Princess Astrid on Economic Missions: 2013 -

[maria-olivia]

She is back with 39 contracts. grate Work Princess Astrid.

 

[Adda]

The economic mission has come to an end. Congratulations to all involved.

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "⚓ Op de laatste dag van de economische missie #BEmissionIND bezoekt Prinses Astrid het baggerschip ‘Congo River’ van het 🇧🇪 bedrijf @demegroup, wereldleider in baggerwerken en duurzame maritieme oplossingen. Met zi

1,994 likes, 20 comments - belgianroyalpalace on March 7, 2025: "⚓ Op de laatste dag van de economische missie #BEmissionIND bezoekt Prinses Astrid het baggerschip ‘Congo River’ van het 🇧🇪 bedrijf @demegroup, wereldleider in baggerwerken en duurzame maritieme oplossingen. Met zijn...

www.instagram.com

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium 🇧🇪 on Instagram: "🇧🇪🇮🇳 End of the Belgian Economic Mission in India - Einde van de Belgische Economische Missie in India - Fin de la Mission économique Belge en Inde (EN/NL/FR) The Belgian Economic Mission in Indi

143 likes, 1 comments - belgiummfa on March 7, 2025: "🇧🇪🇮🇳 End of the Belgian Economic Mission in India - Einde van de Belgische Economische Missie in India - Fin de la Mission économique Belge en Inde (EN/NL/FR) The Belgian Economic Mission in India has come to an end. Over the past week...

www.instagram.com

 

[Linda_26]

The text of Astrid's speeches in Mumbai and New Delhi was published on the royal palace's website:
Toespraak van Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid Prinses Astrid in Mumbai | De Belgische Monarchie
Toespraak van Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid Prinses Astrid in New Delhi | De Belgische Monarchie

 

[meeralakshmi]

The princess is, quite simply: FANTASTIC!

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "📌 Op de tweede dag van de #BEmissionIND leerde Prinses Astrid Belgisch-Indische projecten kennen rond waterzuivering, het duurzaam beheer van watervoorraden en verantwoorde afvalverwerking. Andere seminaries gingen

1,600 likes, 15 comments - belgianroyalpalace on March 3, 2025: "📌 Op de tweede dag van de #BEmissionIND leerde Prinses Astrid Belgisch-Indische projecten kennen rond waterzuivering, het duurzaam beheer van watervoorraden en verantwoorde afvalverwerking. Andere seminaries gingen over het...

www.instagram.com

I love the clip of her joining in the Indian dance:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1896567333063393369

She always seems so fun and joyful.

The economic mission has come to an end. Congratulations to all involved.

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "⚓ Op de laatste dag van de economische missie #BEmissionIND bezoekt Prinses Astrid het baggerschip ‘Congo River’ van het 🇧🇪 bedrijf @demegroup, wereldleider in baggerwerken en duurzame maritieme oplossingen. Met zi

1,994 likes, 20 comments - belgianroyalpalace on March 7, 2025: "⚓ Op de laatste dag van de economische missie #BEmissionIND bezoekt Prinses Astrid het baggerschip ‘Congo River’ van het 🇧🇪 bedrijf @demegroup, wereldleider in baggerwerken en duurzame maritieme oplossingen. Met zijn...

www.instagram.com

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium 🇧🇪 on Instagram: "🇧🇪🇮🇳 End of the Belgian Economic Mission in India - Einde van de Belgische Economische Missie in India - Fin de la Mission économique Belge en Inde (EN/NL/FR) The Belgian Economic Mission in Indi

143 likes, 1 comments - belgiummfa on March 7, 2025: "🇧🇪🇮🇳 End of the Belgian Economic Mission in India - Einde van de Belgische Economische Missie in India - Fin de la Mission économique Belge en Inde (EN/NL/FR) The Belgian Economic Mission in India has come to an end. Over the past week...

www.instagram.com

She seems to have done excellent work and I love that we got to see her in Indian attire. A true people’s princess (and I’m not just saying that because I think she resembles Diana).

Day 2 of the mission has started:


** gettyimages gallery ** rex gallery **

https://twitter.com/x/status/1802642483135869321

https://twitter.com/x/status/1802719263054037050

https://twitter.com/x/status/1802772474893082644

https://twitter.com/x/status/1802767292901769241

Seeing Astrid and Märtha Louise together made me emotional because of the tragic fates of their namesake grandmas who were sisters

Speaking of Diana one thing Astrid shares in common with her besides looks is her advocacy for landmine survivors. She has advocated for the rights of landmine survivors and a global ban on landmines at UN meetings. She's such an amazing person

 

[meeralakshmi]

Has Lorenz ever accompanied his wife on her economic missions?

