Emily said:
Catherine, What do you know about the relationship of King Baudoin and Phillippe? In many photos I have seen, the two are together.
Philippe and Baudouin were very close. After a few years and a number of miscarriages, Baudouin and Fabiola realized they were probably never going to have children. So Philippe would be the king after Baudouin and Albert (many people thought he would be king directly after Baudouin, because no-one expected him to die so soon).
Philippe spent a lot of time with his uncle to learn. Baudouin also gave him his sence of duty. As a teenager Philippe's parents lived apart, both with someone else and this was of course a very frustrating thing for Philippe, Astrid and Laurent. Baudouin and Fabiola sort of took care of them in that period. They never tried to replace the role of parents, but it made them very close to the children - well at least to Astrid & Philippe, Laurent never got along with his aunt and uncle (very different characters and whereas Baudouin and Philippe were both very aware of the duties they had and have Laurent was more aware of women and parties than anything else ...).
It's no secret that Philippe looked up to his uncle and considers him an example, although there are differences between them. They both have a serious image and their country is their life (Philippe often talks about 'My Belgians' - which I find very beautiful), but on the other hand Philippe has a relaxed side that his family life has given him and that Baudouin missed. They're both convinced catholics, but Philippe will always regard this as a private affair (the baptisms of his children were private affairs - so as to not hurt anyone with a different belief, or no belief) and not a state one (king Baudouin refused to sign the abortion law in 1993 because he could not accept it).
Sometimes it's said that Philippe was closer to Baudouin than to Albert, I don't know if that's true. Maybe their characters are more alike, but he's close to his father as well.
Gabriel's second name is Baudouin which says a lot about the love and admiration Philippe had for his uncle.
