Queen Fabiola in Hospital for Lung Problems; Jan. 2009

[Al_bina]

It is both tasteless and tactless, indeed. Why to put a horse before the cart? Her condition is serious, but there is a hope that Queen Fabiola may recover.

[Menarue]

Tasteless doesn´t quite convey what I think of that street interview. What a horrible thing to do, she doesn´t deserve this.
I hope that Queen Fabiola will make a recovery and quickly.

[principessa]

What a shock! I hope that she will soon be back to life! It would be sad to loose such a warm-hearted Queen.

[sgl]

Originally Posted by lucien

Yes,she was also given a very light aneasthesia.

According to the latest communique of the Royal Palace,the condition of HM has not improved nor deteriorated.

Still cause for serious concern.


Queen Fabiola has always made clear that she is not afraid to pass over,she trusts completely on her faith,sees
it as the beginning of a new life,and moreover the joy to be reunited with her beloved Baudouin.

Last night however belgian tv had a program in which people on the streets were asked wheter or not they would
go to Brussels in case the Queen died....and more of that sort of thing.

Totally tasteless as I'm sure many will agree.

How tacky! Why would they even consider asking such a ridiculous question? Queen Fabiola deserves much more than casual street interviews.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by sgl

How tacky! Why would they even consider asking such a ridiculous question? Queen Fabiola deserves much more than casual street interviews.

Oh I agree,but tv programs do whatever tackiness it takes to get their rates up.It says something about the sort of people.
Not my sort,that vox populi nonsense.Plebs.

[coolpiscesgirl]

Originally Posted by sgl

I am a bit confused about the hypnosis. Was this done in lieu of anaesthesia? Is this something that is frequently done in Belgium? I have never heard of anyone undergoing hypnosis for surgery.

Queen Fabiola is in my thoughts and prayers.

******************************************************
I have a thyroid condition that makes me intolerant to anesthesia. Perhaps Queen Fabiola suffers from the same condition. Prior to the use of hypnosis, (and prior to malpractice laws) my surgeon told me that surgical procedure was far more brutal for patients with the same condition.

Regardless, I hope that the Queen makes a full recovery.

[Marengo]

News bullitin in Dutch, basically saying that there is no news and that the Queen is stable:

deredactie.be - Videozone

-
They also say that no family members have visited her yet. They don't say how they know that, I have a hard time believing the reporters would recognise even a Luxembourg royal visiting, let alone a Spanish relative.

[Menarue]

Stable, such an uncompromising word.
I hope she will show improvement soon.

[LadyLeana]

Some news that her condition is slightly better.
deredactie.be

It is very likely that no family members have visited yet - the Queen is in Intensive care, and in Belgium visitor regulations are very strict there. Of course it is also possible reporters just don't recognize her Spanish and Luxembourg family.

Lucien, I suppose you are talking about "Man bijt hond""? It's a tacky programme, no matter what it is about. They pretend to interview and give an idea about what people think "in the street". I can assure you it is not representative. That programme is the shame of state television here in Belgium. IMHO.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by LadyLeana

Some news that her condition is slightly better.
deredactie.be

It is very likely that no family members have visited yet - the Queen is in Intensive care, and in Belgium visitor regulations are very strict there. Of course it is also possible reporters just don't recognize her Spanish and Luxembourg family.

Lucien, I suppose you are talking about "Man bijt hond""? It's a tacky programme, no matter what it is about. They pretend to interview and give an idea about what people think "in the street". I can assure you it is not representative. That programme is the shame of state television here in Belgium. IMHO.

Yes,that is exactly the program I was referring to,it's disgusting.Did you see it too?

Oh I know that they are not representative for Belgium,well,not all of it,but foreigners watching might
easily buy their nonsense and that is what I detest,people buying this tasteless bs and nonsense so easily.

There is simply no respect anymore,not how it used to be anyway,it is a serious sort of dumb and dumber everywhere.Appalling.