 

[Adda]

Yes, he has. But unlike most consorts, Prince Lorenz has a job of his own, so he only joins his wife on such missions if he can/want.

 

[meeralakshmi]

Yes, he has. But unlike most consorts, Prince Lorenz has a job of his own, so he only joins his wife on such missions if he can/want.

Which countries has he gone to?

 

[Adda]

Which countries has he gone to?

The United States and the United Kingdom, for example.

 

[meeralakshmi]

The United States and the United Kingdom, for example.

Oh I think I remember Lorenz celebrating his wife’s 60th birthday with her in Georgia.

 

[iceflower]

The next economic mission will lead to the USA from October 4 - 12, 2025:

The Princess will represent His Majesty the King during the mission that will visit San Francisco and Los Angeles. (..)

La Princesse Astrid préside une mission économique belge aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique | La Monarchie belge

The Belgian Monarchy website

www.monarchie.be

 

[iceflower]

Yesterday, September 16, Princess Astrid was present during the press briefing on the upcoming mission to the USA:


** gettyimages gallery ** rex gallery **

 

[Marengo]

A great interview by the VRT with princess Astrid, mostly focussed on the ecenomic missions. She comes across as easy-going, very friendly and down-to-earth.

"Ik had nooit gedacht dat ik economische missies zou overnemen, nooit, nooit, nooit": prinses Astrid openhartig in exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS | VRT NWS: nieuws

Prinses Astrid vertrekt op economische missie naar Californië. Zes dagen leidt ze zo'n 500 deelnemers naar het land van president Donald Trump, om de al moeilijke handelsrelatie met de VS nieuw leven in te blazen. "Ik praat niet graag over mezelf", vertelt ze in een exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS...

www.vrt.be

She said she never expected to take over these trade missions, and emphasizes several times how in a way she started a new carreer at 51. She was asked by then PM Elio di Rupo. The request came as a surprise.

She said it was stressful, she felt like a debutante. She refers to an anecdote on her first trade mission, where she repeated it was 'my first time'. The Flemish minister had a good chuckle and later on she understood the double meaning as well, to general hilarity.

She is grateful for the understanding and patience the ministers of trade and the press had with her. She confesses she felt she had to prove herself. 'They saw me as a housewife. A nice lady, who laughs easily, but would she be able to do the job?'

Her next trade mission will be to California where she will meet governor Newsom and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Fransisco, all democrats. She says the main message will be that Belgium is ready to do business, no matter political developments. And that after a difficult period Belgium again belongs to the 'good' NATO allies [who pay enough].

An adviser told the interviewer: 'she is looking forward to it, and that doesn't happen often with these kind of conversations'. Later on the interviewer compliments the princess and wonders why she dislikes these interviews. also because the same reporter interviewed her at the wedding of Maria-Laura, which went very well and the princess was natural and spontanious. She laughed that that was a lot easier, 'this needs to be precise'. Earlier she confessed she doesn't like to talk about herself.

Eacht economic mission takes quite some preparation. For the last trip alone she had 17 meetings.

She tells about the first ten years of her marriage when she lived in Basel, Switzerland and had three children. She says she was fully focussed on her children and her husband in these years. Until 1993 when King Baudouin asked her to come back. Shortly afterwards he died and she took over a lot of causes of her parents, among other things the chairmanship of the Red Cross.

In those days she focussed especially on humanitarian and social causes: 'I simply like to be concrete'.

When she took over the missions her father gave some advice, as he headed them for 30 years as Prince de Liege/Luik. He told me that people are very sensitive that you recognise their names and faces. And the second advice was 'no stupidities'. Her parents are involved in her missions today: they call her beforehand to encourage and support. For the upcoming mission she made a booklet for her activities and sent it to her parents. Alberts like to follow it daily.

She says she found it difficult to combine her work with motherhood. She says family should come first of course, but she fully focusses on her work and only then her husband and children. To save time she buys online.

About her children she mentions that it is an inspiring generation. Sometimes her children accompany her, like Amedeo and Elisabetta to the Paralympics in Paris. 'I enjoy that a lot, they inspire me, the way they live, the way they think.

They all live abroad. 'WWe have a great bond, they are sweet and ambitious they want to study well and work hard. Her husband will celebrate his 70th birthday in december. There will be a surprise party. But as she had no time to organize a surpise, her children will. 'I am not going to say what it is', she laughs.

 

[meeralakshmi]

A great interview by the VRT with princess Astrid, mostly focussed on the ecenomic missions. She comes across as easy-going, very friendly and down-to-earth.

