Death of Queen Fabiola: December 5, 2014

[saintgilles]

Assister aux funérailles de SM la Reine Fabiola cathédrale de Bxl: possible sur inscription auprès du SPF Intérieur protocole@ibz.fgov.be

https://twitter.com/MonarchieBe/status/542437624619622400

Uitvaartplechtigheid HM Koningin Fabiola 12/12 in kathedraal bijwonen: mogelijk zich bij Binnenlandse Zaken te melden protocol@ibz.fgov.be

https://twitter.com/MonarchieBe/status/542436973713952769

To attend the funeral, you can email: protocole@ibz.fgov.be

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I have a ?
In Belgium, is it customary to leave the coffin open? Don't mean to offend anybody, but to me, that's gross.

I just saw a pic of QF open casket, and it was a little frightening!
@ Maria Olivia- I hope you don't mind my asking, but why were you invited?

Both in the Netherlands (my home country) and in France (my current residence) I always have seen open coffins to bring last respects to a deceased person. Note that we are talking about a lit-de-parade and not about the actual funeral.

Difference however is that in other monarchies, like the Netherlands, the coffin is only open for a select group and not shown to the public. We have not seen Prince Claus, Queen Juliana, Prince Bernhard or Prince Friso, only their closed coffin, see picture: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62027

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

What about Beatrix of the Netherlands? She was very close to both Baudouin and Fabiola. She and Baudouin were good friends as teenagers, there is a terrific photo of them sitting together at a formal ball at Laeken in the late 1950's.

The Royal House has confirmed that Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands will attend the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola. From the moment of her marriage into the Belgian royal family, the late Fabiola has personally known Beatrix her whole royal life long.

Picture: King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola during the royal wedding in Amsterdam 1966

 

[episcogal]

The Royal House has confirmed that Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands will attend the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola. From the moment of her marriage into the Belgian royal family, the late Fabiola has personally known Beatrix her whole royal life long.

Picture: King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola during the royal wedding in Amsterdam 1966

I have probably 100+ pictures of Baudouin, Fabiola, Juliana, Beatrix, etc. but here are just a few. There was always a very strong relationship between the two houses during Baudouin's reign.

Picture 1 * Picture 2 * Picture 3 * Picture 4 * Picture 5 * Picture 6 * Picture 7 * Picture 8 * Picture 9 * Picture 10 * Picture 11 * Picture 12 * Picture 13 * Picture 14 * Picture 15

 

[Hans-Rickard]

Both in the Netherlands (my home country) and in France (my current residence) I always have seen open coffins to bring last respects to a deceased person. Note that we are talking about a lit-de-parade and not about the actual funeral.

Difference however is that in other monarchies, like the Netherlands, the coffin is only open for a select group and not shown to the public. We have not seen Prince Claus, Queen Juliana, Prince Bernhard or Prince Friso, only their closed coffin, see picture: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62027

In Sweden the coffin is only open a short moment for the family and close relatives to bid a last farewell days before the funeral. After that private ceremony the coffin is imediately closed.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

It says that it is the number of 10-16 december 2014 on the left. It also talks about the state visit of the king and queen of Sweden to France, which was last week.

Okay thanks Marengo. When I checked the newsstand today they still had the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy issue on the cover!!

PdV used one of my favorite pictures of Fabiola...simply gorgeous.


Duc et Pair, thanks for the photo of Baudouin and Fabiola at Beatrix's wedding. At the time that photo was taken, Queen Fabiola was in the very early weeks of her 4th ill-fated pregnancy. In July of that year-1966-she would deliver a stillborn daughter five months into the pregnancy.

 

[Danishla]

Would there be a live internet coverage to watch the funeral ceremonies? If anyone knows please let me know. Thank you.

 

[episcogal]

Would there be a live internet coverage to watch the funeral ceremonies? If anyone knows please let me know. Thank you.

Queen Fabiola Funeral Service Thread at Royal Forums

This has the information you seek.

 

[lise]

Well I'd like to add my opinion on open coffins since I've been to three funerals in the past month. Only one of the families chose to have a viewing on the morning of the funeral because the death was sudden and they felt it's what they needed to do. The other two deaths were expected so the families were able to spend some time at the hospital with their loved one afterwards so they felt they didn't need a viewing. I'm gald I haven't seen any close ups of Queen Fabiola in her coffin because I find the whole idea of a viewing upseting. I'd rather remember the person as they were and not lying in a coffin.

