New Schools for Emmanuel & Eléonore

26 August 2020

With the new shool year coming up, court has made it public that both Prince Emmanuel (14) and Princess Eléonore (12) will be changing schools on 1 September 2020.

Prince Emmanuel will be joining his brother, Prince Gabriel (17) at the International School of Brussels, a private English language school in Boitsfort.

Emmanuel started his school career at the very traditional catholic Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Brussels. After kindergarten and the first years of primary school he switched to the Eureka School in Kessel-Lo, a school for normal to highly gifted children with special learning needs. It is said Emmanuel has dyslexia.

Emmanuel will now be joining the regular school system again.

Princess Eléonore is leaving the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege as well. After having finished her primary school education there, the Princess, like all other pupils had to place a request to stay at the school for her secondary education. Because the school receives many more demands than the places it can offer, this is a procedure all pupils have to go through. Because Eléonore has no older siblings at secondary school she cannot stay. Also the distance between the school and her home address (6 kilometres) has been taken into account. Pupils who live closer to the school receive precedence.

Eléonore's second choice was the Heilig Hartcollege (College of the Sacred Heart) in Wezembeek-Oppem: a Dutch language catholic secondary school in the Brussels region. This is where she will be starting next Tuesday.

Reminder: next Monday Crown Princess Elisabeth will also make a fresh start, as she integrates the Royal Military Academy in Brussels for a one year formation.

Jewels: Fabiola's Pearl and Diamond Earrings

In June 2015, at the royal wedding of prince Carl Philip of Sweden & Sofia Hellqvist, queen Mathilde was seen wearing queen Fabiola's pearl and diamond earrings  for the first time.

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Jewels: The Tiara of the Nine Provinces

In 1926 Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium married Princess Astrid of Sweden. Belgium provided its new Crown Princess with a gift that was to match her popularity: the tiara of the nine provinces, made from Antwerp cut diamonds from Belgium's colony Congo. 

The tiara consisted of an art deco style ("Greek") diamond base, topped with 11 big round diamonds (together about 100 carats) that symbolized the royal house, the 9 Belgian provinces and the Congo. It’s a versatile piece of jewelry that can easily be split into several pieces.

Astrid wore it for the first time at the Bal de la Grande Harmonie in 1927.

At first Astrid wore it in its original form.

 

Or using only the base, in the fashion of the 1920s.

She also used the base as a bracelet.

In 1934, when she became Queen, Astrid had the design adjusted, putting a frame of diamond lozenge shaped squares on top of the base. The round diamonds were placed inside the lozenges.

After Astrid's untimely death, king Leopold III’s second wife, Princess Lilian wore the base as a tiara or a bracelet.

At one point Lilian also had the round diamonds attached to a gold collar style necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels.

When Leopold III’s son, King Baudouin married in 1960, the tiara of the nine provinces went to his wife, Queen Fabiola. She wore the tiara in many different shapes: in its full version...

... using only the base

... with empty lozenges, leaving out the round diamonds

 

... and attaching the 11 solitaires to a necklace.

When Fabiola was widowed in 1993 she passed on the tiara of the nine provinces to Paola, the new Queen, who often wore it for big occasions.

... also using the base as a choker.

Since this is one of the biggest pieces in the Belgian royal family, it’s only worn by wife of the reigning monarch. Since becoming Queen in 2013, Mathilde has worn the tiara in its full version and using only the base.