State Visit from Hungary to Belgium; 15-17 April 2008

[Marengo]

Tomorrow the state visit will start, from monarchie.be:

State Visit from H.E. Mr. Laszlo SÓLYOM, President of Hungary.

They listed it for the King and Queen though I am sure other members of the RF will attend. I wonder if Mathilde will be there though, considering her advanced pregnancy and her fathers state of health.

[Marengo]

From Belga:

Belgium's mounted royal escort celebrates its 70th birthday and rehearses on the eve of a visit by Hungarian President Lazlo Sloyom in Brussels

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

[Marengo]

The Belgian King welcomed the president of Hungary this morning in rainy Brussels, some pictures of the welcoming ceremony here.

On a stage, with horseguards on the side

Red carpet & soldiers

Inside the palace

Does anybody know where the Queen was? She doesn't seem to be around.

[johann]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Does anybody know where the Queen was? She doesn't seem to be around.

The President’s wife is missing also, seems Mrs. Solyomon cancelled her visit and Paola was able to take the morning off as she didn´t have to walk down the carpet with her counterpart.
And poor Philippe, who had to pick up the President at the airport, had to celebrate his birthday with a cold shower and the best gift of all seems to arrive late.

[Marengo]

I believe the presidents wife Erszebet is the daughter of Imre Nagy, right? They never included her in the court statement in the first place, so maybe she never was supposed to come along anyway? I believe they usually say 'A statevisit of President X and Mr/Mr X' in the agenda.

I wonder if Phillipe will be there tonight, I suppose there are better ways to celebrate your birthday than another state dinner with again the Congo tiara for Paola, the Aosta one for Astrid and the poor-excuse of a tiara that Claire has. I suppose that Mathilde won't attend, which is a pity as I was hoping to see the diamonds again that she wore for the birthday party of the Prince of Orange, assuming they are real and hers.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I believe the presidents wife Erszebet is the daughter of Imre Nagy, right? They never included her in the court statement in the first place, so maybe she never was supposed to come along anyway? I believe they usually say 'A statevisit of President X and Mr/Mr X' in the agenda.

I wonder if Phillipe will be there tonight, I suppose there are better ways to celebrate your birthday than another state dinner with again the Congo tiara for Paola, the Aosta one for Astrid and the poor-excuse of a tiara that Claire has. I suppose that Mathilde won't attend, which is a pity as I was hoping to see the diamonds again that she wore for the birthday party of the Prince of Orange, assuming they are real and hers.

I'm not sure if we will see tiaras at all tonight. For some of the incoming State Visits from Republics they belgian Royals have not worn tiaras. If then i expect Paola to wear the bandeau not the empire-tiara.

[PrincessElena]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I believe the presidents wife Erszebet is the daughter of Imre Nagy, right? They never included her in the court statement in the first place, so maybe she never was supposed to come along anyway? I believe they usually say 'A statevisit of President X and Mr/Mr X' in the agenda.

Nagy Erzsébet is indeed Nagy Imre's daughter. She cannot be present, because she is dead. She passed away in this January.

[johann]

They never included her in the court statement in the first place, so maybe she never was supposed to come along anyway? I believe they usually say 'A statevisit of President X and Mr/Mr X' in the agenda.

She was definitely listed in the first press statement. I translated it back then and I´m a 100% sure she was mentioned too.

I wonder if Phillipe will be there tonight, I suppose there are better ways to celebrate your birthday than another state dinner with again the Congo tiara for Paola, the Aosta one for Astrid and the poor-excuse of a tiara that Claire has. I suppose that Mathilde won't attend, which is a pity as I was hoping to see the diamonds again that she wore for the birthday party of the Prince of Orange, assuming they are real and hers.

LOL, what a depressing description of the even more depressing Belgian tiara situation. I too hope the impressive diamond collier is indeed Mathilde´s and she will wear it again rather sooner than later, but definitely not tonight. We don´t want the newest Brabant baby to get into the state visit business too soon, right!

[johann]

Originally Posted by PrincessElena

Nagy Erzsébet is indeed Nagy Imre's daughter. She cannot be present, because she is dead. She passed away in this January.