 

[saintgilles]

I was now inside the palace! She looks still very nice.. but very different because of her hair.. if I was not know it is her inside the coffin I was not see it.. ( sorry for my bad english )

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Thanks saintgilles. I have not been able to really see HM's hair in the photos...is it styled at all?

It's lovely that you were able to go and pay your respects.

 

[Nico]

According to various sources the British Royals will not send any representative to the funerals :

Funérailles de Fabiola: beaucoup de musique à la cathédrale, le témoignage du personnel à Laeken | Belgique - lesoir.be

If i remember well there was an alleged rift between the two families because the Belgian Court "only" sent the then Prince Albert to the funerals of George VI. Then the presence of "only" Princess Margaret to the 1960 royal wedding was seen as more or less a cold response from the BRF. Finally the exceptionnal attendance of QEII to the funerals of King Baudoin supposedly ended any more trouble between the two families.
We can now only speculate about this (not so surprising ?) decision from the BRF...

 

[maria-olivia]

At the Funerals of King Baudouin the Duke of E came with the green Sash from the Order of Léopard of the republic of Congo....

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

At the Funerals of King Baudouin the Duke of E came with the green Sash from the Order of Léopard of the republic of Congo....

That was an unbelievable gaffe indeed. Yes, some blame it on the valet but would the Duke of Edinburgh himself not know: "Hey... wait a minute, African colours for a Belgian Order? That should be a simple monochrome purple sash?"

Prince Philip with an Order from Zaïre (former Belgian Congo): http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RqcwnIRBk...VxyL7ys/s1600/PrincePhilipBaudouinFuneral.jpg

 

[cepe]

So would it be better (ie would cause less/more offence) to send a junior royal or no one? Interested as both of these opinions have received criticism from posters.

I don't know what the answer is, but I think someone from UK should attend

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Queen Fabiola Funeral Service Thread at Royal Forums

This has the information you seek.

NOS Television (the Netherlands) uses to have a livestream on NPO Nieuws | NOS when they have a live broadcast on television. So far the Netherlands are the only foreign country to broadcast the funeral live.

Well I'd like to add my opinion on open coffins since I've been to three funerals in the past month. Only one of the families chose to have a viewing on the morning of the funeral because the death was sudden and they felt it's what they needed to do. The other two deaths were expected so the families were able to spend some time at the hospital with their loved one afterwards so they felt they didn't need a viewing. I'm gald I haven't seen any close ups of Queen Fabiola in her coffin because I find the whole idea of a viewing upseting. I'd rather remember the person as they were and not lying in a coffin.

Isn't it part of life to say goodbye to a loved one, for the last time? To wash him/her tenderly, to dress him/her nicely and to give others the possibility to say farewell? Nothing creepy or upsetting about that. It is someone's mother, son, niece, aunt, grandfather, whatever whom is lying there.

In my country of origin (the Netherlands) and in my present residence (France) it is normal that one or two days before the funeral the deceased can be visited, condoleances can be offered, a vigil can be held. On the day of the funeral itself the coffin will be closed, for ever.

I was now inside the palace! She looks still very nice.. but very different because of her hair.. if I was not know it is her inside the coffin I was not see it.. ( sorry for my bad english )

I can imagine it that the bouffante hairdo we all know will not 'hold it' for a couple of days. The 'panorama' on Fabiola is also different: not seeing her en profil or en face, but lying horizontal. That makes that someone has a total different appearance indeed. It is wonderful that you paid your respects to the old Queen. Was the chapelle ardente nice? On the pictures it looks so light (I am used to dimmed lights when visiting a deceased person).

So would it be better (ie would cause less/more offence) to send a junior royal or no one? Interested as both of these opinions have received criticism from posters.

I don't know what the answer is, but I think someone from UK should attend

Well, of course "just a junior royal" probably would cause some criticism, but after all there was someone representing Her Majesty....

Note that Elizabeth von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (known as "Windsor") has no interest in Fabiola von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (known as "de Belgique") née De Mora y Aragón.... It is not only about a royal in a neighbouring state, it is even a relative inside her royal dynasty...

 

[saintgilles]

I can imagine it that the bouffante hairdo we all know will not 'hold it' for a couple of days. The 'panorama' on Fabiola is also different: not seeing her en profil or en face, but lying horizontal. That makes that someone has a total different appearance indeed. It is wonderful that you paid your respects to the old Queen. Was the chapelle ardente nice? On the pictures it looks so light (I am used to dimmed lights when visiting a deceased person).

Yes, it is much light inside..she is not in a Chapelle, but the room where she lays is very nice with much flowers.. it's the room directly behind the balcony in the middle of the palace...

