Baillet Latour 2020

29 October 2020

Queen Mathilde had virtual conversations with the winners of the Baillet-Latour Award.

She spoke to professor Andrew T. Hattersley, winner of the Baillet Latour Health Award for his research on the genetics of diabetes.

Professeur Sarah-Maria Fendt receives the Grant For Medical Research for her research on the formation of metastasis and their treatment.

Flashback: First Activities

In the autumn of 1999, Mathilde d'Udekem made her first public appearances as the fiancee of Crown Prince Philippe.

24 September 1999, at the launch of the website of the Prince Philippe Foundation.

8 October 1999, at the opening of Europalia Hungary.

Dinner for Hungarian President Arpad Goencz.

18 October 1999, Lunch for the Belgian government.

28 October 1999, Autumn Concert at the royal palace.

29 October 1999, A farewell to the Ecole Sainte-Jeanne de Chantal in Woluwe Saint Lambert (Brussels) where Mathilde worked as a speech therapist until she became engaged to Prince Philippe.

Among the guests was Mathilde's sister Elisabeth, who also worked as a speech therapist and who took over Mathilde's practice and work at the school when Mathilde became engaged.

10 November 1999, Lunch for the Belgian authorities.

 

20 December 1999, Together with Queen Paola, Mathilde visited the exhibition "Christmas in the Provence" at the Koekelberg Basilica in Brussels.

SDG Forum 2020

28 October 2020

As SDG advocate for the United Nations, Queen Mathilde gave the (virtual) opening address at the SDG Forum 2020.

Mathilde's message in Dutch, French and English was recorded at her home, the Castle of Laeken.

" De Duurzame Ontwikkelingsdoelstellingen van de Verenigde Naties werden vijf jaar geleden unaniem aanvaard. Tegen 2030 zouden ze gerealiseerd moeten zijn. Maar zelfs vóór de uitbraak van de wereldwijde COVID-crisis, verliep de geboekte vooruitgang van een aantal doelstellingen ongelijk en zaten sommige doelstellingen zelfs niet op schema.

Aujourd’hui, notamment en raison de la pandémie, c’est le sentiment d’urgence qui semble s’être perdu. Nous devons le ranimer.

We need a new narrative. We have to involve young people, with their energy and creativity. We have to educate children to play their role as concerned citizens of tomorrow."

 "The most vulnerable have been hit disproportionately - the most destitute, women and girls, people with a handicap or with mental issues."

"I am pleased to be able to address your virtual assembly. Today, we need people who are capable of looking beyond the horizon in a variety of ways. People who are willing to think, to exchange knowledge and to work together in order to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, for the wellbeing of the people and our planet."

Docu: "Een Prinsenleven"

 You can rewatch a VRT documentary from 1999 that was broadcast on the occasion of the engagement of crown prince Philippe & Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.

video: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/een-prinsenleven/1999/een-prinsenleven/

The documentary starts with a visit to Mathilde's home town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, a hamlet with a castle (Mathilde's home), a church, a few houses, forests and fields.

The inhabitants talk about having seen Mathilde & Philippe together: "We saw them walking together here in town". The parish priest: "Everyone knows each other here, I've baptized all the d'Udekem children, they've had their confirmation here. I know them very well".

A journalist asks Mathilde's father, Patrick d'Udekem whether his life will change as well. Patrick: "That'll depend on you! On the journalists... I'm 63 years old, I won't change anymore. Me and my family will always be the same."

Patrick's brother shows a portrait of his mother, Mathilde's grandmother, Suzanne d'Outryve. He thinks Mathilde & Suzanne are very similar: both very determined and at the same time good to others. A funny coincidence is that Suzanne was 13 years younger than her husband, just like Mathilde & Philippe.

Mathilde's parents Patrick & Anne with their dog "Pas op".

Anne's sister, Roza Komorowska talks about their Polish roots.

"We're more than Polish by birth, both Anne and I have never changed nationality. We come from a princely family, the title goes back to 1446. Our mother was a princess. After the installment of communism it no longer meant anything, on the contrary, it was a heavy burden to carry. Before communism it meant the family had very large properties. My mother's property was confiscated by the Germans in 1939 because it was too close to Auschwitz. They were expulsed so no-one would be able to see what was going on there."

Our father's property was taken by the Bolsheviks in 1945. 

We then left for the Belgian Congo where my grandparents owned a tea plantation. They had bought the land in 1922. We only stayed in the Congo for 3 years. In 1960 the country became independent and we had to flee again."

Roza: "My mother was a very joyous person. In spite of everything she had an extraordinary joie de vivre." 

Any resemblances to Mathilde? "The smile, and she was very much at ease with whoever she came into contact with. Mathilde has a very Polish side to her as well. Just look at her high cheekbones, that's a real Slavic trait. Mathilde also really loves the Polish cuisine, in general she loves to eat, and will never refuse a good Polish dish! The entire d'Udekem family loves gastronomy."

Roza: "Mathilde has been raised well by her parents. They were strict, but the children were allowed to be themselves."

The director of the primary school in Bastogne remembers Mathilde as a good pupil, although not the best of the class. Her results were very good.

As a child she was like the other village children. According to the village priest Mathilde was calm and poised, while her sister Marie-Alix was very outgoing.

When she's a student she spends a summer in the slums of Cairo, Egypt, an international project to help build schools. She also tought French. 

Mathilde studies speech therapy at the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels. A teacher recalls: "She was an excellent pupil. Her results were great, she obtained her degree with great honours, but for me, her personality was even better. I'd describe her as intelligent, very sensitive in the way she approaches others."

Mathilde is a member of the Order of Malta, a catholic knight's order that works for the benefit of the poor and the sick. With her mother, Mathilde twice accompanied handicapped persons on pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. Annick Rogovnik who's blind got to know Mathilde during a pilgrimage. "Mathilde asked me if I'd walked the procession. I said I hadn't so she accompanied me. She was so nice and sweet, she's bound to become a good queen."

The d'Udekem family grave at Proven.

Mathilde's speech therapy cabinet (1995-1999) at Woluwe Saint-Lambert, Avenue Brand Whitlock.