REUTERS/Yves Herman
On Wednesday, the Belgian royal family marked with the rest of their country Belgium’ 180th anniversary. Although the country has been seeing threats of splitting up in recent months, all that seemed to be forgotten that day.
In the morning, most of the Belgian royals attended the Te Deum mass at St. Michel et Gudule in Brussels. Present were King Albert II, Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde. Absent were Princess Astrid, who was in Hasselt, and her brother Prince Laurent and his wife, Princess Claire who were at a Te Deum mass at St-Martin d’Arlon.
What makes the Te Deum masses unique is that five beliefs – Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Judaism and secularism – are represented. Before Te Deum began, the King and Queen met with the leaders of those groups.
AP Photo/Thierry Charlier
After the mass, the royals did their walk about among the Belgian people.
At 4pm local time, the military parade took place. Since its Belgium’s turn to hold the European Union presidency for this half of the year, EU forces were included in the parade. 1500 soldiers and 83 vehicles from the 27 EU countries paraded along the route, including the Lamborghini Italian police.
All of Belgium’s royals were attendance for this, including Astrid, who was in military uniform, and Prince Laurent with his wife, Princess Claire. The latter two held hands during the parade.
Alongside King Albert II for the parade was Belgian Minister of Defense, Pieter de Crem.
Also visible during National Day was dowager Queen Fabiola. As it happened last year, there were bizarre but very real threats against the Queen’s life. In 2009, she mocked her would-be assassin by waving a green apple around since the death threats said she would be killed by a crossbow. But this year, she did not joke around as she was encouraged not to by police.
Source: RTL, le Vif, News Summary Royalblog
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