"Ik had nooit gedacht dat ik economische missies zou overnemen, nooit, nooit, nooit": prinses Astrid openhartig in exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS | VRT NWS: nieuws

Prinses Astrid vertrekt op economische missie naar Californië. Zes dagen leidt ze zo'n 500 deelnemers naar het land van president Donald Trump, om de al moeilijke handelsrelatie met de VS nieuw leven in te blazen. "Ik praat niet graag over mezelf", vertelt ze in een exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS...

www.vrt.be

She said she never expected to take over these trade missions, and emphasizes several times how in a way she started a new carreer at 51. She was asked by then PM Elio di Rupo. The request came as a surprise.

She said it was stressful, she felt like a debutante. She refers to an anecdote on her first trade mission, where she repeated it was 'my first time'. The Flemish minister had a good chuckle and later on she understood the double meaning as well, to general hilarity.

She is grateful for the understanding and patience the ministers of trade and the press had with her. She confesses she felt she had to prove herself. 'They saw me as a housewife. A nice lady, who laughs easily, but would she be able to do the job?'

Her next trade mission will be to California where she will meet governor Newsom and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Fransisco, all democrats. She says the main message will be that Belgium is ready to do business, no matter political developments. And that after a difficult period Belgium again belongs to the 'good' NATO allies [who pay enough].

An adviser told the interviewer: 'she is looking forward to it, and that doesn't happen often with these kind of conversations'. Later on the interviewer compliments the princess and wonders why she dislikes these interviews. also because the same reporter interviewed her at the wedding of Maria-Laura, which went very well and the princess was natural and spontanious. She laughed that that was a lot easier, 'this needs to be precise'. Earlier she confessed she doesn't like to talk about herself.

Eacht economic mission takes quite some preparation. For the last trip alone she had 17 meetings.

She tells about the first ten years of her marriage when she lived in Basel, Switzerland and had three children. She says she was fully focussed on her children and her husband in these years. Until 1993 when King Baudouin asked her to come back. Shortly afterwards he died and she took over a lot of causes of her parents, among other things the chairmanship of the Red Cross.

In those days she focussed especially on humanitarian and social causes: 'I simply like to be concrete'.

When she took over the missions her father gave some advice, as he headed them for 30 years as Prince de Liege/Luik. He told me that people are very sensitive that you recognise their names and faces. And the second advice was 'no stupidities'. Her parents are involved in her missions today: they call her beforehand to encourage and support. For the upcoming mission she made a booklet for her activities and sent it to her parents. Alberts like to follow it daily.

She says she found it difficult to combine her work with motherhood. She says family should come first of course, but she fully focusses on her work and only then her husband and children. To save time she buys online.

About her children she mentions that it is an inspiring generation. Sometimes her children accompany her, like Amedeo and Elisabetta to the Paralympics in Paris. 'I enjoy that a lot, they inspire me, the way they live, the way they think.

They all live abroad. 'WWe have a great bond, they are sweet and ambitious they want to study well and work hard. Her husband will celebrate his 70th birthday in december. There will be a surprise party. But as she had no time to organize a surpise, her children will. 'I am not going to say what it is', she laughs.

This is so sweet! She’s such a great person.

 

[Adda]

She's a remarkable woman. Belgium is so lucky to have such a Princess.

 

[Linda_26]

A great interview by the VRT with princess Astrid, mostly focussed on the ecenomic missions. She comes across as easy-going, very friendly and down-to-earth.

"Ik had nooit gedacht dat ik economische missies zou overnemen, nooit, nooit, nooit": prinses Astrid openhartig in exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS | VRT NWS: nieuws

Prinses Astrid vertrekt op economische missie naar Californië. Zes dagen leidt ze zo'n 500 deelnemers naar het land van president Donald Trump, om de al moeilijke handelsrelatie met de VS nieuw leven in te blazen. "Ik praat niet graag over mezelf", vertelt ze in een exclusief gesprek met VRT NWS...

www.vrt.be

She said she never expected to take over these trade missions, and emphasizes several times how in a way she started a new carreer at 51. She was asked by then PM Elio di Rupo. The request came as a surprise.

She said it was stressful, she felt like a debutante. She refers to an anecdote on her first trade mission, where she repeated it was 'my first time'. The Flemish minister had a good chuckle and later on she understood the double meaning as well, to general hilarity.

She is grateful for the understanding and patience the ministers of trade and the press had with her. She confesses she felt she had to prove herself. 'They saw me as a housewife. A nice lady, who laughs easily, but would she be able to do the job?'

Her next trade mission will be to California where she will meet governor Newsom and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Fransisco, all democrats. She says the main message will be that Belgium is ready to do business, no matter political developments. And that after a difficult period Belgium again belongs to the 'good' NATO allies [who pay enough].