Good to hear HM condition slightly improved,allthough there is no reason to cry victory yet given her age and the impact
the pneumonia has on her.No harm done burning a candle for her still.

[Marengo]

According to the Dutch 'Telegraaf' the websites of the public Flemish tv channel VRT and the newspaper the 'Gazet van Antwerpen' have claimed that Queen Fabiola died, and then quickly had to delete the news as the news was false. The VRT defends itself by saying that the news was not actually on the websitebut could only be found by using search engines, by a technical mistake it appeared too soon (now those VRT people are certainly an optimistic bunch - NOT!)

In Dutch: Belgische media: Fabiola overleden - Buitenland - Telegraaf.nl [24 uur actueel, ook mobiel] [buitenland]

[LadyLeana]

If you know Dutch, here's a nice blog about the mistake...
Apparently they just wanted to be prepared.
What cr***y country I live in...

Yes, Lucien, I saw it too, by accident, as usually I switch channels when it starts, only now there was even less on the other channels, so I happened to see it, and I was just disgusted. I can't believe this country treats a woman - who basically gave the best years of her life to us - like that. Poor, dear old Fabi.
They even had her age wrong in the article by Gazet van Antwerpen (which I can't find right now, btw, so they've taken it off already) and in another paper (De Standaard, which is normally a good newspaper) they called her "the widow of King Albert"

Poor Baudouin, he is turning in his grave.

[Marengo]

Well, I suppose the Walloon press should be better and not all the Flemmish media are making mistakes. I remember the funeral of Josephine-Charlotte and Jan Vandenberghe chit-chatting through the entire broadcast.

Nothing wrong with being prepared, all the major newspapers and networks have articles ready about people that will be published the moment somebody dies. Still a very unfortunate mistake.

[Elspeth]

I think the British press did something similar about the Queen Mother at some point before her death. Sometimes I wonder if these things really are accidents or if someone's having a bit of - um - fun.

I hope Queen Fabiola continues to improve. She must be one of the most underrated Queens Consort of the 20th century, she was so self-effacing as Queen. If it hadn't been for the sympathetic, informative, and all-around brilliant article that LadyLeana wrote about her last month, I still wouldn't have appreciated what a fine human being Queen Fabiola is.

[MAfan]

The site of the Royal Family says that "L’état de santé de la Reine Fabiola présente une légère amélioration."
I'm praying for Her.
About the "announcment" of Her death, a thing that I consider indecent, I think it's a common thing for these people; I remember something similar about Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002 and about Pope Pius XII, when a newspaper published the news of his death, with all the details, one day before his real death...

[LadyLeana]

Well, I know it's not wrong to be prepared, I'll be the last to deny that. But this is the type of preparation one should be very careful with. Especially a news website like deredactie.be, which is the news website of the Flemish state television. It's the kind of mistake that shouldn't happen.

[Butterwicke]

I just saw news about the earlier mistaken report of her passing...

"Belgians Declare Queen Dead", it stated in bold print.



My heart sank and at the same time I was puzzled by what seemed a rather callous manner in which to describe the event. Then once I read further and realized they had done so prematurely.. I was relieved both that it was not the case, and to be able to believe that the press will write a more appropriate headline when such event does actually occur.

I truly hope that Queen Fabiola's condition will improve and allow her to recover so that she can look back on the whole sad, bizarre story and get a good laugh.

Still, they really should have included "Mistakenly" among the words in that headline...

[Lakshmi]

I just wish Queen Fabiola getting well soon. She is one of my favorite royals in her generation.
I can't believe when reading about recent examples of horrible journalism. What's wrong with this media guys in Belgium? The idea of street interview about queen passing away was just sick. And then those headlines mentioned by Butterwicke. Journalists don't know how to use words anymore?

Again, all the best to queen Fabiola.

[Ephram]

I pray for the speed recovery of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola of Begium.

[QUEENECE29]

Belgians mistakenly declare Queen dead
Belgians declare Queen dead - Telegraph