COMING UP Incoming State Visit #15: Japan

Emperor Naruhito & Empress Masako of Japan will make a state visit to Belgium on 23 & 24 June 2026. 

Flashback: Conference on Basic Education

14 May 2013

Princess Mathilde attended the conference "Basic education for change", organized by Plan Belgium and Unicef at the Senate. 

Queen Elisabeth Competition 2026: Cello

This year's Queen Elisabeth Competition is dedicated to cello. It's a special edition since the world renowned music competition celebrates its 75th edition, a 150 years after the birth of its namesake and founder, Queen Elisabeth and of Pablo Casals, the famous Spanish cellist who is considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century.

The winner of the 2026 edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will therefore receive Casals’ legendary “Gofriller” cello on loan for four years.

Queen  Elisabeth of the Belgians and Pablo Casals, 1961

First round: Monday 4 May to Saturday 9 May 2026 at Flagey.

4 May 2026: After visiting the exhibition "The Belgian royal family and the cello", Mathilde attended a session.

Semi Finals: Monday 11 May to Saturday 16 May 2026 at Flagey.

13 May 2026: King Philippe & Queen Mathilde had a meeting at the royal palace with the jury members of this year's competition, presided by Gilles Ledure.

Afterwards Queen Mathilde attended a session at Flagey.

The same day, Mathilde also visited violin makers Jan & Matthijs Strick, the father & son who run Maison Bernard. They are responsible for the maintenance, tuning, and repair of the cellos during the competition.

16 May 2026: Queen Mathilde attends a session and the naming of the finalists.

Finals: Monday 25 May to Saturday 30 May 2026 at Bozar.

25 May 2026: King Philippe & Queen Mathilde attend a session.

29 May 2026: Prince Gabriel (22) attends a session. 

30 May 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the final session of the finale week, and the announcement of the winner.

2 June 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the award ceremony at the Queen Elisabeth chapel in Waterloo.

Laureate Recitals (by the 6 non classified laureates) on 3 June and 4 June 2026 at Flagey.

Laureate Concerts (by numbers 6, 5 and 4) on 8 June 2026 at Bozar.

8 June 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the laureate concert.

Final Concert (By numbers 3 and 2 and the winner) on 10 June 2026 at Bozar, attended by King Philippe & Queen Mathilde.

Third Trade Visit to Turkey

10 May 2026 - 12 May 2026

Queen Mathilde is presided a trade mission to Turkey, accompanied by over 400 business leaders, politicians and academics.

Queen Mathilde was accompanied by Minister for foreign affairs Maxime Prévot, Minister of Defense charged with foreign trade, Theo Franken, Minister President of the Flemish government Matthias Diependaele, vice president of the Walloon governement Pierre-Yves Jeholet, and Brussels secretary of state Boris Dilliès.

The agenda focused on energy transition, logistics, healthcare, defense and digitalisation.

Mathilde only accompanied the first part of the mission due to prior commitments.

Sunday 10 May 2026

Arrival in Istanbul.

Mathilde welcomed by Belgian ambassador Hendrik Van de Velde.

Then Mathilde was welcomed by Mahinur Özdemir Goktas, a Belgian-Turkish politician who is now the Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services. 

Posing for the press at Ortaköy Square.

With Turkey's first lady, Emine Erdogan.

Visit to the Ozdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul. The company specializes in drone technology.

Network event at Swissôtel The Bosphorus.

Monday 11 May 2026

Breakfast meeting catered by Le pain quotidien. 

Official launch of the mission in presence of Ömer Bolat, Turkish Minister of Trade at Swissôtel The Bosphorus.

Queen Mathilde had an official meeting with President Erdogan & the First Lady followed by a welcoming ceremony at the Vahdettin Köșkü in Istanbul.

Visit to the Naval Museum where the business event "Beyond Logistics: a view from the Bosphorus" was organized.

Mathilde also opened a seminar on entrepreneurship as a driver for women’s empowerment, together with the Turkish Minister for For Social and Family Affairs.

Then there was a high‑level courtesy moment and photo opportunity for Turkey's 12 most important industrial and economic organisations with Her Majesty the Queen and the Belgian ministers.

Signing ceremony.

The day was closed with an official reception.

Tuesday 12 May 2026

On her final day in Istanbul, Queen Mathilde took part in a meeting with Turkish financial institutions at the National Bank, to discuss cooperation opportunities for large-scale projects in Turkey. The Turkish Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank also attended.

The meeting was held at the new landmark building of the Central Bank, designed by Belgian architect Şefik Birkiye.

Afterwards, together with the Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology, the Queen visited the MEXT Technology Centre, a leading innovation hub supporting companies in their digital and industrial transformation.

At Istanbul University there were meetings between Belgian & Turkish biopharma companies, discussing strategic partnerships on drug discovery to improve the lives of Turkish patients affected by rare diseases.

Power lunch for Belgian and Turkish business leaders.

Belgian Insurance Company Ageas & Turkish Sabanci Group celebrated their 15 year partnership.

This was Mathilde's final event on the first international trade mission she presided solo. It were incredibly full days, which she took in her stride without effort it seems, building on her 26 years of experience, representing Belgium at home and abroad.