Crown Prince Philippe « Royalty in the News

Philippe & Mathilde Attend Liege Memorial

Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium were in Liege Tuesday for a memorial for those who were killed in last week’s grenade and shooting attack. Six people were killed, including the prepatrator, Nordine Amrani. 125 people were also injured.

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Their Royal Highnesses laid a wreath at the Place Lambert, where photos of the victims were placed. They joined several politicians, including Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, and about three thousand people for three minutes of silence.

Philippe and Mathilde then met with the crowds and families of the victims.

At one point during the ceremony, emergency services arrived and played the Irish song “Danny Boy”.

The motive for Amrani’s attack is still not clear, though it is believed he was afraid to face drug offense charges. He had already spent time in jail for previous offenses.

Sources: Nieuwsblad, BBC News

Belgian Crown Princely Family Releases Christmas Photos

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It’s that time of year again, when the European royal houses release their Christmas portraits.

The Belgian Crown Princely family released theirs Thursday. The photos were done back in October, around the time of Princess Elisabeth’s pictures for her 10th birthday.

Each of the four children – Elisabeth, Gabriel, Emmanuel and Eleonore – were photographed doing individual things. Elisabeth is seen painting, 8 year old Gabriel is playing soccer, while 6 year old Emmanuel is driving a child’s car. Little Eleonore, age 3, is seen running on the grounds of the Palace.

Belgian Royals Attend Te Deum Mass – With Prince Laurent

November 15th marks King’s Day in Belgium and the celebrations include certain members of the Belgian royal family attending the Te Deum mass at the Saint Michael and St Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. As per tradition, King Albert II and Queen Paola did not attend.

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But their youngest child, and the enfant terrible of the Belgian royals, Prince Laurent did. The Prince was at the mass with his wife Princess Claire. It was the first time the couple took part in an official royal event since Laurent was suspended from them back in May. He was banned after traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo – a former Belgian colony – without the permission of government officials earlier this year.

But all seemed well for Laurent and Claire as they mingled with their family and the Belgian people after the service.

Unfortunately, there were some protests against the royals by members of the Flemish right-wing party (N-VA). Several people were arrested after shouting anti-monarchy slogans outside the cathedral.

Source: Daylife

Princess Elisabeth Gives Speech at Opening of Children’s Hospital

The young girl who may one day become Queen of the Belgians gave her very first public speech Wednesday. Princess Elisabeth delivered a short but sweet speech during the opening of the children’s hospital that bears her name in Ghent.

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Flanked by her parents, Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde, Elisabeth – who will turn 10 next month – arrived at the hospital and began shaking hands with the hospital’s officials. She received a bouquet of flowers from a little girl as did her mother.

Inside, the Princess went up to the microphone and in a shy but firm voice officially opened the hospital by saying this:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very happy that I can give my name to this new children’s hospital today. Together with you, I hope that many children will find help here. I know they can count on your daily commitment. The Princess Elisabeth Children’s Hospital now gets a special place in my heart.”

Elisabeth then pulled back a curtain to reveal a plaque commemorated to the hospital’s opening.

Then she and her parents were given a tour of the facility. Already some children are being treated there.

Elisabeth already has another facility named after her – a scientific research station in Antarctica!

To see a video of Princess Elisabeth’s speech, click here.

Source: Nieuwsblad

First Day of School for All Four Belgian Royal Children

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It’s September and most children around the world knows what that means – school starts again!

The four children of Belgium’s Crown Princely couple are no exception. Thursday morning, Philippe and Mathilde took their brood to Sint-Jan-Bergmans College in Brussels. They allowed the media to photograph their children beginning the school year.

The eldest, Princess Elisabeth, is starting fifth grade, while her younger brothers, Princes Gabriel and Emmanuel are going into the third and first grades. Little sister Princess Eleonore begins the pre-school program at the College.

Once they arrived, the children shook hands with the principal and their teachers before settling down for the school year.

