Last Friday, October 9th, members of several royal houses descended upon the tiny principality of Monaco to attend the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer gala.

Click to see the gallery at Svenskdam

HSH Prince Albert II, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco played host to HRH The Crown Princess of Sweden, TRH Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium, and TRH Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg for the charity gala, which was held at the Opera Garnier in the Monte Carlo Casino. Camilla of Bourbon Two-Sicilies, Duchess of Castro was also in attendance.

Prior to the gala, Prince Albert and Crown Princess Victoria shared a drink at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, the official residence of the Monégasques Sovereign. Albert later described his meeting with Victoria, “wonderful and fantastic” to a Swedish reporter. Princess Victoria also stated, “it will be a wonderful evening,” upon her arrival to the Casino, while posing for photos on the red carpet before heading inside.

Speeches were given by both Prince Albert and Princess Astrid.

Click to see the gallery at Svenskdam

Princess Astrid is the Honorary Chairwoman of the EORTC Charitable Trust, which sees its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Prince Guillaume is also a member of the General Assembly of the EORTC Charitable Trust. The EORTC was founded in 1976 in Belgium, and is a multinational organisation which currently sees its operations underway in over thiry countries.

Click here, here, here and here for the various current events thread of the royals in attendance, where more information and pictures are available.

JessRulz Belgian Royals, Luxembourg Royals, Monaco Royals, Swedish Royals Cancer, Patronage, Prince Albert II, Prince Guillaume, Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Sibilla, Princess Victoria

On October 8, the royal family, including Princess Maria Laura, daughter of Princess Astrid, attended the opening of the prestigious “Son of Heaven” exhibition at the Palace of the Fine Arts in Brussels. It is the opening exhibition of the cultural festival Europalia China.

Click to see Belga picture gallery

The King and Queen opened the exhibition in the presence of the Vice President of China, Xi Jinping. Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire and Princess Maria Laura were also present.

The Vice-President is on an official trip to Belgium, and was welcomed to the country by Prince Philippe upon his arrival in Brussels, on October 7. Earlier on Thursday, the Vice President already met the King and Queen during a lunch at the Laeken Palace.

The exhibition shows some very exclusive pieces which have never travelled outside of China before, like a priceless kimono worn by the Chinese emperors. To honour this special gesture from China, the entire royal family turned up for the event. Princess Maria Laura, the eldest daughter of Princess Astrid, probably attended because the exhibition features Chinese artifacts. The young Princess has lived in China for 6 months, and currently studies Oriental languages in Paris.

For more information about the exhibition, please see this website.
For more information and pics from this event, please see this thread.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Exhibition, King Albert II, Prince Laurent, Prince Lorenz, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Maria Laura, Princess Mathilde, Queen Paola

The Belgian royal family was out in full force to celebrate this year’s National Day. On the evening of June 20, King Albert, Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Laurent and Princess Claire attended the concert “Preludium to the National Day”, organized at the Palace of Fine Arts by the National Belgian Orchestra. The royal ladies were at their best, as usual. Princess Mathilde looked splendid in bright white (see pic), while Princess Astrid was wearing a black dress (see pic). Queen Paola wore a black and white ensemble (see pic), but it was Princess Claire who really caught everyone’s eye in her pink top and red trousers (see pic). At the concert, the royals enjoyed music played by the Belgian National Orchestra, as well as several opera arias sung by soprano Hélène Guilmette.

Click to see full image at belga

On the morning of the National Day, the royals attended several Te Deum masses around the coutry. King Albert, Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde went to the St. Michael and St. Gudule Cathedral in Brussels, while Prince Laurent and Princess Claire attended the Te Deum in Mons, and Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz went to Antwerp. They all took their time to talk to the people who had turned up to greet them, despite the security measures, which were higher than usual due to the murder threats to Queen Fabiola.

