The Royal Forums - Royal Family of Belgium - Current Events, Part 6 (Jan. 2007

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Royal Family of Belgium - Current Events, Part 6 (Jan. 2007 - Jan. 2009)

A new year, a new thread for Royal Family of Belgium' current events

The previous thread can be found here

Please post current news and pictures of Belgian Royal Family in this thread.
While doing so, please remember to follow the TRF Rules & FAQs

The current events' thread is only for current news & events
Do not forget to provide sources for all photos & articles
Do not post thumbnails of pictures, you can provide link to pictures only.
Please remember when posting pictures, to post only selected ones (there is no need to post whole bunch of similar photos). Providing a direct link to the photos or the photo album is recommended.
Please do not linked the photos directly. Hotlinking is strongly prohibited.
Pictures from previous events may be posted in the picture thread via imagehost.
Please be respectful to others' opinions even if you're disagree, and always be courteous to your follow members.
Lastly, have fun and enjoy!

Belgian royals attending the memorial service for Joséphine-Charlotte????

New Years reception at the Royal Palace,Brussel today:

https://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?z...2007%20Brussel

Courtesy PPE.

Beautiful Mathilde!

Boy this woman is so dropdead gorgeous! An exquisite beauty and a born princess. If I imagine what a wonderful couple she´d have made by marrying Felipe of Spain I could cry every time.

Mabelian couture

It looks like the Duchess of Brabant has left her regular couturier Natan and went for the Mabelian way.

The creation she wore today does look like a Viktor & Rolf, as known the favourite couturier of Princess Mabel.

:flowers:

It is a pity the Belgian New Year's Reception is so low key. The Dutch one at least still has formal wear (jaquet). No diademes and white tie because the reception was a day event. The Belgian New Year's Reception was very sober, I must say.... even republics like Portugal have more grandeur!! Quite surprising for such a Bourgondic country as Belgium.

:neutral:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henri M.

It looks like the Duchess of Brabant has left her regular couturier Natan and went for the Mabelian way.

I love Mathilde, and she is so pretty, but I hate that lion ruff-like ruffle on that blouse. Mathilde, leave it for Mabel!

Does anybody know why HM Queen Paola did not attend the reception?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marengo

Does anybody know why HM Queen Paola did not attend the reception?

I don't know? Shocked by the problems around her youngest son, Prince Laurent?

By the way, I have the idea the Queen has not fully recovered since her nasty fall in Italy, last year. It looks a little bit as she has become depressed, don't you think?

The wonderful documentary 'Paola, paroles de Reine' (filmed in Venice, Italy) was made before the fall (in which she broke her arm on two places).

Thank you for the photos.

Mathilde is looks great.
The hairdo is very pretty!!!

It's great seeing the Belgian Royals again. But unfortunately without Princess Astrid or maybe she gets the chances for Prince Laurent to attend?But they looked great and happy especially Princess Mathilde, lovely to see her smiling.

Thank you for posting the photos. It is always lovely to see the Royal Family. I wonder why Princess Claire was not there also?

LOVE P.Mathilde new hair cut!!;)

From the comment #5, I personally think she fits more with hfer Crown Prince Phillipe of Belgium as the way it is....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefanie

Boy this woman is so dropdead gorgeous! An exquisite beauty and a born princess. If I imagine what a wonderful couple she´d have made by marrying Felipe of Spain I could cry every time.

I agree that Mathilde is exquisite and the most truly royal of all the princesses in Europe, born or not. I might have agreed five years ago that she would have made a good match with Felipe of Spain. But in that time I think Phillipe of Belgium has become significantly more attractive and Felipe of Spain less attractive (although of course he is still a good-looking man).

To be honest: I think she looks ok, pretty at best, but I never would consider her being beautiful. That being said, I think she does her job very good and I think she is a very nice person.

Beside all the ooh and aah for Mathilde....

The very same New Year's Reception ended in a public riot in Belgian media and politics.

The Duke of Brabant (Prince Philippe) attacked two chief-editors, Yves de Smet of De Morgen and Paul van den Driessche of the commercial TV-station VTM. The Prince raised his voice and stated sharply: "I demand that you show reverence for my function and that you show respect and honour for my House. Otherwise it is not right that you are here. If you remain to inform (the public) in the same way, you will no longer be welcome. I promise you: I will never fall back when it is about my Mission". According to both (flabbergasted) chief-editors, the Duchess was trying to pull her spouse away but the Duke could no longer held his anger inside.

In the meantime the premier minister, Guy Verhofstadt, has given a public reprimand to the Prince, stating that he can not handle the media in this way. All this caused new consternation in Belgian politics. The newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws quoted politicians:

The premier minister, Guy Verhofstadt:
"The way the Prince acted was inappropriate."

Labour Party, Johan Vande Lanotte:
"It is important that the Prince realize the warnings and signals, otherwise the debate on a purely ceremonial monarchy will come closer."

Flemish Liberals, Bart Somers:
"Especially his threat to declare journalists persona non grata went too far. But the debate on the role of the monarchy should be done in all serenity and not on base of an incident."

New Flemish Alliance, Bart de Wever:
"Now it is time to discuss the influence of the King and the role of the monarchy. We can no longer wait for this debate. Society should for once and for ever show the palace that mediaeval times are far behind us and that in the 21st century we do not need a monarchy with political influence. It is totally absurd that the King signs acts and decrees, declares war, grants pardon, has the supreme command on the armed forces, bestows nobility and whatever'.

Green!, Vera Dua:
"The Prince is free to show his disapproval with media, but to threathen to ban certain journalists is a bridge too far. It is time to start a discussion about a purely protocollary form of monarchy".

Flemish Interest:
"Once again the monarchy has shown it is a real danger to democracy and a danger for society".

The biggest Flemish Party (Christian Democrats) refused to comment.

I was looking for more info on the above story that Henri M. posted but I didn't find anything. I did however find info on a Navy embezzlement trial on yahoo. The article said that the RF could be "potentially embarassed by the scandal". But the article was from Jan. 9 and I don't know the results or if this is an embarassing thing for the royal family. So does anyone know more about this?

Also in the article I read, it sounded as though the King in Belgium has complete power which I thought most Kings and Queens nowadays have more of a figurative role or ceremonial role. So does the King of Belgium really have complete power?

Also all these differences of opinions in Belgium seems really interesting and makes me wonder just how popular the RF is in Belgium? Can anyone shed some light on their overall popularity for me?

Please don't get mad or offended by any of my post I'm really just curious and trying to learn about different things.