Prince Laurent in Hospital; March 2014

[Grandma828]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Yes it is good news,nice to see the siblings visit.Has Princess Claire paid a visit? I might have missed that.

See comment #51

[Moonmaiden23]

Thanks for the info QueenJen!

[rominet09]

Princess Claire visits everyday !

[leidi]

Albert en Paola nog ‘enkele dagen’ op vakantie - Het Nieuwsblad

Le prince Laurent est en colère contre son père - RTL people

So, it seems like Albert and Paola can't cancel their holidays for this...

[maria-olivia]

It is also because they don't want to be in Belgium for the State Visit from China.

[grevinnan]

Originally Posted by leidi

Albert en Paola nog ‘enkele dagen’ op vakantie - Het Nieuwsblad

Le prince Laurent est en colère contre son père - RTL people

So, it seems like Albert and Paola can't cancel their holidays for this...

I don't really see a problem with them not traveling back home for Prince Laurent's stay in the hospital. If he is under the competent care and the treatment he is getting is within normal range for his particular pneumonia, why should they be around in order to sit around and wait? Laurent has both siblings and a wife nearby. For Claire to also have her parents-in-law around while having her husband in the hospital for what appears to have been non-life threatening care would just have added more stress for her. Had I been one of Laurent's parents, I would have conferred with Claire and respected her wishes if she wanted me there for support or just being in phone contact when needed.

[Lindy]

Originally Posted by maria-olivia

It is also because they don't want to be in Belgium for the State Visit from China.

Why don't Albert and Paola want to be in Belgium during the State Visit from China?

[Al_bina]

King Albert and Queen Paola retired and should enjoy their retirement. The state visit from China is the work for King Phillipe and Queen Mathilde and possibly other active members of the royal family (Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid).

[Marchesina]

Originally Posted by grevinnan

I don't really see a problem with them not traveling back home for Prince Laurent's stay in the hospital. If he is under the competent care and the treatment he is getting is within normal range for his particular pneumonia, why should they be around in order to sit around and wait? Laurent has both siblings and a wife nearby. For Claire to also have her parents-in-law around while having her husband in the hospital for what appears to have been non-life threatening care would just have added more stress for her. Had I been one of Laurent's parents, I would have conferred with Claire and respected her wishes if she wanted me there for support or just being in phone contact when needed.

I would normally agree with you if we were talking about a normal family with normal dynamics among their members. but we're talking about someone with well known complicated family issues. and press (and people in general) in Belgium kept the whole situation under scrutiny, ready to point the finger at the first wrong step. and to me, Albert and Paola made the worst step possible here.
RTL.be speculates here on the real reason behind their absence and the whole situation

[tommy100]

Personally I can not imagine any parent happily staying out of the country while their child is in hospital. Its not as if laurent went in for a cut finger he's been kept in for nights and has even been placed in a coma to help him recover, no matter how much of. Routine procedure this my be surely no parent would sty away if they had the means to get home to see them.
IMO this shows how distant Albert and Paola are from their children, to me its indicative of a couple who allowed their children to be raised by nannies, staff or other family.
I've never been a big fan of Laurent but this shows me actually mybe I feel sorry for him and its not his fault he's always seemed, well, lost.

[Marchesina]

Originally Posted by tommy100

Personally I can not imagine any parent happily staying out of the country while their child is in hospital. Its not as if laurent went in for a cut finger he's been kept in for nights and has even been placed in a coma to help him recover, no matter how much of. Routine procedure this my be surely no parent would sty away if they had the means to get home to see them.
IMO this shows how distant Albert and Paola are from their children, to me its indicative of a couple who allowed their children to be raised by nannies, staff or other family.
I've never been a big fan of Laurent but this shows me actually mybe I feel sorry for him and its not his fault he's always seemed, well, lost.

precisely. and it also show they never cared much of anything. many royal families have cold and distant relationships due to their upbringing and formal education (nannies and others)...but most of them keep up appearances at least. you're a public person...you should behave as people expect you to behave

[camelot23ca]

It's hard for me to imagine a situation where I wouldn't return from holiday to see my son if he was seriously ill. With that said, we don't know what the family's dynamics are like. Maybe the relationship between Laurent and his parents is so poor at this point that Albert and Paola knew Laurent wouldn't want them at the hospital. If they wouldn't/couldn't visit him there anyway, and if Claire is updating them regularly, it doesn't make a lot of difference where they are.