Click to see full image at Belga

In the afternoon, King Albert inspected the troops which would take part int he military parade, after which he and the rest of the family went to the royal stands. Prince Laurent and Princess Claire had brought their daughter, Princess Louise, with them to watch the parade, but the girl was more interested in her father’s shiny sable throughout the parade. She didn’t remain seated on her own chair either, but sat on her father’s or mother’s lap most of the time. Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz had brought their two eldest children, Prince Amedeo and Princess Maria Laura, and their youngest daughter, Princess Letizia Maria along.

Click to see full image at Belga

As usual, the King and his children were dressed in their uniforms, Prince Philippe as Air Force officer, Princess Astrid in her uniform of Colonel of the Medical Division and Prince Laurent as Marine officer. Prince Amedeo also wore his uniform of reserve officer of the land forces. The ladies vied again for the best outfit. While Queen Paola wore again a demure black and white suit (see pic), Princess Mathilde wore an eye-catching pink dress and a matching pink fascinator (see pic). Princess Claire, on the other hand, wore a stunning blue dress and beige fascinator (see pic).

Despite the murder threats, Queen Fabiola was also present at the parade (see pic). She had some very animated conversations with Queen Paola and Princess Mathilde. Rumour had it she was wearing a bullet proof vest, but the Palace formally denied this.

After the parade, the King and Queen, and the Princes and Princesses visited several sites all over Brussels where the National Day celebrations were taking place. In the evening, they will attend the fireworks display.

For a discussion of the National Day celebrations, see this thread.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals King Albert II, National Day, Prince Laurent, Prince Lorenz, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola

Click to see image at belga

 Queen Fabiola, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid and her husband, Archduke Lorenz, and Princess Claire had lunch today with the jury members of the Queen Elisabeth Competition – Violin, of which the semi-finals were performed yesterday evening. The lunch was hosted at the Royal Palace in Brussels. Queen Fabiola is the patron lady of the Competition. This year, members of the jury include Jaime Laredo and Martin Beaver.

The Queen Elisabeth Competition is one of the most difficult competitions for violin, piano and singing, which exists since 1951. Before the war, the Competition was known as the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition. Queen Elisabeth herself was always a gifted musician herself, just like Queen Fabiola after her, who used to play the piano quite well, even though she always minimized her efforts. The Competition is an opportunity for the Belgian Royal family to show their appreciation and support for the fine arts. There is always at least one of them attending each final, and often the concerts in between as well.

Click to see image at belga

Queen Fabiola, who looked very well in her pale lilac attire, obviously enjoyed chatting with the jury members. Most remarkable are the shots of Princesses Mathilde and Claire, laughing and talking chummily together. If you take a look at the belga gallery here, it looks like the Princesses could hardly stop laughing, and they were telling a funny story… Prince Laurent and Prince Philippe were conspicuous by their absence, especially because their wives were having such a good time together. Where Prince Laurent was at this time, is not officially known. Prince Philippe, on the other hand, was travelling from Belgium to the Russian space pot in Baikonour, Kazachstan, where Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne will be launched to the ISS tomorrow around noon CET, together with a Russian and Canadian colleague.

For more information about the Queen Elisabeth Contest, see here.
For more information about the event, see this thread.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Mathilde, Queen Elisabeth Contest, Queen Fabiola

Click to see image at Zimbio

 Almost the entire Royal family was present on yesterday’s awarding ceremony of the King Baudouin International Development Prize. King Albert II of Belgium and Queen Paola hosted a luncheon and reception at the Brussels Royal Palace, and the event was also attended by Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz , Princess Claire and Queen Fabiola, who still looked rather fragile after her long absence due to illness in the beinning of the year.

The King Baudouin International Development Prize was awarded to the Indonesian organization KBR68H, a news agency and radio network which actively promotes democracy and development. Isaac Santoso had come down to Belgium to accept the honours. The luncheon was also attended by various notables, among which Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS. Later the family also attended the awards ceremony, and the KBR68H representatives were received on an official audience by the King.

