Abdication of Albert II and Oath of Philippe, 21 July 2013


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This has been a great day, a day with big emotions. I have enjoyed this much more than the Dutch one. This is elegant and dignified without any big fuss. Great to see Philippe, Mathilde and Paola so emotional.
 
amaryllus said:
my honest opinion...the Belgian royals don't really enjoy their roles. They do their duty as required in a business like get it done and over way..one CEO is retiring and another taking his place. did not know about Denmark- what about Sweden, Norway and Spain? I guess I am not going to mind simplicity from them so much as they all strike me as warmer and more relatable anyway.
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I don't agree with you. Just because they don't show much emotion doesn't mean that they don't enjoy it. I think that king Albert, queen Paola, king Philippe, queen Mathilde and princess Astrid all do their jobs with both responsibility and and excitement. Again not all of them are good in showing their emotions in public.
It is a very good thing that we can see different inaugurations in different countries. It doesn't make the the same and boring. I also like the belgian inauguration. Simple and elegant and efficient.
 
amaryllus said:
my honest opinion...the Belgian royals don't really enjoy their roles. They do their duty as required in a business like get it done and over way..one CEO is retiring and another taking his place. did not know about Denmark- what about Sweden, Norway and Spain? I guess I am not going to mind simplicity from them so much as they all strike me as warmer and more relatable anyway.
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Interesting observation. I have to wonder if the Belgian royals are constantly considering their behavior in order to not show any preference to one of the three distinct language groups in their nation. They appear to walk a very fine line at all times.

Thank you to everyone who provided video and photo links to today's events. It appeared to be quite emotional at times for Queen Paola and Queen Mathilde.
 
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I just caught the end of it. I was particularly curious to see the crowds -and they seemed so few and dispersed.. Was it like that throughout? Were there many people below in the balcony appearance..?
 
TLLK said:
Interesting observation. I have to wonder if the Belgian royals are constantly considering their behavior in order to not show any preference to one of the three distinct language groups in their nation. They appear to walk a very fine line at all times.
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I think you are right in this..
The position of the royal family in all countries is different, even in two neighbouring countries like Belgium and the Netherlands the relationship between royals and 'the people' and royals and 'the government' is quite different...
Belgium does not have coronation regalia like the NL do (although there is no coronation in the NL either), and there is much less royal history than in f.i. the UK

Imo, the days of pomp and glamour that we sometimes imagine with royals ended after ww1 and the fall of the big empires like Germany and (especially) Russia...
If the royals would pile on the glamour in this day and age, people would be quick to say 'is that what my tax-money is spend on' :lol:

tamta said:
I just caught the end of it. I was particularly curious to see the crowds -and they seemed so few and dispersed.. Was it like that throughout? Were there many people below in the balcony appearance..?
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There weren't as many as you see on 'the Mall' (i think it's name is) when the UK royals have an event, but there were more people than anticipated...
 
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or you might say almost every one likes a bit of fantasy or pomp to show off their small country that might rarely make the worlds news, to show and feel of pride in their history such as it is even. does not have to be a three circus of ermine and gold and diamonds but showing some bling and glam to the world never hurts.
 
probably it was because I'm most interested in this family among the royal houses, but I got really emotional, even if I had to watch all the ceremonies this afternoon after everything was done. probably because it was more a family matter than a state occasion, considering the pomp and circumstances that took place is the Netherlands, this was so sweet and I can't agree with those who think this was disappointing. I like greatness and a bit of a theatrical show when it comes to royals, but they are in 21st century as we do, and the circumstances that created this kingdom made the accession ceremony like this, so this is tradition as much as the one that took place in Amsterdam earlier this year.
 
amaryllus said:
or you might say almost every one likes a bit of fantasy or pomp to show off their small country that might rarely make the worlds news, to show and feel of pride in their history such as it is even. does not have to be a three circus of ermine and gold and diamonds but showing some bling and glam to the world never hurts.
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what you really want as a small country is to actually make a difference in the world and to be treated as equal by larger countries.
The belgian ceremony also laid emphasis on the position of Belgium in Europe, even the european anthem was played (as well as the belgian anthem ofcourse)