An adviser told the interviewer: 'she is looking forward to it, and that doesn't happen often with these kind of conversations'. Later on the interviewer compliments the princess and wonders why she dislikes these interviews. also because the same reporter interviewed her at the wedding of Maria-Laura, which went very well and the princess was natural and spontanious. She laughed that that was a lot easier, 'this needs to be precise'. Earlier she confessed she doesn't like to talk about herself.

Eacht economic mission takes quite some preparation. For the last trip alone she had 17 meetings.

She tells about the first ten years of her marriage when she lived in Basel, Switzerland and had three children. She says she was fully focussed on her children and her husband in these years. Until 1993 when King Baudouin asked her to come back. Shortly afterwards he died and she took over a lot of causes of her parents, among other things the chairmanship of the Red Cross.

In those days she focussed especially on humanitarian and social causes: 'I simply like to be concrete'.

When she took over the missions her father gave some advice, as he headed them for 30 years as Prince de Liege/Luik. He told me that people are very sensitive that you recognise their names and faces. And the second advice was 'no stupidities'. Her parents are involved in her missions today: they call her beforehand to encourage and support. For the upcoming mission she made a booklet for her activities and sent it to her parents. Alberts like to follow it daily.

She says she found it difficult to combine her work with motherhood. She says family should come first of course, but she fully focusses on her work and only then her husband and children. To save time she buys online.

About her children she mentions that it is an inspiring generation. Sometimes her children accompany her, like Amedeo and Elisabetta to the Paralympics in Paris. 'I enjoy that a lot, they inspire me, the way they live, the way they think.

They all live abroad. 'WWe have a great bond, they are sweet and ambitious they want to study well and work hard. Her husband will celebrate his 70th birthday in december. There will be a surprise party. But as she had no time to organize a surpise, her children will. 'I am not going to say what it is', she laughs.

A very nice interview, thanks for sharing. I liked the anecdote about her making a booklet so that her parents can follow her activities during the economic mission.

 

[iceflower]

The economic mission to the USA has started.

Yesterday, October 5, Princess Astrid and the delegation attended an information session in San Francisco:


** Pic ** rex gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🌍 Prinses Astrid is gisteren begonnen aan de Belgische Economische missie in de staat Californië, langs de westkust van de VS. Samen met federale en regionale ministers en zo’n 500 deelnemers van 221 bedrijven, 17

2,105 likes, 22 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 6, 2025: "🌍 Prinses Astrid is gisteren begonnen aan de Belgische Economische missie in de staat Californië, langs de westkust van de VS. Samen met federale en regionale ministers en zo’n 500 deelnemers van 221 bedrijven, 17 federaties en...

www.instagram.com

Today, October 6, the programme continued in San Francisco:


** gettyimages gallery ** rex gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🌐 De tweede dag van de economische missie naar de VS stond in het teken van nieuwe technologieën, van artificiële intelligentie (AI) tot autonoom vervoer. 💬 Prinses Astrid nam deel aan seminars over de commerciële

768 likes, 15 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 7, 2025: "🌐 De tweede dag van de economische missie naar de VS stond in het teken van nieuwe technologieën, van artificiële intelligentie (AI) tot autonoom vervoer. 💬 Prinses Astrid nam deel aan seminars over de commerciële kansen van AI...

www.instagram.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1975380670278185218

 

[meeralakshmi]

The economic mission to the USA has started.

Yesterday, October 5, Princess Astrid and the delegation attended an information session in San Francisco:


** Pic ** rex gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🌍 Prinses Astrid is gisteren begonnen aan de Belgische Economische missie in de staat Californië, langs de westkust van de VS. Samen met federale en regionale ministers en zo’n 500 deelnemers van 221 bedrijven, 17

2,105 likes, 22 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 6, 2025: "🌍 Prinses Astrid is gisteren begonnen aan de Belgische Economische missie in de staat Californië, langs de westkust van de VS. Samen met federale en regionale ministers en zo’n 500 deelnemers van 221 bedrijven, 17 federaties en...

www.instagram.com

Wonderful smile as always!

They all live abroad. 'WWe have a great bond, they are sweet and ambitious they want to study well and work hard. Her husband will celebrate his 70th birthday in december. There will be a surprise party. But as she had no time to organize a surpise, her children will. 'I am not going to say what it is', she laughs.

Hopefully Lorenz doesn’t read the article and find out about the surprise lol.

