Family: Raoul d'Udekem has died

On Friday 24 March 2023 Count Raoul d'Udekem d'Acoz (87), Mathilde 's uncle and godfather died.

Raoul was the last surviving brother of Mathilde's father. He was born on 21 April 1935 in Uccle and grew up with his two brothers at Castle Couthof in Proven. 

He later moved to Ypres where he was active in local politics. At the end of the 1990s he moved to Herne where he was alderman from 2001 to 2007 for CD&V. 

Raoul d'Udekem was married to Françoise de Maere d'Aertrycke (°1935). They have four children: Anne, Diane, Bernard and Nadine, and twelve grandchildren. 

When Mathilde was a child, she and her siblings would often visit the family but as the years went on a family feud about their grandmother's inheritance caused a rift which even led to court cases. Mathilde's uncles would sometimes make the news with petty citicism on Mathilde's family, much to the Belgian press's amusement. 

At one point Raoul was interviewed about one of Mathilde's sister's (Elisabeth Pallavicini) properties, that she wanted to renovate and put up for rent. There was some upheaval as the tenant, who'd never signed a contract, had to leave the house. Raoul publicly accused Elisabeth's husband of only thinking about money.

After Mathilde's father, Patrick d'Udekem died in 2008, both surviving brothers expressed their regret at having waisted so much time bickering.

In 2013 Raoul and his niece, who had become Queen of the Belgians saw each other during a joyeuse entrée in the province Vlaams-Brabant. They exchanged a brief "hello". It isn't clear if their rapport changed in the following years.

When her uncle died, Mathilde was on state visit in South Africa. She must have been informed about his health beforehand, because she visited to say her last goodbye.

It has been announced that Count Raoul d'Udekem's funeral will be held at the Saint-Nicolas church of Enghien on 30 March 2023 at 11:00. In spite of a very full agenda, Queen Mathilde will attend the funeral.

I guess Queen Mathilde will attend the funeral of her uncle and godfather. We were informed that her first activity of the day - in Brussels - is advanced, so she has 45 minutes to be just in time in Enghien (with police escort). The second activity is in the late afternoon. https://t.co/qNClQgEGs4

— [Wim Dehandschutter] (@WDehandschutter) March 28, 2023