Flashback: National Day 2002

21 July 2002

In the morning crown prince Philippe & princess Mathilde attended the traditional Te Deum at the Sint-Baafs cathedral in Ghent.

In the afternoon they joined the rest of the royal family for the militaru parade at the Place des palais in Brussels.

Flashback: National Day 2000

21 July 2000

Princess Mathilde's first National Day celebration as a princess.

Corona: No Queen Elisabeth Competition

24 May 2020

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the Queen Elisabeth Competition for piano that was scheduled to take place around this time has been postponed to next year.

Queen Mathilde gave a short interview inviting all to enjoy the (online) program that will be aired as a replacement: an extensive dive into breathtaking moments and a look back at the history of the world renowned music competition, one that holds a special place in Mathilde's heart.

video: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2020/05/23/koningin-mathilde-cultuur-kan-een-troef-zijn-tegen-eenzaamheid/

Elisabeth Graduates from UWC

23 May 2020

An online graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 of the United World College of the Atlantic was held on Youtube. One of the pupils graduating was Crown Princess Elisabeth (18).

She was mentioned as "Elisabeth de Brabant", a fitting alias that the Duchess of Brabant must have used for her school career in Wales.

Elisabeth only appeared in one of the group pictures as her privacy remains a priority.

When times get better corona wise, the pupils will still have a real life graduation ceremony.

Next for Elisabeth: Ecole Royale Militaire

Court has anounced that crown princess Elisabeth (18) will be starting at the Royal Military Academy (Ecole Royale Militaire/Koninklijke Militaire School) in Brussels from 31 August 2020. The year starts traditionally with a 4 day initiation at Elsenborn.

Elisabeth will be studying Social and Military Sciences at the Campus Renaissance. She won't complete the entire officer's course, as her time at the ERM will be limited to one year only. She'll be boarding at the school, like the other students.

The past two years Elisabeth has been a boarder in Wales at the United World College of the Atlantic, where she obtained an international baccalaureate.

In her future role as head of state Elisabeth will be commander in chief of the Belgian army, thus the military academy was bound to form part of her education. Her father, king Philippe followed the same training at the school in 1978.

Prince Amedeo, Elisabeth's cousin and godfather followed the 2 year officer's training at the Royal Military Academy from 2004 to 2006 before joining the London School of Economics.

This also means we'll be seeing crown princess Elisabeth among the parading students at the 2021 military parade in Brussels!

The bright young princess is sporty. According to her offial bio she enjoys skiing, hiking, sailing and deep sea diving.

Corona: Back at the Museum

19 May 2020

To help promote the reopening of the some of the museums in Belgium after a lockdown of two months, King Philippe & Queen Mathilde visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels early this morning.

They were given a tour of the Old Masters by director Michel Draguet.