10 Year Reign: Garden Party

13 May 2023

To celebrate King Philippe's first decade as King of the Belgians, the Royal Couple hosted a garden party at their Laeken residence.

Nice surprise: Prince Gabriel (19), Prince Emmanuel (17) and Princess Eléonore (15) were present as well! Crown Princess Elisabeth is in Britain, studying at Oxford.

600 persons had received an invitation to spend the afternoon at the Park and the Royal Greenhouses where various Belgian artists performed. A reception concluded the afternoon. The guests had been chosen by the Governors of the 10 Provinces.

Also present: Princess Astrid & Prince Lorenz and Prince Laurent & Princess Claire.

This seems to be the first time we've seen Eléonore with earrings. She's wearing (very discrete) braces now.

This was the first garden party of its kind hosted by the King & Queen, who may have been inspired by the British tradition, even though a similar event also took place in 2009 when King Albert & Queen Paola celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and in 2012 for the Queen Paola Foundation.

Mathilde just got back from Vietnam & is hosting a garden party:
"Good evening ... oh sorry, good day sir. Excuse me, I'm suffering from jet lag!" https://t.co/byK2RgAF2T

— Queen Mathilde Blog (@BlogMathilde) May 13, 2023

🇧🇪 Sweet footage to share on Mother’s Day: Belgian Queen Mathilde’s strong bond with the youngest of her four children, Princess Eléonore, 15.

👩‍👧‍👧 At the closing reception of yesterday’s Garden Party in the orangery, Eléonore looks for her mother in the crowd and slips away. pic.twitter.com/fzJU9Wt3XD

— [Wim Dehandschutter] (@WDehandschutter) May 14, 2023

Visitor at Laeken Garden Party: "It's wonderful here, so beautiful. And you can enjoy this everyday?"
Prince Gabriel: "I'm away at the Military Academy now..." https://t.co/sQgjMDKaA5

— Queen Mathilde Blog (@BlogMathilde) May 13, 2023