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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.
 Click here to check out more photos 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
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.
 Click here for more images 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
The royal family of Belgium took part in King’s Day on Monday to pay homage to King Albert II. Since 1886, November 15th has been the day where the country honors its monarch. But as tradition holds, the King is not present during the events nor is the Queen, in this case Queen Paola.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images In the morning, most of the Belgian royals attended Te Deum mass at Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Present were Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid, Archduke Lorenz, Prince Laurent and Princess Claire. Also there was Queen Fabiola, the sister-in-law to the King.
The Archbishop presiding over the mass prayed for national unity during a time of much linguistic and cultural division.
“We pray that our country prospers and may know the legitimate diversity of regions, communities, languages and cultures. And also as a necessary national unity.”
After Te Deum, there was a meeting at Parliament, which the royals attended. Also there were 300 children, between the ages of nine and eleven, some of whom come from either Haitian or Pakistani background. This was done to show solidarity with their home countries, which were ravaged by national disasters this year.
At 1:35 in the afternoon, King Albert II accepted a military salute from the balcony of the palace, which represents the military pledging loyalty to him.
Source: The Royal Forums, Knack.be
 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
Belgian royals Crown Princess Mathilde and Queen Fabiola joined the rest of the country in voting in the general elections on Sunday.
This election is seen by many as what would determine the fate of Belgium – a country divided over language and ethnicity.
According to the Associated Press, polls showed strong support for a Flemish party whose leader wants to separate the Dutch speaking Flanders region from Francophone Wallonia.
If the time comes for Belgium to split, the royal family would be added to the long list of deposed monarchies.
Another death threat has been made against Belgium’s dowager Queen Fabiola. According to the newspaper, La Derniere Heure, it received another letter threatening to kill the Queen on National Day, July 21st, and to use a crossbow to commit the act. This threat is very similar to all the others against Fabiola.
 REUTERS/Yves Herman/FILE And just like all the other threatening letters, the author accuses the Queen of bizarre acts, such as having an affair with the late Yugoslavian leader Tito. He also accused her of poisoning her husband, the late King Baudouin.
The writer also says if she does not appear on national television to answer to her crimes, the assassination attempt will take place. In the letter, he wrote of an “apocalypse, ” saying the threat “comes from the air, that police will be grounded by a car and that acid rain will fall on the parade.”
Last year, the elderly Fabiola laughed off the death threats by waving around a green apple during a military parade on National Day.
Belgian police say they are taking these warnings very seriously and are investigating them.
Sources: RTL, Quotidien du Peuple
 Mark Renders/Getty Images/FILE 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.
Police in Belgium launched a new investigation this week after a Belgian newspaper and television station received letters containing death threats against dowager Queen Fabiola.
 REUTERS/Yves Herman/File The newspaper, La Demiere-heure, revealed Monday that it got a black and white postcard with the same signature from previous death threats against the Queen in May and June 2009. It also had a drawing of a coffin.
“It contained very clear threats,” La Demiere-heure editor-in-chief, Hubert Leclercq, told the AFP about the postcard.
Another letter was sent to the television channel, VTM. This letter contained threatening messages, telling Fabiola to enter a convent or be murdered.
Last year, a British national was questioned by police, but was released.
It is possible Queen Fabiola would display courage amidst these threats. During National Day in July, she held up an apple as though to mock her assassin, who said he would shoot her with an arrow on that 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.
 REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
The Belgian royal court denied speculation Wednesday that Queen Fabiola is in poor health.
 REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet Telling the national media, the court said, “she is not ill, just tired.There is nothing wrong. She walks, moves about, but she is tired and needs rest. That is why she is not travelling or going out.”
Concern for the sister-in-law to King Albert II began when the dowager Queen did not make any appearances since July 31st, the anniversary of the death of her husband, King Baudouin.
She is not expected to make anymore appearances in the near future.
The royal court also added that Queen Fabiola is still recovering from pneumonia, which she was hospitalized for at the beginning of this year.
“Everyone needs time to recover from such a disorder, especially one lady of 81.”
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