 

[iceflower]

Day 3, October 7:


** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery ** ppe gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "Jour 3 de la mission économique belge aux Etats-Unis : 🖥️ 👏 Les entreprises technologiques belges s’implantent également sur le marché américain ! La Princesse Astrid a ainsi pu découvrir les installations du champ

434 likes, 5 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 8, 2025: "Jour 3 de la mission économique belge aux Etats-Unis : 🖥️ 👏 Les entreprises technologiques belges s’implantent également sur le marché américain ! La Princesse Astrid a ainsi pu découvrir les installations du champion belge des...

www.instagram.com

 

[An Ard Ri]

Looks like Astrid had some fun dancing with Amazon Staff during the visit!

 

[Adda]

Looks like Astrid had some fun dancing with Amazon Staff during the visit!

She also showed her awesome dance moves in India. So she gets important work done for her country, while simultaneously having fun. She's a treasure!

Here's a funny video. Go Astrid!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1975977809664450939

 

[An Ard Ri]

She also showed her awesome dance moves in India. So she gets important work done for her country, while simultaneously having fun. She's a treasure!

There's no doubt in Astrid's abilities and most definitely an asset to the Belgian Monarchy.

 

[iceflower]

A visit to to Google Cloud Space at Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale was on today's programme - day 4, October 8:


** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "💡 De economische missie #BEmissionUSA is resoluut op de toekomst gericht. Prinses Astrid bezocht onder meer drie techgiganten in San Francisco: @amazon, @google en @microsoft. ❗ Haar bezoek aan Amazon ging gepaard

245 likes, 2 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 9, 2025: "💡 De economische missie #BEmissionUSA is resoluut op de toekomst gericht. Prinses Astrid bezocht onder meer drie techgiganten in San Francisco: @amazon, @google en @microsoft. ❗ Haar bezoek aan Amazon ging gepaard met een...

www.instagram.com

 

[Marengo]

A rather large box of pralines of Mary chocolatiers for Condaleeza Rice. One of the best chocolatiers of Brussels, if not the best.

Chocolaterie Mary - Home

1919, Mary Delluc, passionate about chocolate, wishes you to discover her creations.

www.mary.be

 

[iceflower]

On October 9 the delegation was in Los Angeles:


** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🎬 De Belgische Economische Missie gaat verder in Los Angeles, het epicentrum van de film- en tv-industrie en dus een strategische plek voor Belgische creatieve bedrijven! 🎂 Het 🇧🇪 productiehuis @caviar.tv dat dit

341 likes, 3 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 10, 2025: "🎬 De Belgische Economische Missie gaat verder in Los Angeles, het epicentrum van de film- en tv-industrie en dus een strategische plek voor Belgische creatieve bedrijven! 🎂 Het 🇧🇪 productiehuis @caviar.tv dat dit jaar zijn...

www.instagram.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1976430610035114040

 

[iceflower]

Here are some photos of October 10:


** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery **

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🇧🇪🤝🇺🇸 Sport et business à l’unisson lors de la #BEmissionUSA, alors que Los Angeles s’apprête à accueillir plusieurs matchs de la Coupe du monde de football en 2026 ⚽️ et les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques en 202

465 likes, 3 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 11, 2025: "🇧🇪🤝🇺🇸 Sport et business à l’unisson lors de la #BEmissionUSA, alors que Los Angeles s’apprête à accueillir plusieurs matchs de la Coupe du monde de football en 2026 ⚽️ et les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques en 2028 🏅. 🎯 La...

www.instagram.com

 

[Adda]

The #BeMissionUSA was a great success for our companies: 27 cooperation agreements were signed in San Francisco, and 33 in Los Angeles.

On her final day in Los Angeles, Princess Astrid visited ‘Cine Vita’ — the world’s largest Spiegeltent, built by ‘Het Spiegelpaleis’ from Westmalle

Belgian Royal Palace on Instagram: "🇧🇪🇺🇸 De #BeMissionUSA was een groot succes voor onze bedrijven: in San Francisco werden 27 samenwerkingsovereenkomsten getekend, in Los Angeles maar liefst 33. 🎪 Prinses Astrid bezocht op haar laatste dag in Los An

630 likes, 6 comments - belgianroyalpalace on October 12, 2025: "🇧🇪🇺🇸 De #BeMissionUSA was een groot succes voor onze bedrijven: in San Francisco werden 27 samenwerkingsovereenkomsten getekend, in Los Angeles maar liefst 33. 🎪 Prinses Astrid bezocht op haar laatste dag in Los Angeles de ‘Cine...

www.instagram.com

 

[meeralakshmi]

She also showed her awesome dance moves in India. So she gets important work done for her country, while simultaneously having fun. She's a treasure!

Here's a funny video. Go Astrid!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1975977809664450939

She has great moves for 63!