The royal ladies all seemed to vie with each other for most elegantly dressed Princess. Princess Mathilde wore the same pale green dress with beaded neckline she had worn on the Indonesian Economic Mission last year, and her hair was tied together in an elegant chignon, decorated with a flower. Princess Astrid had choses grey-silvery tones, with an eye-catching long necklace. She has recently decided to wear her hair short again, and it suits her well. Princess Claire, on the other hand, had chosen a demure white dress, elegant as always, also wearing a super long necklace. (see picture here)

For a discussion of the event, see this thread.
There are picture galleries at Belga and Zimbio.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals King Baudouin International Development Prize, Prince Lorenz, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola

 Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium attended the International Paralympic Competition organized by the non-profit-making association “Quadrille” in Moorsele on Sunday 19 April, at the riding school “Zilveren Spoor” (the Silver Spur). The Princess was very impressed with the rider’s performance. She and her husband enjoyed extensive talks with the athletes and spectators, and they also visited the stables.

See here for a summary of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz’s current events.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Paralympics, Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid of Belgium

Click to see full image at daylife

 It has been a busy time for the Belgian Royals these past few days. While Princess Mathilde returned from the economic mission in Mexico, Prince Philippe travelled on to Panama for the second part of the mission. On 26 March he met Panama’s President Martin Torrijos at the Presidential Palace in Panama City. On his second and last day in Panama, the Prince visited an energy plant in Colon City, which is operated by the Belgian-French group GDF Suez.

Click to see full picture at IBL

In Belgium, however, the rest of the family hasn’t been sitting around either. On 26 March, Princess Claire attended the opening of the new exhibition rooms of the Treasure of the Liège Cathedral. She was clearly impressed with the valuable and beautiful exhibits. That same day King Albert met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul at the Royal Palace in Brussels. The President was on a visit to Brussels to attend the European summit. Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz also came into action. They attended the opening of the exhibition “Charles the Bold (1433-1477) – Splendour in Burgundy” in Bruges. Large part of what is currently Belgium belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy, and the lands ended up in the Habsburg empire.

Click to see image at belga

Princess Mathilde, on the other hand, hardly had the time to recover from her jet lag, as she was one of the guests of honour at the “Female Entrepreneurship” conference, held on 27 March, organized by Markant, Unizo and TRIAS. The conference was held at the KBC building in Brussels. Women of the South and the North discussed female enterprising and how microfinancing was an important financial instrument to promote this.

See here for more pictures of Prince Philippe in Panama, or see this thread.
For more pictures of Princess Claire in Liège, click here, or see this tread.
For more pictures of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz in Bruges, see this thread.
For more pictures of Princess Mathilde at the Female Entrepreneurship Conference, click here or here, or check out this thread.
For more information about the Belgian Royals, see here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Economic Mission, Exhibition, Panama, Prince Lorenz, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Mathilde

 On 17 February, the Belgian Royal family gathered at the Church of Laeken to attend the annual Mass in honour of all deceased family members. Not only the King and Queen were present, but also Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Princess Claire. This year, the mass was held especially in commemoration of King Albert I, who died 75 years ago. They also visited the Royal Crypt of Laeken to pay their respects. Before and after the Mass, the Royal family took their time to greet the people who had come down to the Church to meet them.

The three Princesses had probably agreed amongst themselves what to wear: their clothes were all black or grey, and all three Princesses wore bandeaux in their hair. Discussions vary about which Princess’s hairdo was most successful (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3).

Between all this black and sober dress, the Queen certainly stood out in a soft burgundy coloured hat and coat. (photo 4)

Prince Laurent, on the other hand, was conspicuous by absence. The Court has – as yet – not released any statement to explain why he did not attend. Amusing note: on the official website of the Belgian Royal Family, the announcement of this event initially said that Prince Laurent would attend. On 17 February, the announcement was nowhere to be found (not in current events, not in the archive), and one day later, only Princess Claire was mentioned as attending the event.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Albert I, Mass, Prince Laurent, Prince Lorenz, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Princess Mathilde, Queen Paola, Royal Crypt