the decades after that.

Is it known why the Court Marshall went off like that? Like he knew it was going to get ugly for Philippe and his role was to make sure the dynasty survived

 

[maria-olivia]

On CANVAS Dutch belgian TV , 4 Parts (every Monday evening )of King Philippe's life." Filip van Belgie , de lange weg tot de Troon"
I did not see sadly the first 2 ones , Perhaps Marengo did. Interviews of The best of the best belgians who knew the Sitiation at that time .The bad education they received , no love , complete isolation , being alone for Christmas etc could not be admit nowadays.
But King Philippe overcame his pain from his Childness , by having himself a wife and a warm family. Next Week Philippe as King.

 

[Marengo]

The third part has been broadcasted a few days ago.

It starts with the death of king Baudouin. It was former prime minister Wilfried Martens who first said on the radio that Philippe would succeed as king. An interview with Martens was shown where he explains that the plan was originally as said, but of course people expected Baudouin to rule for many years more. If for example the king had lived for ten more years, it would not be logical for Albert to succeed and he would be expected to refuse to succeed and pass the kinship to his eldest son.

PM Jean Luc Dehaene -in line with the constitution- asked Albert to succeed. Philippe - 'the dynastic son of Baudouin' was not an option. The feelings of Filip about the matter were not known.

Filip did replace his father as the head of economic mission.s It was a breach of style, his father was a jovial man, which was handy on such a mission. But now the very serious Filip went in his place. Due to Filip's seriousness and his carefully weighed words it gave the impression that he was spineless and not forceful in a conversation. People observed his wooden behavior and though; 'who is this unwordly creature'. A big difference with his father, a bon vivant who smiled a lot, had charm and who easily connected with people. Some people did recognize that he was very well prepared and hoped that he would grow into his role.

In 1996 a rumour about a serious romance started circulating. There are various stories how he met Mathilde but according to Paola's biographer the most credible story is one where Albert and Paola organised tennis competitions at Laeken with aristocratic ladies, in the hope that one of them would attract his interest. What is also known is that he knew the family well during the time of the death of Mathilde's sister Marie-Alix & her grandmother, who both died in a car accident in Herstal in the summer of 1997. Mathilde and another sister were in Germany and Filip collected them there with his car. In July 1999 they were photographed together during a vacation in Cuba.

September 1999 the prince had to return early to Belgium from a trade mission in London. The reason was a leak to the press about an engagement. Somebody suggested to announce the engagement earlier, to which the prince responded that it was impossible: he didn't have the ring yet. That is why during the engagement announcement Mathilde did not wear her ring yet. The prince told the press that no other person had mediated, it had been his own choice. A former courtier understood why it was so important to him, as they had tried to impose many other women on him. The commentators agreed that it would have been difficult to find anybody better suited for the job than Mathilde. Starting with her name, which is written the same in French and Dutch. She was raised in Belgian Luxembourg, her father was from West Flanders and she lived in Brussels.

The engagement period was somewhat overshadowed by the Danneels biography of Paola, where the existence of an extramarital child of Albert was revealed to the general public. The author claims that due to his young age (16 and 17) he got invited to see people where a normal journalist would never been invited to. People found it endearing that a teenager would write such a book and most thought the book would never be completed or published. There were long discussions with the editor how to bring the news in the book, because they didn't want a book focused on scandals. In the end he only wrote half a sentence about it. According to Jan van den Berge the children of Paola & Albert did not know about the existence of their half sister. It must have been a great shock. A journalist claims to have heard rumors that it was Paola who did not want to hear anything about a recognition of Delphine.

People remember the wedding of Filip & Mathilde as an impressive event. On the suggestion of the mayor of Brussels they got married in the city hall instead of the royal palace, to be in closer contact with the people. The popularity of Mathilde started to rub of on her now husband and his image started to improve. He seemed less wooden, and a more warm personality.

The announcement of the pregnancy and birth of Elisabeth were shown.

From 1999 there were more left leaning governments. Philippe tried to get to known the politicians and the prince wanted to get to know the politicians better. Jacques van Ypersele dinner in public between the prince and the prime minister Verhofstadt, but a dinner at the private apartments of the prince was arranged.

