LadyLeana

About LadyLeana

LadyLeana is a twenty something year old. She lives in the beautiful city of Ghent, Belgium. She has recently decided to combine her love of writing with her equally great love of royalty.
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King Albert invited to celebrate Congo’s 50 Years Independence

  January 23, 2010 at 6:29 am by

Last week, during a visit of Belgian foreign affairs minister Steven Vanackere to Congo, the Congolese government officially invited King Albert II to the celebrations of 50 years independence of Congo. Congo was a colony to Belgium from the moment King Leopold II transferred governance of the territory to the Belgian government to the day King Baudouin accepted the call for independence of the colony in 1960. Due to long … Continue reading →

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Queen Fabiola Relinquishes Patronage Due to Weak Health

  January 23, 2010 at 6:20 am by

The Royal Palace has announced that Queen Fabiola is no longer patron of the “Damiaanactie”, a charity which organises a sales action (usually of pens) once a year to collect money for buying leprosy and TBC medication for people suffering from these diseases in the Third World. The Palace clarified that the Queen’s weak health does not allow her to undertake many public engagements any more. As a result, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Belgium | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Prince Laurent Kicks Off Music For Life

  December 18, 2009 at 2:56 pm by

As has been a custom for many years now, Belgian radio station Studio Brussel started their annual Christmas programme “Music For Life”, in which people can ask to broadcast any song they want to hear, and they can choose how much they want to pay for it. The money they collect this way is always given to a charity. Three radio presenters stay continuously in a glass house from Friday … Continue reading →

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King Albert opens doors for the homeless

  December 18, 2009 at 2:46 pm by

Belgium is hit by the first winter cold and snow, which is always a difficult time for the homeless people in the country. The lack of available places for homeless people and asylum seekers is a hot political topic in the country. Recently, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that he felt deeply for the affected people, and the government would try to solve the problem as best as they … Continue reading →

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December 2009 Newsletter: The New Millenium

  December 13, 2009 at 7:34 pm by

The first decade of the new millenium is one of rapid and violent changes. Early on, the world is shocked by the 9/11 attacks, and many more would follow. The relative peace and quiet that had reigned the West was shattered, and the retaliating Allied Forces shook the fragile equilibriums in the Middle East. One energy crisis followed another, and the end of this decade is marked by a financial … Continue reading →

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Royal Palace of Laeken in Top 3 Ugliest Buildings

  November 7, 2009 at 8:01 pm by

The Royal Palace of Laeken was nominated third in a list of ugliest buildings of Belgium. Groep Jan Stallaert, a building/demolishing company, organised the contest in which people could nominate the ugliest buildings in Belgium. The group would then offer to demolish the winner for free. The Royal Palace of Laeken came out third in the list. However, the first two nominees are suspected of cheating, so it is still … Continue reading →

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October 2009 Newsletter: The 1980s

  October 16, 2009 at 12:28 am by

This month’s newsletter focusses on the 1980’s, a decade of economic and social change. The fall of communism shifted into higher gear, with revolutions in Poland, Hungary, China Romania and Czechoslowakia, which resulted the end of the cold war in 1989. Multinationals started relocating their manufacturing processes to Asian countries, and the economy revived after a severe oil crisis. This was the decade of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the … Continue reading →

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Belgian Royals open ‘Son of Heaven’ Exhibition

  October 9, 2009 at 11:22 am by

On October 8, the royal family, including Princess Maria Laura, daughter of Princess Astrid, attended the opening of the prestigious “Son of Heaven” exhibition at the Palace of the Fine Arts in Brussels. It is the opening exhibition of the cultural festival Europalia China. The King and Queen opened the exhibition in the presence of the Vice President of China, Xi Jinping. Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, … Continue reading →

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Belgian King and Queen attend Father Damien Mass in Tremelo

  October 4, 2009 at 10:39 am by

King Albert and Queen Paola attended a mass in honour of the canonisation of Father Damien (Pater Damiaan, Père Damien) in Tremelo, the village where Father Damien was born as Jozef De Veuster. The canonisation is for next week, 11 October, but the village of Tremelo is taking the opportunity to celebrate it’s most known inhabitant all week. Father Damien left for Hawaii on missionary work, and asked to be … Continue reading →

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Princess Mathilde launches European Cancer Prevention Plan

  September 29, 2009 at 3:35 pm by

Princess Mathilde attended the launch of the European Partnership to Fight Cancer in the period 2009-2013, today in Brussels, at the invitation of José Manuel Barrosso, the President of the European Commission. She was welcomed to the convention by the Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou. At the meeting, the Princess gave a speech, in which she emphasised that cancer is a widespread disease, which is very difficult to fight, but … Continue reading →

