King Philippe pictured during the registration of the yearly Christmas message and best wishes at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Monday 18 December
http://www.belgaimage.be/#/gallery/6034180
And the Christmas speech
Dutch:
French:
German:
English google translation
"Ladies and Gentlemen
At the beginning of this month, I received at the Palace a group of children, curious to discover and understand what the job of King is. Speaking of the preparation of my Christmas speech, one of them mentioned how lucky we are to live in a country as beautiful as Belgium. Despite the personal difficulties we face, despite the insecurity in the world and the threats to the global balances, dare to see things with another look. A look that sees beyond what is missing, beyond what is lacking. A look that marvels.
Our way of seeing things determines how we act. If we marvel at nature, we will act towards her with more respect. This is especially true for those around us. Beyond our weaknesses and lacks, there is in each of us a rich inner beauty that deserves to be cultivated. In Holsbeek, in a nursing home I recently visited, care teams help older people to reveal what is beautiful in them, beyond what illness or old age has taken away. This led them to imagine, together, new ways to build relationships with the neighborhood. We saw some happy people there. Such a look at old age brings hope. Marveling at the beauty of life gives us a thousand opportunities to live it better and to help others to live it well.
The wonder drives us to be creative. In Namur in particular, I was impressed by a project that brings together technicians, entrepreneurs and artists. They learn, they learn to be surprised, to marvel at simple everyday objects, tools or technologies they thought they knew. And they put themselves to invent and innovate. It is also how we must grasp the great challenges of our time, such as the future of our planet. We will raise them thanks to our creativity.
Finally, we marvel at what we have built together, our common good, the fruit of a long history of bonds built in solidarity and compromise. We can draw strength from it so as not to give in to sterile cynicism and indifference. The future of our democracies depends first and foremost on the way we look at them. It starts with the links we make between us. I think here of this beautiful project in St Gilles, carried by young people, which wants to be a "factory of links". We come out enriched. There are also young people of immigrant origin whom the Queen and I met recently in Vilvoorde. They developed projects of social integration, building on the discovery of self-esteem. The beauty of their looks spoke volumes.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Our world is restless. Foci of tension and crises multiply. We need more than ever wonder. We need it for our children and their future.
Let's make this choice together.
The Queen and I wish you, with all our family, a merry Christmas and a beautiful new year."
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