You want to be taken seriously and that will not be done by piling on a load of bling just to get 15 minutes of fame in international press...
 
not a load but a little is fine :) yes, to be taken seriously is most important and a fancy shindig won't do it but showing off your tail feathers occasionally surely would not have a negative effect either.
 
stephanievl said:
The palace announced that King philippe will give a speech at 22H at the balcony of the royal palace.
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Where have you heard that? EEN hasn't said anything yet. I only know Queen Mathilde will wear a different dress tonight :D

I also don't agree with the dissapointment. Belgian are more introvert than Dutch people for start. Also, while I love tiaras, too much blingbling would have caused more resistance with republicans and non-royalists. Many people find already that the royal family costs too much. I also agree with Marlène de Wouters, expert on royalty, that this day, including clothes, were a signal of sobriety. Which is appropriate in these times of crisis, I find.
 
sweet girl... they must have gone thru some training to get her fairly still for that amount of time.
 
I did see a bit of the ceremony. Congratulations to Belgium on their new King & Queen.
 
now I can see what they actually did, my opinion changes some. if they give their own people what they want out of a monarchy-and are not out to wow- they got the job done and it's all good I guess :) still like some theater though, lol.
 
:previous:
Your local inauguration every 4 years is very expensive theatre as well.
 
I think we all like some theater now and then :D
 
most of us still love the tradition and meaning and the show of it all.
 
stephanievl said:
Princess Eleonore spotted het grandma and aunts at the balcony
http://i44.tinypic.com/abqxq8.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/r08doi.jpg
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Thank you for posting those lovely photos, Eleonore is so sweet.

I wasn't around to watch the whole thing live, but later on I managed to watch a video of the abdication and instillation on YouTube. I also looked at the photos that were posted here. I think Philippe and Mathilde will be a good King and Queen. I particularly liked the photos of the family on the balcony, I thought it was nice that some members of Mathilde's family attended too.

***
I don't know if this has been posted before, but the Belgian Royal Family have a translated English version of Philippe's swearing in:

http://www.monarchie.be/node/15624

I found this gallery of the abdication and insinuation on Getty Images:

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=174044738&EditorialProduct=Royalty
 
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stephanievl said:
Princess Eleonore spotted het grandma and aunts at the balcony
http://i44.tinypic.com/abqxq8.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/r08doi.jpg
Click to expand...

So sweet. Prince Gabriel did a good job keeping an eye on his little sister. The kids were really well-behaved.

Albert and Paola walking with their 4 grandchildren
http://www.rtl.be/videos/video/452025.aspx?CategoryID=353

I hope the full ceremonies will be posted somewhere. I've only managed to watch clips as I don't have a TV license so can't watch live stream.
 
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Everything went swift and smooth. They had a busy day and the party isn't over yet.

Funny thing happened at the Te Deum: Albert almost sat on his hat at the beginning of the Te Deum. Philippe could take it at the las minute.

I was touched by the emotions of Paola and Mathilde, even Albert's voice cracked a bit when he thanked his wife.
In the parliament we could see that Mathilde's family was also very moved.

Like someone said I was also expecting a more brownish uniform on Philippe, but apparently the uniforms changed a few years ago. The green looks better than the brown IMO.

Philippe impressed me today, he looked very relaxed and confident.

The little princesses and princes looked nice and behaved very approprietly. Gabriel is so tall, taller than his 2 year older sister.

I didn't like that they split up the fly past. They were sometimes flying over when people where parading on the ground.
The VW oldtimers of the police were very cute.

I hope we will also get some official pictures from the palace.
 
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According to the pics only Amedeo was missing.Do we know why?
 
liv said:
According to the pics only Amedeo was missing.Do we know why?
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Maybe for his work? I tought Maria Laura was only on work experience and the 3 others are still students, so maybe he's the only one with "obligations"

Still very sad... especially for all belgian girls ;-)
 
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