Rula Ghani

11 October 2017

Queen Mathilde had a meeting with Rula Ghani, Afghanistan's first lady, at the royal palace in Brussels.

They discussed the SDG's. Queen Mathilde's a very implicated SDG advocate for the UN. She focusses on quality education - especially for girls, women's rights and quality health care, including mental health care.

Europalia Indonesia

10 October 2017

King Philippe and queen Mathilde granted an audience to Mr Jusuf Kalla, vice president of Indonesia, and his wife.

At noon they had a work lunch at the royal palace of Brussels, in the company of princess Astrid.

In the afternoon the royal and presidential couple officially opened and visited the exhibition "Europalia Indonesia. Ancestors and Rituals" at Bozar.

Poliopolis

10 October 2017

Queen Mathilde visited the container village 'Poliopolis' where the University of Antwerp is performing experiments with new oral polio vaccinations.

As an SDG ambassador for the United Nations, the queen wanted to be informed about the research and development of vaccines. She's also granted her royal patronage to the Vaccine Evolution Center of the University of Antwerp.

Melissa Maas acted as lady-in-waiting.

A Break

Was queen Mathilde in need of a rest? She's on a 10 day work break, judging from her agenda.

Activities will be resumed on the 10th of October, leaving her 3 working weeks untill the traditional autumn school holidays.

Family: Good News

On his blog, politician Nicolas Janssen - who is married to Mathilde's sister Hélène - posted a health update on their son, Alistair.

In August 2016 their young boy (then 2,5 years old) was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After a year they can say the chemo has worked and the tumor is gone. Alistair was able to start school again on the 1st of September.

"C’est une sacrée tempête qui s’est abattue sur notre petite famille il y a un peu plus d’un an, le 3 août dernier. Les médecins diagnostiquaient alors un cancer du cavum (les cavités de la bouche et du nez, à la base du crâne) à notre fils Alistair, qui avait 2 ans et demi.

Grâce à la médecine, à l’amour et à plein d’autres choses certainement, immense soulagement: Alistair est actuellement en rémission! La tumeur a disparu. Il lui reste encore deux chimiothérapies: les 16 et 22 août prochains. Des contrôles (IRM) et examens fréquents sont prévus, mais le 1er septembre, notre bonhomme devrait pouvoir rentrer à l’école, en troisième gardienne.

MERCI LA VIE !!! C’est le principal cri que veut lancer notre coeur aujourd’hui. Petit Alistair semble se porter de mieux en mieux, il reprend des forces, du poids, ses cheveux repoussent, il est souvent fatigué mais dans l’ensemble son moral est bon, son rire et ses sourires nous font tous chavirer.

Que de frayeurs nous avons eues… Pour parler de guérison, il faudra toutefois attendre 5 ans. Le risque de récidive est en effet élevé, surtout les 3 premières années suivant la rémission.

Face à de tels événements, certains décident de communiquer très ouvertement, p.ex. sur les réseaux sociaux, et c’est très bien. Nous avons toutefois fait le choix contraire. Nous ne voulions rien cacher, mais souhaitions avant tout nous consacrer à 3000% à nos 3 enfants et à notre petite famille nucléaire…

C’était comme si, au milieu de cette tempête, nous avions besoin de descendre dans une grotte, afin de tout faire pour tenter de préserver la petite flamme qui avait menacé de s’éteindre.

MERCI à ceux qui nous ont encouragés et soutenus. Merci à ceux qui l’auraient fait s’ils avaient su 😉 Merci à ceux qui ont proposé de soutenir Alistair par leurs pensées, leurs prières, qui lui ont envoyé des forces, du soleil, qui ont partagé avec nous tous tant d’énergie positive et vitale. Nous sommes plus que jamais convaincus que cet amour-là contribue à déplacer des montagnes.

Et maintenant, la vie continue. Comme si chaque instant était encore plus unique."

Paul Van Hoeydonck

October 2017

Queen Mathilde visited artist Paul Van Hoeydonck at his workshop.

Prince Emmanuel turns 12 today

4 October 2017

A beautiful new portrait relaesed by court.

Borrowed jewellery: Dutch ensemble

At crown prince Willem-Alexander's 40th birthday party in 2007, Mathilde wore an impressive new set of earrings, a necklace and a brooch.

None of these jewels belong to her personally and she hasn't been seen wearing them since.

Entourage: Communications Team

From the 1st of October 2017 Patrick Renault is the new Director of Communications and Media at Belgian Court. He replaces Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw who resigned from this function and has since been appointed as Belgian ambassador in Ireland.

Patrick Renault & his new boss (photo from 2012)

Mr Renault has a degree in law from the University of Namur. He worked in advocacy for two years before entering diplomacy. He was the Head of Communications and Press for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As Belgian ambassador he worked in Australia and Argentina. 

Mr Renault will be working on a daily basis with the vice director for communications, Rafike Yilmaz and communication officers, Patrick Gouders and Frank Derniest.

Patrick Gouders & Rafike Yilmaz

 Patrick Gouders

 Frank Derniest, Patrick Gouders & former communications chef, Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw

New Neighbours at Laken

Since Fabiola's death in December 2014, the castle of Stuyvenberg, one of the buildings in the royal park of Laken has been vacant.

Stuyvenberg castle

None of the members of the royal family expressed the wish to move into Stuyvenberg, and the Belgian government did not wish to spend money on it... So court decided to rent it out to private citizens. Via an exclusive real estate agency new inhabitants have been found: baroness Michèle Sioen & Marc Galle.

Michèle Sioen and her daughter, Audrey Joris

Michèle Sioen is the director of VBO, The Union of Belgian Enterprises, and owns various textile companies. She's also a members of the Queen Elisabeth Music Contest board of direction. She has two sons and a daughter and was created a baroness in 2017.

Her husband, Marnix Galle, is the son of late socialist minsiter Marc Galle. Mr Galle owns a large real estate & development group that's mainly active in the Brussels region.

Marnix Galle

The couple are both among the top 100 of wealthiest Belgians and are no strangers to Philippe & Mathilde since they have met on numerous occasions, more than likely also privately since both couples are known to often spend free weekends in Knokke.

Before moving in, Mrs Sioen and Mr Galle will renovate the castle at their own expense. An actual move won't happen before the end of 2018.

Stuyvenberg Castle is closest to Villa Schonenberg, princess Astrid's home

The castle of Stuyvenberg has its origins in the 18th century.

It's first royal connection was through Arcadie Claret, king Leopold I's mistress who bought it and lived in it. It was at Stuyvenberg that she gave birth to Leopold's natural sons. After Leopold I's death in 1865, Arcadie sold the estate to king Leopold II. Since then it's part of the Royal Donation.

Many years later it was the happy home of king Leopold III and queen Astrid. Two of their children, Baudouin and Albert were born here. After Astrid's early death in 1935, the mourning family moved out.

King Albert II as a baby in 1934, at home in Stuyvenbergh

Leopold III's mother, queen Elisabeth then moved in and lived at Stuyvenbergh untill her death in 1965.

Queen Elisabeth with Norwegian king Olav in 1964 at Stuyvenbergh

For 30 years the castle was used to lodge foreign heads of state visiting Belgium.

From 1998 untill 2014 it was queen Fabiola's home.