[tommy100]

In those circumstances I would still likely want to at least me in the same country as my child. Not continuing with a holiday, but I'm not royal...

[Marengo]

According to père Gilbert, Prince Laurent cried of happiness when he woke up from a coma. The priest, Claire + childre, king Philippe and Princess Astrid were saying a prayer around the bed of Laurent, and after they were done the prince suddenly opened his eyes. 'It was wonderful' says the priest. He looked around, had tears of happiness and said all their names. They all said something to him in turns as well.

It was princess Astrid who called Gilbert from Saudi Arabia (she was on a trade mission), who lives in Paris, and asked him to come. She also collected him from the train station.

The article goes on, noting that there was a lot of criticism on Paola and Albert for not returning from Italyn(they have returned this weekend btw). But it also mentioned that Paola was the only family member who visited Laurent when he was hospitalized 15 years ago and emphasized that they were in touch with Claire every day.

HLN speculates about bi-polar disorders and the sort and mentions that the prince is extremely tidy and forced his mother to take of her shes outside when she visited him. Queen Paola refused and left.

"Prins Laurent huilde van geluk bij ontwaken uit coma" - HLN.be

[tommy100]

I have to say I never thought Laurent was close to his siblings but they seem to have put any differences they may have had to one side to ensure they are there to support their brother. Reading the HLN article about how Princess Astrid got in touch with Laurent's 'mentor' and even picked him up from the airport shows just how concerned and obviously devoted she is to her brother. I wonder if now Philippe is King if the 3 siblings will become a little closer with maybe Astrid acting a bit as a mother figure to them?

I won't even bother to comment on the behaviour of Laurent's parents

[Blue_]

Albert and Paola just came back from vacation and paid a visit to their son.

article from La Libre

[fancatt]

^^^ Yes, there is another article with vídeo:

Le roi Albert et la reine Paola ont rendu visite au Prince Laurent (vidéo) | Belgique - lesoir.be

[leidi]

Wow, it only took them 11 days to come back and visit their son, maybe they couldn't get a refund from their holiday package so they had to stay in Italy...

Astrid and Laurent have had their differences but as soon as he fell ill, she ran to his side and got his mentor to be there with him, that's what family does.

Same for Philippe, who's in the middle of a very intense agenda but still found time to be by his brother's side.

[SLV]

Originally Posted by Marengo

According to père Gilbert, Prince Laurent cried of happiness when he woke up from a coma. The priest, Claire + childre, king Philippe and Princess Astrid were saying a prayer around the bed of Laurent, and after they were done the prince suddenly opened his eyes. 'It was wonderful' says the priest. He looked around, had tears of happiness and said all their names. They all said something to him in turns as well.

It was princess Astrid who called Gilbert from Saudi Arabia (she was on a trade mission), who lives in Paris, and asked him to come. She also collected him from the train station.

The article goes on, noting that there was a lot of criticism on Paola and Albert for not returning from Italyn(they have returned this weekend btw). But it also mentioned that Paola was the only family member who visited Laurent when he was hospitalized 15 years ago and emphasized that they were in touch with Claire every day.

HLN speculates about bi-polar disorders and the sort and mentions that the prince is extremely tidy and forced his mother to take of her shes outside when she visited him. Queen Paola refused and left.

"Prins Laurent huilde van geluk bij ontwaken uit coma" - HLN.be

Glad to read that he has woken up and is doing better.

[Lindy]

Queen Paola of Belgium issued a press release on Wednesday discussing her feelings about Prince Laurent's illness. She said that she and her husband were very moved to visit Laurent upon their return to Belgium. Since Laurent became ill, they have been in close contact with Claire who they hold in high esteem. "Day after day, we followed the state of his health with the concern of a father and mother." Paola said that Laurent is her most vulnerable child right now and she will give him all of her love and attention. They are particularly concerned for and wish to help Laurent develop a fulfilling and rewarding future with his family once he is out of the clinic.