In 2004 there was a controversy due to an interview with the magazine Story where -after a great election victory of the Flemish separatists he commented about keeping the country together. More criticism followed: the speeches were the same and uninspired. There was a little incident where he told two journalists: 'you are not my friend, but don't forget that we still decide who has access to the palace and who has not"... princess Mathilde wisely pulled him away. The prime minister however wrote a public reprimand to tell the prince that his behavior was inappropriate. It made people wonder: how will it be if he is on the throne, with such inelegant outbursts & misplaced behavior.

The image problem was mainly an issue in Flanders, where the prince was ridiculed by comedians. To do something against the image problems it was agreed that Pascale Martens would follow the prince for 6 months for a documentary.

In the final part they talk about the health problems of king Albert, which started to increase. Already in 2010 -during the state visit to India- the king felt the time had come to abdicate. He said he did not want to go on such a far and extensive trip any more. The program ends with images of the abdication of Albert II and the enthronement of Filip.

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a3/

Is it known why the Court Marshall went off like that? Like he knew it was going to get ugly for Philippe and his role was to make sure the dynasty survived

In the documentary they claimed that he must have known what he was doing. The interview was not about the RF but about a new library in Paris. The court marshall himself introduced the topic.

Later on he claimed that his words were twisted, praised the trade missions of the prince and added that due to the influence of princess Mathilde things had changed.

 

[maria-olivia]

Marengo , I saw it too . Thank you for your Post . Leidl from the Arab Emirates is always so interested in our Royal Family , thanks Leidl.
They told Danneels everbody knew King Albert has a Daughter, and he wrote this sentence ! Do you think Marengo that if the book was not published , no Delphine Boel ?
I knew if before. When Prince Albert was the Head of economic Missions , the airplane on their way back always stopped in London... and then in Brussels

 

[Skippy]

Mario Danneels wasn't even the person who first mentioned the existence of King Philippe's half-sister. It was first published in 1997 in 't Scheldt, two years before the book, and Danneels had originally written it to put a more positive light on Queen Paola.

Anyway - King Philippe and Queen Mathilde have managed to do what his parents failed at: a happy, close-knit family life.

 

[leidi]

The third part has been broadcasted a few days ago.

It starts with the death of king Baudouin. It was former prime minister Wilfried Martens who first said on the radio that Philippe would succeed as king. An interview with Martens was shown where he explains that the plan was originally as said, but of course people expected Baudouin to rule for many years more. If for example the king had lived for ten more years, it would not be logical for Albert to succeed and he would be expected to refuse to succeed and pass the kinship to his eldest son.

PM Jean Luc Dehaene -in line with the constitution- asked Albert to succeed. Philippe - 'the dynastic son of Baudouin' was not an option. The feelings of Filip about the matter were not known.

Filip did replace his father as the head of economic mission.s It was a breach of style, his father was a jovial man, which was handy on such a mission. But now the very serious Filip went in his place. Due to Filip's seriousness and his carefully weighed words it gave the impression that he was spineless and not forceful in a conversation. People observed his wooden behavior and though; 'who is this unwordly creature'. A big difference with his father, a bon vivant who smiled a lot, had charm and who easily connected with people. Some people did recognize that he was very well prepared and hoped that he would grow into his role.

In 1996 a rumour about a serious romance started circulating. There are various stories how he met Mathilde but according to Paola's biographer the most credible story is one where Albert and Paola organised tennis competitions at Laeken with aristocratic ladies, in the hope that one of them would attract his interest. What is also known is that he knew the family well during the time of the death of Mathilde's sister Marie-Alix & her grandmother, who both died in a car accident in Herstal in the summer of 1997. Mathilde and another sister were in Germany and Filip collected them there with his car. In July 1999 they were photographed together during a vacation in Cuba.

September 1999 the prince had to return early to Belgium from a trade mission in London. The reason was a leak to the press about an engagement. Somebody suggested to announce the engagement earlier, to which the prince responded that it was impossible: he didn't have the ring yet. That is why during the engagement announcement Mathilde did not wear her ring yet. The prince told the press that no other person had mediated, it had been his own choice. A former courtier understood why it was so important to him, as they had tried to impose many other women on him. The commentators agreed that it would have been difficult to find anybody better suited for the job than Mathilde. Starting with her name, which is written the same in French and Dutch. She was raised in Belgian Luxembourg, her father was from West Flanders and she lived in Brussels.

