The answer starts with Mathilde's mother's family history. She describes Anne Komorowska as a Polish woman who fled the communist regime. Mother was a countess, but during those nomad years, that also briefly took her to Congo, she knew poverty and hunger. A trauma that never healed, and that was made clear from the absolute prohibition to spill or waste food in the d'Udekem d'Acoz household.
When she was 18, Mathilde frightened her parents with her holiday plans: she wanted to spend the summer months of 1991 in Cairo. She would go there on her own to work with a local NGO in the slums of the Egyptian capital. […] "That summer changed me and made me into the person I am today".
[…]
Because "the SDGs change the conversation about North & South, with changes needed in the South. Now we talk about an inclusive, universal story where all of us are responsable for the future we have in common. The 'developing world' becomes a real actor, and the business world is being asked to be responsable."
[…]
"I don't want to lock myself in negative thoughts. I prefer to focus on what's positive and realistic. The resilience of vulnerable people, their ability to rise time and time again, to find the strength to survive... that's what I admire."
To illustrate that indestructable life force she's talking about, Mathilde tells me the story of a 55-year old man she met recently: "His face was a reminder of the painful life he'd led. A crooked nose from a violent youth, with a father who had broken every bone in his son's face. He'd been left on the street in a coma. He grew into a thug and worse. He knew every juvenile court judge in the wider area. Untill one of those judges looked him straight in the eye and said: you've got the brains to get a degree. That one time where someone believed in him made all the difference. He told me: I existed in the eyes of someone. And yes, he got his degree and finally showed it to the judge to prove he was capable of it. Now he's married. With his wife he runs a youth shelter for kids with a difficult background."
[…]
When asked if she ever confronts the Belgian government with their inconsistent policies, or with the cuts they make in social security or development aid, the queen replies with a royal smile and similar diplomacy: "I'd rather put my energy into encouragement than into reproaches."
How nice that the family takes part in this journey 
