Condolences for Norway

28 August 2026

This morning Norway's King Harald died at the age of 89. He'd been in hospital for over a week and it was clear his situation was very serious.

Philippe & Mathilde sent out an official statement, sharing their condolences.

Only a few months ago they'd seen each other during the state visit to Norway, and at the birthday gala for King Carl Gustav in Sweden.

King Harald is a first cousin of King Albert II. Their mothers, Queen Astrid and Princess Märtha, were sisters, both born as Princesses of Sweden. There's no doubt King Philippe & Queen Mathilde will attend the funeral of their cousin-once removed.

Swedish sisters Märtha (Harald's mother) & Astrid (Philippe's grandmother) 

Gabriel Graduates from the Royal Military Academy

 27 August 2026

Prince Gabriel (23) graduated today with a Master's degree in Military and Social Sciences from the Royal Military Academy in Brussels. 

His parents and his sister Elisabeth were present at the graduation ceremony. 

It's been announced the Prince will be continuing his military career at the Ecole d'Infanterie, followed by a formation to become a paracommando. He changed his beret to a brown one, the one worn by the paracommandos.

Gabriel is the first Belgian royal to complete the entire formation at the Ecole Royale Militaire.

Elisabeth only completed the first year, and took part in summer camps.

Prince Gabriel however was a student like all the others. He was an intern at the Academy during the week and proved to be a very devoted, athletic and strong student. He did a 6 month internship (Erasmus) at the prestigious Saint-Cyr academy at Coëtquidan in France, where he obtained his parachuting license. There were also bootcamps in Morocco and French Guyana. 

One of his friends, a non-commissioned officer named Julien, talked to the press about Gabriel. 

"When we started at the Academy, everyone was saying "that's the prince, there's the prince" but I'm not impressed by those things so I just struck up a conversation with him and that formed the base of our friendship. People should know that he's really normal. Except he has a title to his name and we don't but he's a very normal guy. Every Thursday night, when I went out for drinks in Brussels he came along, or we'd have dinner together somewhere."

"Gabriel's a tough guy. He'll set himself a goal, like running 160 kilometers and then he'll completely focus on that goal and give it his all, even to an extreme like continuing when he gets injured along the way. He did the Jaguar jungle bootcamp with the French Foreign Legion. He did really well, which also proves he's got a lot of stamina."

"We bonded over the military aspect of this formation. We both love sports and the military. He's into power training, climbing ... And from day one he wanted to become a paracommando, just like his dad. His dad showed him pictures and told him stories about his own time as a paracommando and that just got the idea into his head. When his dad visited military units and Gabriel would go along they would talk to the people on the ground and that inspired him even more".

Finally Julien also adds that Gabriel is very fluent with words, he knows how to phrase things, and his friend wouldn't be suprised to see him turning to diplomacy as a career.

Video: https://vrtnws.be/p.yGKA1nwnVZ1

Next for Gabriel: Paracommando

26 August 2026

Tomorrow, Prince Gabriel will officially receive his Master's degree in Military and Social Sciences from the Royal Military Academy in a ceremony where King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and Crown Princess Elisabeth (24) will be present.

Meanwhile the news has been made public that Gabriel continues his military formation at the Infantry School in Arlon, where he will be trained to command an infantry platoon. He will then undergo para-commando training at Marche-les-Dames and Schaffen.

Happy 23rd Birthday, Gabriel!

20 August 2026

To mark his 23rd birthday, Court published these photos of Prince Gabriel during a climb on the Mont Blanc in France, earlier this month.

Together with a friend, William Vermeulen, Gabriel undertook a climb up to the Refuge Albert Ier named after after his 2xgreat grandfather, King Albert I of the Belgians. 

With their guide, Diego Simari.

Next week we'll be seeing Gabriel again, alongside his parents and his big sister Elisabeth, for his official graduation ceremony. 

Start of the Summer Holidays

On 23 July 2026 a group of girl scouts from Hasselt ran into Philippe & Mathilde who had gone for a forest walk, hand in hand, at Han-sur-Lesse.

The girls started screaming and once their initial shock was over, they were able to have a talk with the king & queen who came across as "quite normal and very kind". The surprise encounter ended with this snapshot. 