The engagement period was somewhat overshadowed by the Danneels biography of Paola, where the existence of an extramarital child of Albert was revealed to the general public. The author claims that due to his young age (16 and 17) he got invited to see people where a normal journalist would never been invited to. People found it endearing that a teenager would write such a book and most thought the book would never be completed or published. There were long discussions with the editor how to bring the news in the book, because they didn't want a book focused on scandals. In the end he only wrote half a sentence about it. According to Jan van den Berge the children of Paola & Albert did not know about the existence of their half sister. It must have been a great shock. A journalist claims to have heard rumors that it was Paola who did not want to hear anything about a recognition of Delphine.

People remember the wedding of Filip & Mathilde as an impressive event. On the suggestion of the mayor of Brussels they got married in the city hall instead of the royal palace, to be in closer contact with the people. The popularity of Mathilde started to rub of on her now husband and his image started to improve. He seemed less wooden, and a more warm personality.

The announcement of the pregnancy and birth of Elisabeth were shown.

From 1999 there were more left leaning governments. Philippe tried to get to known the politicians and the prince wanted to get to know the politicians better. Jacques van Ypersele dinner in public between the prince and the prime minister Verhofstadt, but a dinner at the private apartments of the prince was arranged.

In 2004 there was a controversy due to an interview with the magazine Story where -after a great election victory of the Flemish separatists he commented about keeping the country together. More criticism followed: the speeches were the same and uninspired. There was a little incident where he told two journalists: 'you are not my friend, but don't forget that we still decide who has access to the palace and who has not"... princess Mathilde wisely pulled him away. The prime minister however wrote a public reprimand to tell the prince that his behavior was inappropriate. It made people wonder: how will it be if he is on the throne, with such inelegant outbursts & misplaced behavior.

The image problem was mainly an issue in Flanders, where the prince was ridiculed by comedians. To do something against the image problems it was agreed that Pascale Martens would follow the prince for 6 months for a documentary.

In the final part they talk about the health problems of king Albert, which started to increase. Already in 2010 -during the state visit to India- the king felt the time had come to abdicate. He said he did not want to go on such a far and extensive trip any more. The program ends with images of the abdication of Albert II and the enthronement of Filip.

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/filip-...-van-belgie--de-lange-weg-naar-de-troon-s1a3/



In the documentary they claimed that he must have known what he was doing. The interview was not about the RF but about a new library in Paris. The court marshall himself introduced the topic.

Later on he claimed that his words were twisted, praised the trade missions of the prince and added that due to the influence of princess Mathilde things had changed.

Thank you once again!

Philippe did get the short end of the stick during most of his life, it's unbelievable how much everyone was actively trying to sabotage him: the court, the press, the government.

No wonder why he sometimes lashed out, there's only so much a man could take.

Thankfully he was so incredibly wise at choosing a wife, Mathilde has given him the love and support he never had anywhere else, she basically made him the good king he is now, because she taught him how to love and gave him a family, something he always longed for.

He's also a FAR much better father than Albert ever was, very warm and loving towards his children and it shows on them, they are well adjusted and nice young people, Elisabeth is already the golden girl in Belgium, people just love her and a lot of it comes from the confidence she has due to her good upbringing, something her father never had.

 

[Marchesina]

Is it known why the Court Marshall went off like that? Like he knew it was going to get ugly for Philippe and his role was to make sure the dynasty survived

I always had the impression that courtiers and Philippe never got along well, given - for instance - how the abdication itself came as a surprise to Philippe, as far as I remember from those days statements.

 

[leidi]

I always had the impression that courtiers and Philippe never got along well, given - for instance - how the abdication itself came as a surprise to Philippe, as far as I remember from those days statements.

And he basically got rid of every single one of the old guard as soon as he became king, didn't Albert re-hire someone fired from the court against Philippe's express wishes? ? (yet another thing to make that man a frontrunner for "Father of the Century" ¬¬)

 

[REAL COUNTESS]

Well the King had a difficult childhood,but he seem to be a great father and King, Mathilde was a great help. Just wonder don't the Courtiers work for the Monarch? ,they seem to have their own agenda, Glad he sacked everyone. K Albert an Q Paola did not qualify for parents of the year and sill don't in MO.

 

[Marengo]

King Albert retained most / all of Baudouin's appointments so it was high time that there was a shake up and a professionalization of the court. People were in the same position for decades.

King Philippe supposedly went to The Hague to see how things were done there. It must be one of the reasons for his warm words to Pss Beatrix during the state visit. Likewise "crown" princess Beatrix did something similar at Queen Margrethe's court in Copenhagen in the 70-ties and professionalized the Dutch court in the 80-ties, which before was described as 'a cozy mess'.

In the documentary it is remarked how there was a change of tone in the court's communication department. Before there would be no use in calling the palace for an explanation or a comment as the response would always be 'no comment'. The journalist said that a few years ago that changed, now the court often says: 'why didn't you contact us?'.

 

[leidi]

King Albert retained most / all of Baudouin's appointments so it was high time that there was a shake up and a professionalization of the court. People were in the same position for decades.

King Philippe supposedly went to The Hague to see how things were done there. It must be one of the reasons for his warm words to Pss Beatrix during the state visit. Likewise "crown" princess Beatrix did something similar at Queen Margrethe's court in Copenhagen in the 70-ties and professionalized the Dutch court in the 80-ties, which before was described as 'a cozy mess'.

In the documentary it is remarked how there was a change of tone in the court's communication department. Before there would be no use in calling the palace for an explanation or a comment as the response would always be 'no comment'. The journalist said that a few years ago that changed, now the court often says: 'why didn't you contact us?'.

Is the last part already online?

 

[Skippy]

It is, until November 12 this year. The episode is called "Eindelijk Koning" ("King At Last").

Philippe has really revolutionalized the communication strategy of the palace and numerous examples are given.
I think he is really to be applauded for this, since becoming King he has finally managed to show what he is about and the monarchy has been much more open.

 

[leidi]

It is, until November 12 this year. The episode is called "Eindelijk Koning" ("King At Last").

Philippe has really revolutionalized the communication strategy of the palace and numerous examples are given.
I think he is really to be applauded for this, since becoming King he has finally managed to show what he is about and the monarchy has been much more open.

Thank you!!
I like that at the beginining, when they are talking about the US economic mission in June 2013, everyone agrees that Philippe was much more relaxed, he probably felt it was his time, wasn't it? So it was as if he didn't really have anything left to prove.

 

[iceflower]

The Queen Mathilde Fund that was founded in December 2000, one year after the marriage of Mathilde to Philippe on December 4, 1999, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. To mark that anniversary Queen Mathilde has given an interview.


** vrt.be video ** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery **


About the young people and the current Corona situation:

Young people are hit hard by this crisis. They like being able to have social contact. It is the beginning of their life, of the development of their autonomy. This crisis is slowing them down. The message I would like to give them is that they believe in themselves. The efforts we are making now will bear fruit. Sooner or later there will be an end to this pandemic. It is important to be able to tell this to young people now. The Fund's main concern is to be able to strengthen the most vulnerable. With, also, an aspect on mental health.

About Christmas:

We are going to try to celebrate Christmas with joy, albeit in a limited circle. We will respect the measures to protect the most vulnerable in our society

** lesoir: Pour les 20 ans de son Fonds, la reine Mathilde prend la parole **


** sudinfo: La Reine Mathilde: «Comme tous les Belges, nous allons respecter les mesures» ** translation ** video ** video **

 

[iceflower]

Belgian news anchor Martine Tanghe is retiring after 42 years and had the chance to meet King Philippe for a final meeting at the Royal Palace last week:


** video **

 

[iceflower]

King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and their children participated in the recording of a Christmas concert that will replace the usual Christmas concert with a large number of guests at the Royal Palace.

Princess Eleonore performed a jazzy version of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas'" on her violin, Prince Emmanuel performed "Adeste Fidelis" on his saxophone.

Some short videos can already be found in the vrt.be article, the whole show will be shown on Belgian television on Christmas Day:


** gettyimages gallery ** rex gallery **


** vrt.be: Ongewoon kerstconcert op paleis: persoonlijke boodschap en prins Emmanuel en prinses Eleonore die sax en viool spelen **


** dailymail article: Making mum and dad proud. Princess Eleonore and Prince Emmanuel of Belgium show of their musical side...*

 

[Marengo]

These origami birds of Charles Kaisin are also gracing the ceilings of the Royal Galleries de Saint Hubert in Brussels. One part of the galleries in gold and the other part in all kinds of colours:
https://welovebrussels.org/2020/11/origami-for-life-in-the-galeries-royales-saint-hubert/
https://www.lesoir.be/337232/articl...e-aux-galeries-royales-saint-hubert-bruxelles

You can buy the golden ones in a shop over there - 75 Euros a piece (!) though the proceeds will go to a COVID-related cause.

 

[leidi]

It's so nice that the kids got to show their musical prowess!
Very nice and one more point for the BRF in this pandemic, they have been flawless.