State Visit from the Netherlands to Belgium: June 20 - 22, 2023


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
They could sing the Brabançonne in our two languages


I believe it was sung in the 3 official languages alternating the verses.

Personally I didn't like that rendition. The Brabançonne is one of the most beautiful national anthems in Europe, but the arrangement for the choir did not fit the music well in my very humble opinion.

By the way, a clear advantage of playing the anthems after the speeches as done in the UK is that there is a pause between the end of the speech and the toast so that the toast can be synchronized. The way it was done yesterday, you may see that King Philippe was still making the toast in the 3 official languages while King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were already up holding their glasses. Then, when King Philippe stopped speaking, it took him a minute or so to get rid of the microphone and raise his own glass while everybody else was already waiting for over 2 minutes for the toast to commence, which was quite awkward.

Furthermore. playing the anthems in alternate order after each speech is more logical. The King of Netherlands would toast the King of the Belgians and the Belgian anthem would then be played in honor of the person (or the country) that is being toasted and, vice-versa, when the King of the Belgians toasted the King of the Netherlands, the Dutch anthem would be played in honor of the Netherlands. Playing both antherms back to back at the beginning of the banquet misses the point.



I also think that the Belgian court should adopt the British and Danish custom of hailing the speeches with trumpets or some other kind of cue to the speaker as to when he/she should start speaking. That way, everybody could be properly seated before the head of state receives the cue to stand up and start speaking, rather than the confusion we saw yesterday when the guests of honor were entering the hall.
 
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Both queens in Jan Taminiau!!!
 
Who was sitting next to Queen Mathilde and who was sittting next to Queen Maxima ??

They could sing the Brabançonne in our two languages



The Opera was "La Muette de Portici " from Auber.
Robbert Dijkgraaf, the minister of Education and Science I recognised. Earlier this week he was in a tv show and praised Belgian innovation etc. In 2013 -before he was minister- he was one of the heralds at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander.

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Next to Queen Mathilde was Wopke Hoekstra,the Dutch Foreign Minister.
all can sing in your THREE languages dear,not so difficil...
 
all can sing in your THREE languages dear,not so difficil...[/QUOTE]

Of course , I forgot the third , shame on me...
 
Last day today,alas...Leuven and Antwerp today,with interesting items.

We have been spoiled with images,and jewellery
 
"Where are our women?"
"They're THERE"
"Congrats Philippe, you've bought a ship"

Filip and W-A are a wonderful comedic duo. :lol:
 
Great State Visit !
How could the two Queens wear such high heels during 3 days ?
 
What was the reason for not sending replies? Bad for environment and costs too much? He seemed to struggle to give an answer
 
Belgium and The Netherlands are like brothers!
 
What was the reason for not sending replies? Bad for environment and costs too much? He seemed to struggle to give an answer

Yes, he clearly wanted to make sure he formulated his answer correctly because he is discussing his most loyal base.

He explained that they value all those birthday wishes etc very much but that 1) it is indeed better for the environement; and 2) (this seems the main reason) it takes a lot of time to answer each one of them individually as they need to be without any mistakes, therefore, they decided to redirect their resources (staff) to answer other mail/requests they get. All others need to make do with the general thank you that is posted online.
 
Yes, he clearly wanted to make sure he formulated his answer correctly because he is discussing his most loyal base.

He explained that they value all those birthday wishes etc very much but that 1) it is indeed better for the environement; and 2) (this seems the main reason) it takes a lot of time to answer each one of them individually as they need to be without any mistakes, therefore, they decided to redirect their resources (staff) to answer other mail/requests they get. All others need to make do with the general thank you that is posted online.


But could they not send out the General thank you to the people who send Cards. Don't think other Courts send out individual Cards to the people but there is for example 1 Issue of a Card which everyone gets.
 
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