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King Albert still on spending spree

  September 20, 2009 at 2:48 pm by

It hasn’t been a good summer for King Albert’s image. After all the controversy surrounding the acquisition of a new yacht, registering it in Italy and avoiding to pay taxes to both the Belgian and the Italian government by registering the yacht as a military vessel, the finances of King Albert II of Belgium have again come under severe criticism. Royalty watcher Kathy Pauwels had the opportunity to see papers … Continue reading →

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Mathilde and Maxima open Museum “M” in Leuven

  September 20, 2009 at 2:21 pm by

Today Princess Mathilde and her Dutch colleague, Princess Maxima, officially opened the new Museum M, the renovated city museum of Leuven, one of the oldest cities in the Low Countries, which hosts one of the oldest universities of Europe. The Princesses, whose names start with an M, like the name of the museum, took the time to talk to the people who had turned up to greet them. As usual … Continue reading →

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Philippe, Mathilde & Victoria open exhibition

  September 10, 2009 at 8:25 am by

Yesterday, 09 Sept., Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden officially opened the exhibition, “It’s our Earth 2. From Kyoto to Copenhagen” at Tour & Taxis in Brussels. This is the new edition of the exhibition “It’s our Earth”, which focused on sustainable energy and development. Because of the great demand, the original exhibition was reopened, under the new name and with new emphasis … Continue reading →

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Prince Laurent sends daughter to French school

  September 9, 2009 at 2:27 pm by

Prince Laurent causes much controversy again in Belgium with his decision to send his 6-year old daughter Louise, who charmed the media this summer on the National Day, to a French state school. This action causes negative comments in whole of Belgium. Not only is the Princess apparently raised without learning Dutch in school, she is now also sent to a French school, not even a Belgian one. According to … Continue reading →

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Belgian Yacht Controversy Continues

  September 4, 2009 at 5:39 pm by

The controversy surrounding the purchase of a new yacht by the Belgian King and Queen continues. Public opinion cries out injustice about this luxury expense in times of economic hardship, as this purchase shook up especially the southern part of the country. RTBF journalist Cristophe Deborsu, the same journalist who asked former Prime Minister Yves Leterme to sing the Brabançonne but got the Marseillaise in return, pulled another stunt interview. … Continue reading →

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Golden Wedding Anniversary Festivities

  August 31, 2009 at 3:21 pm by

On 30 August, the Belgian King and Queen hosted a garden party to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. At the same time, the wedding anniversaries of the other Belgian royals were commemorated, as this year is also the silver wedding anniversary of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, as well as the 10th wedding anniversary for Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde, and the 6th wedding anniversary for Prince Laurent and Princess … Continue reading →

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August 2009 Newsletter: The 1960s

  August 18, 2009 at 4:09 am by

This month’s newsletter focuses on the Swinging Sixties, the age of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the age of Pop Art and hippies. No less than 32 African countries gained independence, while African American communities mobilized to demand their civil rights to be acknowledged and respected. Student protests in Europe and the States immobilized those countries, while the Vietnam War was raging in the former Indochina. But even in … Continue reading →

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King Albert buys New Yacht

  August 13, 2009 at 11:43 am by

New controversy hits Belgium while the royals are enjoying their holiday. It has become known that King Albert II of Belgium has bought a new yacht, the “Alpa” of 27 m long, 6.3 m wide, and capable of going up to 30 knots. According to the website of deredactie.be, the yacht is a “Technema 90”, built by the shipyard Rizzardi. Research of Soir Magazine has revealed that the catalogue price … Continue reading →

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Prince Laurent in Hospital

  August 12, 2009 at 3:46 am by

Prince Laurent has been admitted to the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, in Brussels, since last Sunday, due to pneumonia. The Prince was on holiday in Sardinia, visiting friends, when he suddenly realized he was getting feverish. Fearing that he had the H1N1 variant of the flu, he insisted on being treated in Belgium as soon as possible. The family was flown back to Brussels and the Prince was admitted to a … Continue reading →

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Prince Philippe visits Fire-Struck Nursing Home

  August 8, 2009 at 1:50 pm by

Prince Philippe returned from his holiday in France to visit the nursing home which was struck by a terrible fire last Thursday evening. Nine of the residents died in the fire, which was probably caused by a short circuit in a television or an electrical fan. First, the Prince went to the mortuary to greet the bodies of the nine victims. He sympathised with the families, who were also present. … Continue reading →

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