 

[PrincessofEurope]

I would like to think someone from the British royal family would attend - it would be a snub if no-one did. It should be either Charles or Phillip - at the end of the day this was a former Queen.


When Elizabeth and Phillip die - royal houses from round the world will send representatives, and cause of the profile of the queen and doe it would mostly likely be a monarch or consort - therefore it seems natural that the british royal family should show the same level of respect that other royals show them and send a major figure to Fabiola's funeral

 

[Hans-Rickard]

I would like to think someone from the British royal family would attend - it would be a snub if no-one did. It should be either Charles or Phillip - at the end of the day this was a former Queen.


When Elizabeth and Phillip die - royal houses from round the world will send representatives, and cause of the profile of the queen and doe it would mostly likely be a monarch or consort - therefore it seems natural that the british royal family should show the same level of respect that other royals show them and send a major figure to Fabiola's funeral

That would be a real snub and a very bad sign of "we hate the belgian royal family and as we are much more important than them we don't need to socialise with people who are so much below us" .

I mean come on ! They must be able to act mature and leave the 1950:s behind them. I don't care if they send a senior royal or a junior one as long as there is someone there to represent Her Majesty. If they wanna continue in this style then the other royal families should stay home from the future funerals of QEII and DoE to mark it is not ok to do so.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I think we will see someone from the British royal family. They have so many people: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael of Kent, I am sure someone will represent Her Majesty.

 

[Osipi]

I think we will see someone from the British royal family. They have so many people: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael of Kent, I am sure someone will represent Her Majesty.

I also would be very very surprised if the British royal family wasn't represented. Perhaps it just hasn't been formally announced yet who will attend. I remember reading that Queen Elizabeth attended King Baudoin's funeral and that it was a rare occurrence as the Queen never attends funerals as a rule. To tip the scales to the opposite would be very uncharacteristic of the British monarchy.

 

[wartenberg7]

May I remind some of you that the Queen was present at king Baudouins funeral, something she has never done before and never did after (she was, for instance, very close to the late King Paul of the Hellenes and King Olav of Norway but still didn´t go): So, stating the brit. Royals would snub the belgians or even "hate" them (why should they?!) is totally nonsense.

 

[timtonruben359]

According to various sources the British Royals will not send any representative to the funerals :

Funérailles de Fabiola: beaucoup de musique à la cathédrale, le témoignage du personnel à Laeken | Belgique - lesoir.be

If i remember well there was an alleged rift between the two families because the Belgian Court "only" sent the then Prince Albert to the funerals of George VI. Then the presence of "only" Princess Margaret to the 1960 royal wedding was seen as more or less a cold response from the BRF. Finally the exceptionnal attendance of QEII to the funerals of King Baudoin supposedly ended any more trouble between the two families.
We can now only speculate about this (not so surprising ?) decision from the BRF...

I don't believe the rumors of rift between the Belgian and British royal families. Queen Elizabeth was very fond of King Baudouin. In fact in 1990 Baudouin and Fabiola were guests of honour at the Battle of Britain Commemoration and appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the British Royals. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1dpL7aYwcB4/T8-xfD0iiOI/AAAAAAAABdo/TcoCJwqMm2U/s1600/79911864xv.jpg

The fact that only funeral Elizabeth has ever gone to outside of the UK was to King Baudouin says something about her affection for him.

I don't know how fond Queen Elizabeth was of King Albert II. It says something that neither paid an official visit to each other during Albert's reign. She has already met twice with King Philippe during his reign.

I suspect the lack of representation by the BRF (if that turns out to be the case) has more to do with scheduling than a snub.

 

[Ana Von Cleves]

I have read that QEII only attended Baudouin's funereal because the emperor of Japan did and she didn't want to be shown up. It was a last minute decision. I do not expect her to attend, but I do expect a senior Brit royal will regardless of public announcements. After all, afaik they have not said they won't go.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

 

[carlota]

If i remember well there was an alleged rift between the two families because the Belgian Court "only" sent the then Prince Albert to the funerals of George VI. Then the presence of "only" Princess Margaret to the 1960 royal wedding was seen as more or less a cold response from the BRF. Finally the exceptionnal attendance of QEII to the funerals of King Baudoin supposedly ended any more trouble between the two families.
We can now only speculate about this (not so surprising ?) decision from the BRF...

i want to hope these are only rumours. holding such a grudge would be the complete opposite from "royal" behaviour, so i want to think this is all just coincidence and problems with the agenda of the BRF rather than them wanting to snub the belgian family!

however, i kind of felt bad / embarrased about the duke of edinburgh wearing the wrong sash. what a disaster. although, who can blame him, he must have hundreds of sashes in his wardrobe!

