Elisabeth's Statue

October 2016

Artist Jan Fabre has created a marble statue of Crown Princess Elisabeth dressed in her everyday clothes and wearing a party hat, called "My Future Queen".

The statue is part of Fabre's Hermitage exhibition "Knight of Despair/Warrior of Beauty". In his series "My Queens", Fabre depicts the most important women in his life. "Soon we'll have a woman running our country. I wanted to give her a central place in the exhibition. I gave her a carnival's hat, a Belgian crown: the crown of Belgian vitality, of daftness."

Court didn't know about the statue. Elisabeth has been said to find her first statue "quite amusing".

Each One Teach One + Expo "Op zoek naar Utopia" + Young Professionals

27 October 2016

In the morning, Queen Mathilde attended a meeting of the 17 organisations that will receive financial support from the Queen Mathilde Foundation, at the Karel Buls Atheneum in Brussels.

All of them responded to the 2016 "Each One Teach One" project call of the Mathilde Foundation.

They exchanged experiences and good practices on tutoring projects by and for students.

In the afternoon, Queen Mathilde visited the exhibition "In Search of Utopia" at Museum M in Leuven.

And at night there was a third activity.

At Laeken Castle, she and King Philippe hosted a dinner for young talented professionals.

Their guests were:

- Alexia Leysen of vegetarian initiative "Dagen Zonder Vlees".
- Julie Foulon, co-founder of "Molengeek", a coworking space in Molenbeek.
- Maxime Parmentier, CEO of  The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
- Pieterjan Bouten, CEO of software company "Showpad".
- Benjamin Rieder, CEO of eco deliveries "Bubble post".
- Sam Deltour, psychiatrist and Polar explorer.
- Nathalie Crutzen, director of "Smart City Insitute" at Liège university.
- Stephanie De Smedt, editor-in-chief of newspaper "De Tijd".

Reception for Olympic Athletes

26 October 2016

King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and Princess Astrid hosted a reception at Laeken Castle for the Belgian olympic and paralympic athletes who participated in the Rio Olympics 2016.

Melissa Maas acted as lady-in-waiting.

Happy Birthday, Elisabeth

25 October 2016

Belgium's Crown Princess turns 15 today.

New photos.

 

Humanitarian Visit to Jordan

Queen Mathilde and Minister of Development Cooperation, Alexander De Croo visited Amman, Jordan to learn about the refugee crisis in the region. As SDG advocate for the UN, Queen Mathilde wished to be informed about education, children's health and the economic empowerment of women.

Sunday 23 October 2016

Departure from Melsbroek Military Airport. During the flight Mathilde told a journalist she was expecting the next days to be intense and emotional.

Arrival at Amman.

Meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh at the airport.

Monday 24 October 2016

Belgian Court started the day by releasing this message from Queen Mathilde on the occasion of "United Nations Day".

"From Jordan where I am currently on a humanitarian mission, I wish everyone a happy United Nations (UN) Day. I specially thank the many UN workers for their permanent engagement.

As an advocate of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, I can see how big the humanitarian needs are in Jordan and I recognize the enormous efforts made by Jordan in order to receive refugees from the region. All refugee children need access to education and good healthcare. Many children who fled the war in Syria are in need of psychological care. This is why I am asking that a special attention be given to education and healthcare of refugees and to their mental well-being in particular.

I praise all humanitarian workers for their daily engagement that does not go without risks. I also thank the Jordan volunteers and families who give these vulnerable persons a home.

My presence on the field is a way of giving these persons a face and a voice. "

Meeting with Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman.

Visit to Zaatari, Jordan's biggest refugee camp (80,000 inhabitants), near the Syrian border.

Medical care at the camp.

Identification system with iris scans.

At the UNICEF Makani Center for Syrian refugees: education and psychological support for children.

Reception at the Belgian embassy. Mathilde wore a dress by Jordanian designer Hama Hinnawi, who is one of Queen Rania's go-to local designers.

Afterwards she had dinner with Queen Rania & King Abdallah at their home.

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Meeting UN personnel.

With Jordanian PM, Hani Al Mulqi.

With Queen Rania at the Jordan River Foundation, that works on female empowerment. 

 

Goodbyes ... Rania gave Mathilde a birthday present for her daughter Elisabeth: a scarf and a carved wooden box.

Returning home.

Around 17:00 Mathilde arrived in Belgium, still in time to celebrate Elisabeth's 15th birthday.