The King, the Queen, Princess Astrid, Prince Laurent and Princess Claire attended the Autumn Concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels yesterday.

courtesy of Belga

The Autumn Concert is organized in collaboration with the Festival of Flanders and the Festival of the Walloon Region.

The Festival of the Walloon Region (Festival de Wallonie) is an annual event that offers 70 concerts in 4 parts of the Walloon Region and in Brussels. The common theme of the concerts is the aspiration to tell people about the region’s architectural and musical heritage, a strong inclination towards parties and conviviality.

This year, the Festival’s main theme is “Britannia”. The concerts are dedicated, as the name suggests, to the United Kingdom, which either gave birth or welcomed four great composers, whose anniversaries are celebrated this year – Purcell (350th birth anniversary), Handel (250th death anniversary), Mendelssohn (200th birth anniversary) and Haydn (100th death anniversary).

To learn more about the Belgian Royal Family, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Concert, Music, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Queen Paola

Yesterday Queen Paola of the Belgians took four of her grand children to the circus Bouglione  (near the Anatomium) in Brussels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola / Het Werk Der Wiegjes Prinses Paola” .

Click on image to see photo at Zimbio

The queen, accompanied by her daughter princess Astrid and her daughter-in-law princess Claire took four of her grand children along: princess Laeticia Marie (daughter of princess Astrid) and princess Louise, prince Aymeric and prince Nicholas (children of prince Laurent and princess Claire. Apart from the royals many other attended the special show,. For the event 1000 children from underpriviledged families were invited.

L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola (the work of the cradles of princess Paola) was founded in 1876. The original name of the charity was ‘the foundation of the blacks’. In order to raise money and save the nursery, a group of well-off gentlemen decided to create ‘African Academy’; they disguised themselves as black people to avoid recognition in restaurants they frequented as clients. They blackened their faces and put on costumes of white top hat, a black coat and bright-coloured baggy trousers. The ‘Academy’ was very successful and raised enough money to save the nursery. Over the years, raising money for charity in this way has become one of the finest (and funniest) folklore traditions of Brussels.

Click on image to see photo at gva.be

In 1959, shortly after her marriage, Princess Paola accepted the post of Honorary President of the “African Academy”, which was re-named “L’Oeuvre des Berceaux Princesse Paola”. The foundation helps children from underprivileged environment; the help manifests itself in covering medical expenses, acquiring necessary food, clothing, school supplies, etc.

A gallery of pictures is available at the website of the Gazet van Antwerpen, click here. A thread about the current events of the Belgian royal family an be found here.

Marengo Belgian Royals Circus, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire, Queen Paola

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

Prince Laurent has been admitted to the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, in Brussels, since last Sunday, due to pneumonia. The Prince was on holiday in Sardinia, visiting friends, when he suddenly realized he was getting feverish. Fearing that he had the H1N1 variant of the flu, he insisted on being treated in Belgium as soon as possible. The family was flown back to Brussels and the Prince was admitted to a Belgian hospital upon his arrival.

Claire leaving the hospital - click to see article (French)

The doctors soon saw he had pneumonia, and are giving him the appropriate treatment. The prince was contaminated by his daughter, Princess Louise, who has already recovered from her pneumonia. The Prince has left the hospital today.

For a discussion, see this thread.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Health, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire, Princess Louise of Belgium

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

Click to see image at belga

 Queen Paola and Princess Claire of Belgium visited the “Charles the Bold – Splendour in Burgundy” exhibition at the Groeninge Museum in Bruges today. Princess Astrid an Prince Lorenz attended the opening of the exhibition about a month ago, and they must have been very impressed with what they saw, because they convinced two others from their family to pay an official visit.

Charles the Bold by Rogier van der Weyden (ca 1460)

The exhibition really is unique, as it shows some of the pieces which belong to the so-called Burgunderbeute, which the Swiss army got their hands on after defeating Charles the Bold in the Battle of Grandson in 1476. It is the first time that pieces of this collection are allowed to leave the Swiss territory.

Queen Paola and Princess Claire seem to enjoy doing events like these together, as this is the second time in little over a month that they visit an art exhibition together. On March 12 of this year, they went to the exhibition “From Van Dijck to Bellotto”. The Queen and her daughter-in-law must have a close relationship, to be doing so many things together these days. Although in a way, it puts the emphasis on Prince Laurent’s seemingly empty agenda… The last time he was active in an official function, already dates back to the end of January.

To read more about the exhibition, visit this site.
To read more about Princess Clarie and Queen Paola’s  events, see here.
To read more about Charles the Bold, see here.
To see more pics of this event, see here (belga pictures).

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Exhibition, Princess Claire, Queen Paola

 On Sunday 19 April, Princess Claire of Belgium attended the Télévie Rally in Charleroi. Télévie is organized every year by the commercial television RTL-TVI. It is an action in which attention is asked for cancer and leukemia, and through all sorts of actions funds are collected for research and social projects. The kick off of this year’s action was given at the Long Term parking lot of the Airport of Charleroi (also called Brussels South Airport). Princess Claire really seemed to enjoy the rally of motor bikes, ancient cars, bikes and even tractors.

Click to see full image at LeSoir

The Princess visited the public interest stands and walked through the crowds, talking to everyone and giving particular attention to the children present. A lot of people came to the event, probably lured outside thanks to the beautiful weather. There were so many visitors, that the organization suddenly realized there weren’t enough hamburgers for everyone.

For a thread about Princess Claire’s activities, see here.
For an article about the event, see here. (In French) There’s also a video caption.
There also is a picture gallery at Belga and LeSoir.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Cancer, Health, Princess Claire, Télévie

 In April 2003, Prince Laurent of Belgium married Miss Claire Coombs, a British-born surveyor, who has been living in Belgium since the age of three. Since her engagement and wedding to Prince Laurent, Princess Claire has shown that she is partial to a relaxed, yet elegant style. She is a low-key, yet beautiful princess who seems happiest when she is with her family. Congratulations to Laurent and Claire on their six year anniversary!

sgl Belgian Royals Fashion, Princess Claire