Yes, it is much light inside..she is not in a Chapelle, but the room where she lays is very nice with much flowers.. it's the room directly behind the balcony in the middle of the palace...

thanks for letting us know about your visit! i'm surprised they haven't chosen the chapel to mourn fabiola but i am no expert when it comes to funeral arrangements.

however, i would have expected her hair to be presented as she usually wore it, if i understand correctly other deceased dignataries had their corpses "made up" before their open coffin mourning.

talking about open coffins, i find them sort of unnecessary in today's time, i wonder if it was the decision of fabiola to have an open coffin funeral or whether it is tradition in the family.

 

[wartenberg7]

According to various sources the British Royals will not send any representative to the funerals

If i remember well there was an alleged rift between the two families because the Belgian Court "only" sent the then Prince Albert to the funerals of George VI. Then the presence of "only" Princess Margaret to the 1960 royal wedding was seen as more or less a cold response from the BRF. Finally the exceptionnal attendance of QEII to the funerals of King Baudoin supposedly ended any more trouble between the two families.
We can now only speculate about this (not so surprising ?) decision from the BRF...

These stories sound very media-fabricated to me! Prince Albert wasn´t a "only" in 1952. He was the immediate heir to the belgian throne as his brother Baudouin, young King of Belgium, was neither married nor had children of his own. So Albert, as "Crown Prince" at the time, was the perfect, if not the only thinkable choice to attend a state funeral of a foreign monarch! A year later, Albert was the official representative of his brother at the Queen´s coronation - again the only possible choice as his only other sibling, Josephine-Charlotte, had become hereditary GDss of Luxemburg and represented her Grand Duchy. Protocol normally forbids monarchs to attend coronations or enthronements of other sovereigns, so Baudouin couldn´t go!
Prcss Margaret was in 1960 a very high ranking representative of her sister Elizabeth II. The Queen´s children were all underaged, Prcss Margaret did one oversea´s trip for the crown after the next where she even opened colonial parlaments for her busy sister! She even represented her father at Queen Juliana´s enthronement in 1948 (Elizabeth was heavily pregnant).
What I´m saying is that Margaret wasn´t some obscure, hardly known british jet-set princess, but a high profiled and respected (also among all the other european dynasties!) member of the brit. Royal Family.
If the young Queen had died before Pr. Charles had come of age, Prcss Margaret would have become something like a "Princess Regent" until Charles would have been taken over! So, speaking of "only" in the 1950s and 60s concerning M is completely misplaced!

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

May I remind some of you that the Queen was present at king Baudouins funeral, something she has never done before and never did after (she was, for instance, very close to the late King Paul of the Hellenes and King Olav of Norway but still didn´t go): So, stating the brit. Royals would snub the belgians or even "hate" them (why should they?!) is totally nonsense.

King Baudouin died middle in the summer holidays, the Queen had a totally empty agenda, relaxing at Balmoral. She had no any excuse not to go to the funeral of a fellow crowned head of state of a neighbouring country whom also was -like herself- a born Von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha...

 

[Mbruno]

Well, of course "just a junior royal" probably would cause some criticism, but after all there was someone representing Her Majesty....

Note that Elizabeth von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (known as "Windsor") has no interest in Fabiola von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (known as "de Belgique") née De Mora y Aragón.... It is not only about a royal in a neighbouring state, it is even a relative inside her royal dynasty...

King Christian IX of Denmark was the great-great-grandfather of both King Baudoin (Queen Fabiola's late husband) and Queen Elizabeth II, making them third cousins. I believe it is extremely rude for the Queen not to send any representative to the funeral, especially considering that the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal are the only members of the British royal family who have scheduled engagements tomorrow. Sending one of the Queen's other sons or even one of her cousins to attend the funeral would have been infinitely better than sending no one at all.

 

[cdm]

Flemish singer Will Tura will sing at Fabiola's funeral as he did at Boudewijn's
in dutch: Begrafenis Fabiola toch vrij toegankelijk - De Standaard
google translate in english: https://translate.google.be/transla...ndaard.be/cnt/dmf20141211_01423791&edit-text=

 

[fandesacs2003]

King Baudouin died middle in the summer holidays, the Queen had a totally empty agenda, relaxing at Balmoral. She had no any excuse not to go to the funeral of a fellow crowned head of state of a neighbouring country whom also was -like herself- a born Von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha...

And she was 21 years younger!!