Corona: Mental Health

31 March 2020

Via Skype the Queen contacted CréSam and Zorgnet-Icuro, two health care groups, to talk about the importance of good mental health care during the confinement due to COVID19

Flashback: Finnish State Visit

30 March 2004

Finnish President Tarja Halonen and her husband, Doctor Arajarvi, made a three day state visit to Belgium.

Welcoming Mrs Halonen & Mr Arajarvi upon their arrival at Brussels airport.

Official welcome ceremony at the Place des Palais in Brussels.

Gala dinner at Laeken castle.

Corona: Support for Medical Staff

20 March 2020

Queen Mathilde made a phone call to Esther, a home health nurse from Kinrooi. Mathilde had contacted home health nursing organisation Wit-Gele Kruis to ask if she could speak to one of their nurses who are out and about visiting patients each day.

According to Esther they had a heartwarming conversation with the Queen thanking her and all of her colleagues. Esther: "The Queen knows these are hard times, not only because of the physical demands of our job, but also on a psychological level. We give it our best to make sure people can live comfortably. She said she knows this, and that meant a lot to me. When you put your heart and soul in your daily work a phone call from the Queen gives you extra strength. Seeing as the worst is yet to come, we have to stay strong!" 

Mathilde's interest & support for healthcare is more than genuine. Before she became a Princess, 20 years ago, Mathilde worked as a speech therapist and also visited patients at home. As a young woman, she accompanied disabled persons to Lourdes as a nurse of the Order of Malta.

26 March 2020

Mathilde also phoned Wit-Gele Kruis domestic nurse Vanessa Geens and her patient, 85 year old Sister Christella in Olen. By turning on the speakerphone the 3 ladies could have a mutual conversation.

Vanessa: "It was a warm and natural conversation. The Queen showed genuine concern about sister Christella's wellbeing. We didn't just talk about my work as a nurse, but also about my family. The phone call did us a lot of good."

Court also stated that the royal children are being encouraged to make phone calls to isolated elderly persons in care.

Corona: Reading & Writing

24 March 2020

Court released a video where Mathilde addresses teenagers who are stuck at home (with their parents) because of the Covid-19 pandemic. She suggests reading the same book, "Jusqu'ici tout va bien" by Marie Colot, which was nominated in 2019 for the Prix Première Victor, a Belgian literary award for youth fiction.

Mathilde reads a snippet from the book.

Another suggestion: why don't you write a diary to channel your emotions, and in a few years it will remind you about how you managed to make it through these hard times.

25 March 2020

A day later, a second book suggestion was posted online: "Toen de zee stil was" by Annelies Beck.

The Queen read the entire picture book out loud.

Corona: More Comfort Food

21 March 2020

Crown Princess Elisabeth (18), Princess Eléonore (11), Prince Gabriel (16) and Prince Emmanuel (14) baked waffles for isolated elderly persons from two care homes in Brussels and for the nursing staff.

Corona: Queen Elisabeth Competition Postponed

The Queen Elisabeth Competition for piano won't take place in May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organizers hope to have it postponed to a later time in 2020.

Corona: No Greenhouses in 2020

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the royal greenhouses of Laeken will remain closed to the public this year.

Corona: Elisabeth Returns Home

17 March 2020

Crown Princess Elisabeth's Welsh boarding school, the United World College of the Atlantic, has asked all pupils to return home.

As the school expect the NHS to be flooded by persons ill with COVID-19, they can no longer guarantee the health and safety of their students.

Belgian Court confirms that Princess Elisabeth will be returning home to her family in Brussels.

Corona: A Beautiful Gesture

15 March 2020

Queen Mathilde and her 2 youngest children, Prince Emmanuel (14) and Princess Eléonore (11) dropped off home made cakes and about 50 bouquets of cut flowers from the palace grounds at the Brussels OCMW/CPAS retirement home Maison Heysel/Huis Heizel. The residents can't receive any visitors because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Koningin Mathilde van België en haar zoon Emmanuel en dochter Eléonore brengen bloemen en zelfgebakken cake bij ouderen die door corona geen visite kunnen krijgen. Ze zwaaien door het raam 👋🏼 pic.twitter.com/cxN58Mr07Z

— Sam Hoevenaar (@SamHoevenaar) March 15, 2020

Corona: Elisabeth still in Wales

The 3 youngest children of the royal couple are at home in Brussels, as all Belgian schools have suspended classes because of the COVID-19 (Corona) virus. However crown princess Elisabeth is still in Wales.

The Atlantic College, where the crown princess is a boarder has sent all first years home, while the second year students have been allowed to stay on. If they leave now, they won't be able to sit for their final exams in May. After the exams Elisabeth will obtain an international baccalaureate. 

All students of the College are to remain on campus. There are no activities outside of the campus and the access by others has been extremely restricted. If second year students want to go home - which is to another country in most cases, they are allowed to do so and are offered online classes, but they won't be able to return to the school and take part in the exams.

INTERVIEW Les Niouzz

13 March 2020

For the 20th anniversary of RTBF children's news "Les Niouzz", Queen Mathilde made an appearance talking about cyber bullying.

At 9:40 Mathilde talks to the young reporters and makes an insta story with them.

video: https://www.rtbf.be/ouftivi/niouzz?videoId=2612449

CANCELLED Week van de Zorg 2020 + 10 Years of TEJO

Update: Queen Mathilde's activities have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 virus (Corona). Belgium closes its schools, universities, bars, restaurants, public places and non essential stores for the next 3 weeks. All cultural and sports activities have been cancelled as well.

On 13 March 2020 queen Mathilde was supposed to visit "De Kindervriend" in Rollegem, a daycare center for children with a mental handicap. This visit has been cancelled and will be postponed to 2021, for a new edition of "Week van de Zorg".

On the same day Mathilde was also meant to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of TEJO: a free and anonymous counselling service for young people between 10 and 20, provided on a voluntary basis by professional mental health care workers. The event has been cancelled.

Ladies Lunch + New Diplomats

12 March 2020

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde hosted a ladies lunch for International Women's Day at the castle of Laeken.

In the afternoon they received a delegation of trainee diplomats who will leave for their first foreign mission in a few months.

Because of the Covid-19 virus a safe social distance was kept while posing for the photos.

International Women's Day 2020

11 March 2020

For International Women's Day, queen Mathilde had a meeting with succesful and inspirational women from the province of Vlaams-Brabant.

- Former olympic athlete turned fashion designer Elodie Ouedraogo.
- Film director Maaike Neuville
- CEO of Java Coffee, Kathleen Claes
- Rika Taeymans, director of Cirkus in Beweging
- Scientist Femke De Backere
- Founder of UNDIVIDED, Nozizwe Dube.
- Chantal Mathieu, Head of Endocrinology at UZ Leuven.
- CEO of Oak Tree Projects, Danaë Van den Bossche.
- Katia Verhaeren, director of Villa Clementina, an inclusive day care centre for babies with & without special needs.
- Film director Cecilia Verheyden.
- Contemporary art curator Karen Verschooren.

The meeting took place at the Provinciehuis of Leuven.

They talked about ambitions, rolemodels, prejudices and challenges.