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.
It was a night of celebration as Sweden and royals from all over the world marked Saturday’s wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling. Just like her parents had 34 years ago, Victoria and her fiancè were a given a special concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Stockholm. Pop acts and classical artists played through the night as if it were a final hurrah before tomorrow’s big event.
First arriving at the Hall was the House of Bernadotte. When she got out of the car, Crown Princess Victoria wowed the crowd waiting for her. Beaming and radiating of joy, the Crown Princess waved as the people gave her and Daniel a four-fold cheer.
They walked up the red carpet behind her parents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Bringing up the rear were her two younger siblings, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine.
After the Swedish royal family came the friends and relatives of the royal couple, and the Swedish government leaders. Then came the royals from all over Europe, plus Japan and Jordan. The royal guest list even included those who are from deposed monarchies, such as Romania and Serbia.
All in all, 1,600 guests.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe
Once inside, everyone dined amongst each other before the big concert. Those who haven’t seen each other in a while were able to say hello, such as Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary and Spain’s Crown Princess Letizia.
King Carl XVI Gustaf gave a small speech during the dinner, thanking the Prime Minister for allowing the wedding to take place – after all, the wedding of an heir to the throne needs government approval.
“We can all see how happy and engaged the engaged couple looks,” the King went on to say. “They really… You can feel the joy and youth and optimism in their eyes. We can all feel the warmth and happiness also in this hall and during this day.”
At about a quarter to nine local time, all those in attendance were in the Hall. Everyone stood and sang when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played the Swedish national anthem. Even Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, who’s mother was a Swedish Princess, sang along.
Right after that, the orchestra began to play “Party Song” and right in the middle of the stage, lights went on, illuminating two
REUTERS/Anders Wiklund/Scanpix
figures holding hands. Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling had made their appearance. They received a standing ovation as they made their way to two seats in the front row especially made for them. With that, the concert began.
It was clearly a joyous occasion for everyone in the Hall. Ballet was performed, the opera classic “Nessun Dorma” was sung – even pop and jazz acts played. The host of the event also poked playful fun at the royals in attendance. At one point, the group Jazz Divas of Scandinavia were about the perform and the host gave a nod to the Scandinavian Crown Princesses – Victoria, Mette-Marit and Mary. The women had a good laugh about it.
But the biggest act to perform that night was probably the 80s Swedish pop duo, Roxette, said to be one of Victoria’s favorite bands. As the band played “The Look,” everyone in the hall clapped along and a few – such as Norway’s Princess Martha Louise – moved their heads to the song. Once done, there was a standing ovation for Roxette.
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The concert came to a close when all the singers returned to the stage and together sang Elvis Presley’s classic, “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” As they did with the Roxette song, many of the royals sang along.
Overall, it was an emotional event for everyone. Queen Silvia was seen wiping away some tears and it looked as if King Carl Gustaf was getting teary-eyed. Even Princess Madeleine looked red in the eyes – as did Queen Margrethe and Dutch Queen Beatrix.
With that, the pre-wedding events were over. Tomorrow comes the wedding of the year as Crown Princess Victoria marries her love – and a former gym owner from a small village in central Sweden becomes Prince Daniel.
It was announced by the Belgian royal court that Princess Astrid, the daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, will become patron of the charity, Damiaanactie. Until last week, Queen Fabiola was the charity’s patron, but she stepped down due to her fragile health.
Damiaanactie raises money to buy leprosy and TBC medications for those living in the Third World. It usually auctions such items as pens to help raise money.
News that the octogenarian Fabiola will relinquish being this charity’s patron does mean she will be giving up any royal engagements in the near future. So far, she is expected to participate in the usual events she took part in the past, such as National Day and King’s Day.
Making her first public appearance in over three months today was Belgium’s Dowager Queen Fabiola. She was present for the Te Deum mass during King’s Day. Her showing up for the service put to rest rumors that she was of poor health and was possibly near death.
REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Each November 15th, Belgium observes King’s Day, or Koningsfeest in Dutch, or Fete du Roi in French. It pays to tribute to King Albert – the first, not the second, who currently occupies the throne. Since 1866, the country has observed this day since it is the name day of both King Albert I and King Leopold. In 2001, Belgian Parliament got involved in the feast and honors the royal family by closing federal buildings.
In the morning, the Te Deum service is held at the Cathedral of St. Michael’s and Gudula’s. As mentioned, Queen Fabiola, the sister-in-law to King Albert II, attended. She was unable to stand during the ceremony, but was still able to be present.
After the mass, the rest of the royal family – the Crown Princely couple, Princess Astrid and her husand Prince Lorenz, and Prince Laurent – met with the crowds gathered outside of the Cathedral. Laurent’s wife, Princess Claire, was not in attendance today.
In the afternoon, the same royals went to the Palais de la Nation to meet with the nation’s political leaders. A tribute was made for King Albert I, who made a contribution to the science during his reign, between 1875 and 1934.
The day ended with a military ceremony at Palais Royal in Brussels.
King Albert II and Queen Paola were not present for this year’s King’s Day. It might be because the focus were on previous monarchs.
Belgium’s Princess Astrid has been spending the past week in the Middle East promoting awareness of malaria, as a representative of Roll Back Malaria (RBM). The princess has been a longtime advocate of the illness.
She began her visit on March 27th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by visiting a Riyadh hospital and met with its staff.
The next day, Astrid met with Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf. She spoke to him about getting the government to join and support an international program aimed to combat malaria.
On March 29th, Astrid then met with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his wife, Ameera at the Kingdom Centre. There, the three discussed humanitarian and philanthropic issues, as well as economic and bilaterial ties between Saudi Arabia and Belgium. The Prince expressed his desire to fight malaria through his charity foundation.
Yesterday, the Princess went to another Riyadh hospital.
Today, Astrid left Saudi Arabia for the United Arab Emirates, a country declared malaria free in January 2007.
“I was very impressed to see the results achieved by the authorities to fight malaria in the UAE and to keep the country malaria free,” Princess Astrid told the National.
“I hope now that the country will be able to share this knowledge and maybe to participate actively [in] the global fight by becoming a partner of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.”
The Princess, who has five children, explained how the plight of children made her interested in the fight against malaria.
“I was shocked to find out that most of malaria’s victims were children under five years of age,” she said.
“I am deeply concerned by this tragedy, and I am trying to do everything that is within my power to stop it.”
In the UAE she met the Minister of Health, Humaid Mohammed Obaid al Qattami, to discuss the UAE’s strategy in eradicating the disease.
In the coming days, Princess Astrid will go to Qatar.
Malaria is still a problem in such countries as Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Princess Astrid is the second child and only daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola. She was once the president of the Belgian Red Cross.
For her work with malaria, she has received numerous awards.
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