Han-sur-Lesse is close to Ciergnon where Philippe & Mathilde must have been staying in the days after 21 July (National Day). Normally they leave Belgium for a holiday straight after the 21st, but this year they stayed at Ciergnon for a couple of days before leaving for Vienna, where they attended the wedding of Archduchess Isabel of Austria.

On 26 July 2026 they arrived in Nantes, France, on their way to their holiday home on the Ile d'Yeu.

Emmanuel Releases new Single

At the end of July 2026, Prince Emmanuel (20), AKA DJ Vyntrix, released a new single called "WONDER".  

Earlier he'd announced that he was continuing the project on his own, as his French music partner, Elzéar de Monspey had left the project. 

On 5 August Emmanuel posted this message of thanks on instagram (under @vyntrix.music, not his personal private account). From the start the DJ Vyntrix project has been receiving a lot of positive acclaim in Belgium, both from the general public as from professional DJs. 

To be clear, Emmanuel is still studying. His DJing is a successful hobby. 

Monograms

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde's respective monograms.

The dual Cypher of King Philippe & Queen Mathilde as sovereigns of Belgium.

Crown Princess Elisabeth's monogram.

Elisabeth's monogram is very much like the E in her signature (or vice versa).

Wedding: Isabel von Habsburg & Carlos de Palacio

25 July 2026

King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, Crown Princess Elisabeth (24) and Prince Gabriel (22) are in Vienna, Austria to attend the wedding of Archduchess Isabel of Austria and Carlos María de Palacio y Gaytán de Ayala.

Isabel (°2000) is the daughter of Archduke Simeon of Austria (de Habsburg-Lorraine) and Princess María de Borbón Dos Sicilias. She's the third of their five children, and the first one to get married.

 

Simeon & Maria and Philippe & Mathilde have been friends since forever, and their children know each other very well. The families have spent numerous holidays together and Simeon was one of Philippe's witnesses at his wedding.

This wedding was held in the gorgeous Jesuitenkirche of Vienna. 

This was a private event.

With both grandmothers of the bride, Anna Gabriele de Habsbourg-Lorraine and Princess Anne de Borbon. 

Archduke Georg & Archduchess Eilika of Austria with their daughters Zsófia and Ildikó von Habsburg-Lothringen.

The Duke & Duchess of Bragança being greeted by Prince Pedro de Borbon Dos Sicilias.
Their youngest son, Prince Dinis with his fiancée, Countess Anna von Schaffgotsch.

Archduke Christian of Austria & Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg.

Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein & Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg.

Prince Léopold and Princess Charlotte de Nassau.

Prince Rafael d'Orleans-Bragança & his fiancée, Margherita delle Piane and sister, Princess Marie Gabriela d'Orléans Bragança.

Prince Philipp & Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein.
Prince Gundakar & Princess Marie of Liechtenstein.

Princess Nora of Liechtenstein with Prince Boris of Bulgaria and his mother, Princess Miriam Al Ghazi.
In the background: Archduchess Marie Beatrice of Austria.

Prince Beltran of Bulgaria.
Prince Mirko of Bulgaria & his fiancée, Marta Embid.

Archduke Rudolf & Archduchess Marie Hélène of Austria.
Archduke Martin of Austria.

Count Franz Clemens & Countess Stefanie von Waldburg zu Zeil-Hohenems.

Prince Pierre d'Arenberg and his daughter Lydia.
Duke Rudolf von Croÿ.

Duchess Diane de Noailles and Clotilde Crépy.

Princess Adélaïde d'Orléans & Pierre-Louis Dailly.
Duchess Mathilde von Württemberg and the Duchess of Chartres.

Aunt of the bride, Princess Victoria de Borbon Dos Sicilias and her son, Simeon Nomikos.

Princess Cristina and Princess Inés de Borbon Dos Sicilias, aunts of the bride.

Jaime & Charlotte, Duke & Duchess of Noto, Victoria López-Quesada & Enrique Moreno de la Cova.

Archduke Carl Peter & Archduchess Alexandra of Austria with their children, Archduke Lorenz and Archduchess Antonia of Austria.

Fürst Heinrich & Fürstin Johanna Reuss.

Other guests. Can you help me identify them?

In the evening the dinner and dance was held at Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna.