courtesy of daylife

Belgian Royals celebrated The King’s Feast (Koningsfeest in Dutch and Fête du Roi in French) on November 15 – a day that has been marked by celebrations in honour of the Belgian Monarch since 1866. Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Queen Fabiola were all present.

The celebrations started with a Service at Brussels Cathedral, which was attended by all members of the Royal Family with the exception of the King, the Queen and Princess Claire. King Albert and Queen Paola don’t usually attend the Service as protocol decrees it would be inappropriate for the Monarch to honour himself. Although always present at The King’s Feast Day celebrations, Princess Claire was absent this year, presumably because she wasn’t able to find anyone to babysit the children.

courtesy of daylife

Also present at the Service was Queen Fabiola – the first time she has been seen in a long time. The past few months have been marred by concerns for Her Majesty’s health and even false death announcement. Although the Queen was recovering in Spain, she insisted on attending the Service, although she did not attend the ceremony at the Parliament: the Royal Watchers were undoubtedly delighted to see Her Majesty in apparently good health.

Since 2001, the Service has been followed by a ceremony held by the Belgian Parliament in honour of the King, in the presence of members of the Belgian Royal Family and other dignitaries.

November 15 is the name day of Leopold (the feast of Saint Leopold) and Albert (the Feast of Saint Albert the Great), two names that are of great importance for the Belgian Royals: Belgium’s first, second and fourth Monarchs were named Leopold, while the third King was called Albert, as is the current king. In 1951, King Baudouin decided to honour the day, and King Albert II continued the tradition. November 15 and April 8 (King Albert’s birthday) are two days when His Majesty honours distinguished citizens by presenting them with the Order of Leopold. Although November 15 is not a public holiday, civil servants are allowed to have a day off.

To learn more about the King’s Feast, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Archduke Lorenz, King Albert II, Prince Laurent, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola, The King’s Feast

courtesy of WAM

Her Highness Sheikha Fatima hosted a banquet in honour of Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium. Among dignitaries present were Her Highness Sheikha Salamah bint Hamdan (wife of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces), Her Highness Sheikha Shama bint Zayed (wife of His Highness Sheikh Surur bin Mohammed Al Nahyan) and Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan (wife of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Representative of Ruler in Western Region).

Before the banquet, Sheikha Fatima and Princess Mathilde exchanged views on a number of issues connected with women’s rights. Sheikha Fatima briefed the Crown Princess about the UAE national women empowerment and the role they play in the development process in the country. Sheikha Fatima, who is the Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, has always been actively involved in women’s rights issues.

courtesy of WAM

Princess Mathilde highly praised the Sheikha’s role in the empowerment of women in the community and her efforts regarding the issues of childcare, environment and social development. The Crown Princess also lauded Sheikha Fatima’s humanitarian contributions both on local and international levels.

Later in the day, Princess Mathilde paid a visit to the Khalifa Fund for Development of Enterprises. The Princess was given a presentation on the Fund’s objectives, programmes and achievements in the promotion of the culture of entrepreneurship among the UAE citizens. The Princess was very impress by the achievements of the Fund since its founding two years ago and praised its important role in promoting development of entrepreneurship among various sectors of the UAE society.

Today was the final day of Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde’s economic mission to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

To learn more about economic mission, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals, UAE Royals Economic Mission, Princess Mathilde, Sheikha Fatima, Women's Rights

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

 Princess Mathilde attended the launch of the European Partnership to fight cancer in the period 2009-2013, today in Brussels, at the invitation of José Manuel Barrosso, the President of the European Commission. She was welcomed to the convention by the Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou.

Click to see full image at Belga

At the meeting, the Princess gave a speech, in which she emphasised that cancer is a widespread disease, which is very difficult to fight, but “we should not forget that it can very often be beaten.” She also proudly talked about the steps Belgium has already taken to coordinate cancer research, prevention and treatment better. She repeated that prevention and screening are the key to fighting cancer, as many types of cancer, different though they all are, can be more easily cured when discovered in an early stage.

She stressed that clinical research is vital to improve treatments, but that there should also be attention for psychological support for cancer patients, who often feel alone, despite all the attention given to them by family, friends and medical staff. The Princess also talked about her visit to a paediatric oncological institute earlier this year. She said: “I was deeply moved by this visit. I met very sick children, but they gave me a lesson on how to be brave: never to give up hope despite the burden of illness which is weighing heavily on their young shoulders.”

Click to see full image at Belga

At the same time, Princess Astrid visited a cancer hospital in Oostduinkerke. She was greeted by enthousiastic crowds. At the center, she took the time to talkt and listen to the patients, while she was guided by the doctors. Oostduinkerke being one of the places where shrimp is still collected on horseback, the Princess also met with some traditional shrimp fishermen. 

For a thread on Princess Mathilde’s current events, see here.
The speech can be found here.

For a thread on Princess Astrid’s current events, see here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Cancer, Health, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Mathilde

Click on image to see photo at gva.be

 After 26 years the feud between the d’Udekem d’Acoz family finally has been settled. The feud started 26 years ago when Mathilde’s maternal grandmother, countess Suzanne d’Outryve d’Ydewalle, died. The devision of the family fortune started fierce discussions and disagreements between her sons Henri, Raoul and Patrick, Mathilde’s father.