So this is confusing and I feel uncomfortable disagreeing with a member from Hungary, but are you sure they are not just sharing the same name? Imre Nagy´s daughter passed away this year indeed. But the official homepage of Laslo Solyom mentions his wife in present tense. She has three siblings, left secondary school in 1963 and married Solyom in 1966, this all isn´t going together well with the biography of Imre Nagy´s daughter (born in 1927, only child, already mother in 1956, etc). So somehow I think the President´s wife is still alive and not the daughter of Imre Nagy.
The Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary

[PrincessElena]

Originally Posted by johann

So this is confusing and I feel uncomfortable disagreeing with a member from Hungary, but are you sure they are not just sharing the same name? Imre Nagy´s daughter passed away this year indeed. But the official homepage of Laslo Solyom mentions his wife in present tense. She has three siblings, left secondary school in 1963 and married Solyom in 1966, this all isn´t going together well with the biography of Imre Nagy´s daughter (born in 1927, only child, already mother in 1956, etc). So somehow I think the President´s wife is still alive and not the daughter of Imre Nagy.
The Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary

Oh, I was talking about Nagy Imre's daughter...I am terribly sorry, but yes, they are two seperate people what I tried to say. Sólyom László's wife, Nagy Erzsébet(Sólyom Erzsébet) and Nagy Imre's daughter, Nagy Erzsébet are two different people.

[Marengo]

I think you are right johann, I googled a bit and there is a photo of the presidents wife that dates from 8 March this year, look here. So she didn't pass away in January (but the daughter of Imre Nagy did) and there were two Erzsebet Nagy's.

--

I was wondering Elena, is there a reason why you put the last name before the firstname? Is that customary in Hungary?

[Marengo]

She was definitely listed in the first press statement. I translated it back then and I´m a 100% sure she was mentioned too.

The statement that I saw a few days ago on monarchie.be only spoke of the president and not of his wife, so I suppose she had other engagements?

LOL, what a depressing description of the even more depressing Belgian tiara situation. I too hope the impressive diamond collier is indeed Mathilde´s and she will wear it again rather sooner than later, but definitely not tonight. We don´t want the newest Brabant baby to get into the state visit business too soon, right!

Well, I suppose there will be enough people anxious if PM Leterme will make it through his first state visit without any collateral damage, so no need to add an extra worry, the Duchess can stay in her appartments of course.

[PrincessElena]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I think you are right johann, I googled a bit and there is a photo of the presidents wife that dates from 8 March this year, look here. So she didn't pass away in January (but the daughter of Imre Nagy did) and there were two Erzsebet Nagy's.

--

I was wondering Elena, is there a reason why you put the last name before the firstname? Is that customary in Hungary?

That's right.

In Hungary the family name comes first then the given name.

[lucien]

Earlyer today:
PPE Agency

Royal Palace,Brussels tonight:

PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/ v/d Werf.

[LadyS]

I presume as there are no pictures of Queen Paolo she didn't attend the gala dinner. Perhaps she was keeping Mathilde company or did she have her own engagement?

Does any one know what time Mathilde went to hospital - Did Prince Philippe have to leave early?

What else is planned for the visit today?

[stephanievl]

I really like the dresses of Claire and Astrid. The king and queen will be in a good mood today since a new grandchild is born yesterday! I hope they will still have some time to go and visit her!

[Marengo]

I can't imagine that Paola would be with Mathilde while Phillipe would not, maybe the Queen has a flue or something?

Is that a new necklace for Princess Astrid btw? It is huge!
Edit: on closer inspection... the snake is a fake; no real diamonds but part of the dress.

[Fie]

This evening in the 6 o'clock news they showed images of king Albert arriving at the hospital to visit his newborn granddaughter. It was also stated that Queen Paola didn't accompany him because she's ill. No statement was given to what illness she has, but it's clear she has been sick for a few days now as she didn't attend the welcoming ceremony for the Hongarian president, nor the gala nor visited her newborn granddaughter.

Her last decision not to accompany her husband to go and see their newborn granddaughter was a wise decision. The systems that fight off bugs and deseases are not very well developped in newborns, so it's better to stay away to avoid problems.

The snake on Princess Astrid's is indeed part of her dress, it would have been clearer if she had attached her stash to her dress with a brooch.

[stephanievl]

2nd day of state visit
Plaatjesupload.nl :: Gratis Plaatjes en Foto's Uploaden - Upload Plaatjes

[Marengo]

Well, Princess Claire was certainly in a festive mood, judging from the dress. Do you know where the picture was taken stephanie?