Docu: "Een Prinsenleven"

A VRT documentary wasbroadcast in 1999 on the occasion of the engagement of Crown Prince Philippe & Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.

The documentary starts with a visit to Mathilde's home town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, a hamlet with a castle (Mathilde's home), a church, a few houses, forests and fields.

The villagers talk about having seen Mathilde & Philippe together: "We saw them walking together here in town". The parish priest: "Everyone knows each other here, I've baptized all the d'Udekem children, they've had their confirmation here. I know them very well".

A journalist asks Mathilde's father, Patrick d'Udekem whether his life will change as well. Patrick: "That'll depend on you! On the journalists... I'm 63 years old, I won't change anymore. Me and my family will always be the same."

Patrick's brother shows a portrait of his mother, Mathilde's grandmother, Suzanne d'Outryve. He thinks Mathilde & Suzanne are very similar: both very determined and at the same time good to others. A funny coincidence is that Suzanne was 13 years younger than her husband, just like Mathilde & Philippe.

Mathilde's parents Patrick & Anne with their dog "Pas op".

Anne's sister, Roza Komorowska talks about their Polish roots.

"We're more than Polish by birth, both Anne and I have never changed nationality. We come from a princely family, the title goes back to 1446. Our mother was a princess. At the start of the communist regime it no longer meant anything, on the contrary, it was a heavy burden to carry. Before communism it meant the family had very large properties. My mother's property was confiscated by the Germans in 1939 because it was too close to Auschwitz. They were expulsed so no-one would be able to see what was going on there."

Our father's property was taken by the Bolsheviks in 1945. 

We then left for the Belgian Congo where my grandparents owned a tea plantation. They had bought the land in 1922. We only stayed in the Congo for 3 years. In 1960 the country became independent and we had to flee again."

Roza: "My mother was a very joyous person. In spite of everything she had an extraordinary joie de vivre." 

Any resemblances to Mathilde? "The smile, and she was very much at ease with whoever she came into contact with. Mathilde has a very Polish side to her as well. Just look at her high cheekbones, that's a real Slavic trait. Mathilde also really loves the Polish cuisine, in general she loves to eat, and will never refuse a good Polish dish! The entire d'Udekem family loves gastronomy."

Roza: "Mathilde has been raised well by her parents. They were strict, but the children were allowed to be themselves."

The director of the primary school in Bastogne remembers Mathilde as a good pupil, although not the best of the class. Her results were very good.

As a child she was like the other village children. According to the parish priest Mathilde was calm and poised, while her sister Marie-Alix was very outgoing.

When she's a student, Mathilde spends a summer in the slums of Cairo, Egypt, an international project to help build schools. She also teaches French in Cairo. 

Mathilde studies speech therapy at the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels. A teacher recalls: "She was an excellent pupil. Her results were great, she obtained her degree with great honours, but for me, her personality was even better. I'd describe her as intelligent, very sensitive in the way she approaches others."

Mathilde is a member of the Order of Malta, a catholic knight's order that works for the benefit of the poor and the sick. With her mother, Mathilde twice accompanied handicapped persons on pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. Annick Rogovnik who's blind got to know Mathilde during a pilgrimage. "Mathilde asked me if I'd walked the procession. I said I hadn't so she accompanied me. She was so nice and sweet, she's bound to become a good queen."

The d'Udekem family grave at Proven.

Mathilde's speech therapy cabinet (1995-1999) at Woluwe Saint-Lambert, Avenue Brand Whitlock.