‘The properties and money have been devided fairly. The lawsuits are over’, count Henri d’Udekem d’Acoz told the Flemish press. He also says that princess Mathilde played an important role in reuniting the family: ‘You can not underestimate her role, but maybe my brother’s death also accelerated things’. In March this year the count also said that the feud had ended, but apparently the financial issues still had to be settled.

 The family announced the end of their disagreements today, just as authors Valerie Lempereur and Jan Van den Berghe introduced their book ‘Mathilde & Co’ to the press. The book is far from positive about the ‘d Udekem d’Acoz family and especially the feud about the inheritance of countess Suzanne. On the Dutch television Valerie Lempereur said that Mathilde’s mother, countess Anne Komorowska, used to be the the ‘boss’ in the household, and has fits of hysteria. The author also claims that it is Mathilde who is the dominant spouse in the marriage.

Marengo Belgian Royals Finances, In-Laws, Princess Mathilde

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Today Princess Mathilde and her Dutch colleague, Princess Maxima, officially opened the new Museum M, the renovated city museum of Leuven, one of the oldest cities in the Low Countries, which hosts one of the oldest universities of Europe. The Princesses, whose names start with an M, like the name of the museum, took the time to talk to the people who had turned up to greet them. As usual when they are together, they seemed to have a lot of fun while cutting the ribbon to declare the museum opened.

When they were greeting the crowds, three Flemish extremists started shouting anti-Belgian slogans. They were instantly removed by the police and arrested.

The museum currently hosts a collection of the Flemish Primitive artist Rogier Van der Weyden, one of the most important painters of the Medieval Low Countries. It is located both in old and new buildings.

See here for a thread about the visit.
See here for the website of the museum.
You can find an article of the event in Dutch here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals, Dutch Royals Princess Mathilde, Princess Máxima

Click to see belga gallery

Yesterday, 09 Sept., Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden officially opened the exhibition “It’s our Earth 2. From Kyoto to Copenhagen” at Tour & Taxis in Brussels. This is the new edition of the exhibition “It’s our Earth”,  which focused on sustainable energy and development. Because of the great demand, the original exhibition was reopened, under the new name and with new emphasis on the influence of the human presence on the Earth, biodiversity, global warming and other contemporary issues.

The royals want to show their support for the efforts that are being undertaken to make people conscious of the need to change their habits, to counter global warming, climate change, and everything entailed in it.

In the afternoon, Prince Philippe and Princess Victoria attended the conference “Climate and Jobs – The EU’s Global Agenda”. The conference was organized by Sweden. The country is currently President of the Council of the European Union.

For more information on the exhibition, see here.
For pictures and a discussion of the visit, see here and here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals, Swedish Royals Climate Change, Exhibition, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Victoria

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 full image at Belga

 Today, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde kept a their yearly appointment with the press for a summer photo shoot with their family. This year, they took their children to an animal park called Parc Paradisio.

Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel and Princess Eléonore enjoyed seeing the animals from close up, which of course brought about a load of cute pictures of the young Princes and Princesses with birds, monkeys and even a goat.

Click to see full image at Belga

Also, in line with tradition, the princely family was dressed similar: the two boys were wearing the same short trousers and sweaters, and the girls had T-shirts in the same pattern. Princess Mathilde and Prince Philippe were also wearing the same colours, which gives all pictures an extra touch of cuteness…

For the pictures and several film captions, please see here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Photo Session, Prince Emmanuel, Prince Gabriel of Belgium, Prince Philippe, Princess Eléonore, Princess Elisabeth, Princess Mathilde

Click on image to see photo at Belga

  The last few days all member states of the European Union organised elections for the European parlament. Belgium’s royal family set a good example and all adult members of the royal family were pictured while visiting the polling stations. The duke and duchess of Brabant voted at a polling station in Laeken, as did princess Astrid, her husband Lorenz and their two eldest children prince Amedeo and princess Maria Laura. Prince Laurent and his wife princess Claire went to a polling station in Tervuren to vote.

Click on image to see photo at AP

The king and queen however were unable to vote, as the constitution prohibits that. Apart from elections for the European parlament the Belgians yesterday also voted for the regional parliaments. In Luxembourg Princess Alexandra and her brother prince Félix of Luxembourg went to the polling station in Luxembourg city. Click here to see a picture.

In Hungary archduke Georg and archduchess Eilika voted in Soskut, some 30 kms south of Budapest. The archduke is a member of the junior opposition conservative party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum. He was also one of their candidates for the European parlament, but according to the first reports his party did not get enough votes to get him there. In Turin, prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, son of the pretender to the Italian throne, voted for the first time in Italy. Like archduke Georg, Emanuele Filiberto tried to get elected into European parlament but failed. Click here to see a picture.

Marengo Austrian Royals, Belgian Royals, Italian Royals, Luxembourg Royals Archduchess Eilika, Archduke Georg, Elections, European Union, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Philippe, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Mathilde