Queen Mathilde: Docu: "Une année avec le roi des Belges"

Nicolas Delvaulx, who made a very revealing documentary on Queen Paola in 2022 with the full cooperation of the entire Royal Family now presents a second royal documentary, on King Philippe.

For over a year Delvaulx was allowed to follow and film King Philippe during his meetings, travels and private moments. According to journalist Pascale Mertens the result is a spontaneous, profound and open meeting with Philippe - one we have never seen before.

Starting point was actually Paola's documentary. On a special private airing for the family, Nicolas Delvaulx was also present. After seeing the documentary Philippe started playing a tune on the piano, the family gathered round spontaneously. This was the moment when Delvaulx realized he wanted to make a portrait of the king.

Everybody gave their full cooperation. Delvaulx & King Philippe talked for many hours, very openly. The director recorded everything on his phone and was later given permission to use the interviews. Because they were only in French, Philippe insisted on adding the same content in Dutch as well.

Philippe: "Je suis tellement heureux d'avoir pu aller à Kourou avec mon fils. On ne voulait absolument pas rater ça. Quelque chose qu'on n'oubliera jamais, lui et moi. C'était fabuleux. Het was een onvergetelijk vader-zoonmoment waar we dichter bij elkaar konden komen en 's avonds bijvoorbeeld na het diner nog eventjes konden babbelen en een paar keer toch goed lachen, het heeft ons deugd gedaan.
Gabriel moest soms een voormiddag in het hotel blijven om verder te studeren. Hij deed dat ook vanzelf. Hij besefte dat om 's namiddags mee te kunnen gaan, dat hij in de voormiddag moest studeren."

"I'm so glad I was able to be in Kourou with my son. We woudn't have missed it for the world. It's something both he & me will never forget, just fabulous. An unforgettable father & son moment which brought us closer together. In the evening after dinner, we had the time to talk and have a good laugh, it made us happy. Sometimes Gabriel had to stay at the hotel in the morning, to study. I didn't have to remind him. He knew that to be able to be there in the afternoon, he had to take the morning off for his studies."