Source: Huffington Post

Belgian Royals Mark National Day – Without a Government

National Day is often meant to be a time to celebrate patriotism, but for Belgians, this year saw it be more somber since the day also marked 400 days without a government.

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Belgium’s monarch, King Albert II, has been demanding recently for the feuding politicians to do something to form a government in order to save the country from splitting into two. His speech on Wednesday night covered that issue.

“On this national day, I would have liked to enjoy with you the swearing in of a new government. Alas, we are not there yet, and I deplore this,” His Majesty lamented.

“Our current situation is a cause for concern among our partners and could damage our position in Europe, and even the momentum towards European integration which has already been undermined by populism and Euroscepticism.

“The actual crisis is showing the population’s ignorance of politics but doesn’t resolve the current problems. The risk is that we are going to have a kind of [populism] which would throw democracy into question,” said the 77-year old King.

King Albert’s efforts as a mediator between the warring political groups have made him popular with the people who want Belgium to remain.

“The King is right to give his point of view and I hope that he will be heard,” said one who was among a crowd waiting to greet him.

“I say thank you to the King as he is the cement for our country. We are proud to be Belgian, its our National Day and I hope the King will live for many more,” opined another.

Despite the dark cloud of politics hanging over Belgium, many people celebrated their country’s National Day along with their royal family.

The day saw the King and Queen Paola attended a Te Deum mass at St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels before doing a walkabout with Belgians outside. That was followed by a military parade watched by the King and Queen, Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde and Queen Fabiola.

One royal noticeably absent from this year’s National Day festivities was Prince Laurent. Having been suspended until further notice for his behavior earlier this year from royal duties, Laurent and his wife and children instead celebrated Belgium’s big day at one of the country’s street parties the previous night.

Sources: Euronews, Telegraph.co.uk, De Standaard

Belgian Crown Princely Family Summer Photo Session 2011

Since its summer, that means its time for the annual family photo sessions for many of the royal families of Europe. Earlier this week, the Dutch did their meeting with the media, and Friday saw their Belgian counterparts do the same – allow photographers to take pictures of their family to see how much their children have grown.

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For this year, Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde took their brood of four to Archeosite, an archaeological site, in Aubechies in southern Belgium. The hands-on museum depicts Belgium’s prehistoric, proto-historic and Gallo-Roman structures as they would have looked like thousands of years ago.

The Belgian media noted that while all four of the children – that is, Elisabeth, age 9, Gabriel, age 7, Emmanuel, age 5, and little Eleonore age 3 – appeared to be quite interested, it was Gabriel who’s face was covered with fascination.

After learning about their country’s ancient history, the children took to Archeosite’s playground. Elisabeth, who is second in line to throne after her father, enjoyed the see-saw with her mother, while Philippe was persuaded to climb the spider web with his boys.

It is being reported that later this month, the family will vacation in France.

Sources: Reuters, Het Nieuwsblad

Philippe & Mathilde Visit New York

This past Wednesday and Thursday saw Belgium’s Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde on an economic mission to New York City. They were in the city to broaden ties between their country and the United States.

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Their first stop was to Ground Zero, where the couple laid a wreath sent by the Belgian King and Queen in remembrance to those who lost their lives on 9/11. Philippe and Mathilde were given a briefing on the reconstruction of the site by Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the Port Authority.

Next, the royals went to Central Park to pose for the press. After that, they stopped by a food cart to eat Belgian waffles, of course!

Later in the day, Mathilde stopped by the Le Pain Quotidien. Thought to be French bakery by many locals, it is actually Belgian, and it was there that the Princess met with Belgians living and working in the Big Apple.

“It was so convivial! She was interested in how life is here, in how Belgians are doing,” said Sofia Vandaele, a general manager for the W Hotel downtown. “She was very engaged.”

On Thursday came the signing of economic agreements, overseen by Crown Prince Philippe at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Source: Wall Street Journal Blog, Royal News Examiner

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