International Day of Education 2024

24 January 2024

Queen Mathilde issued a statement for the International Day of Education.

The photos that went along were taken during the Queen's school visits last year in Bangladesh, Belgium, Congo and Vietnam. Mathilde is mostly surrounded by girls. She has emphasized time and again how important it is for girls to get a quality eduction. 

Jewels: Classic Pearl & Diamond Earrings

For many years, Queen Mathilde has frequently been wearing these pearl and diamond earrings.

It's a classic model, also worn by many other royals.

In September 2022 Crown Princess Elisabeth wore her mother's earrings for the first time in public.

Flashback: Work-Life Balance

21 January 2002

Princess Mathilde attended a debate on the Belgian and European policies in terms of work-life balance. It was hosted by Vice Prime Minister & Minister of Employment, Laurette Onkelinx at her cabinet. A number of experts in the field were present.

An apropriate topic for new mom Mathilde, mother of 3 month old Elisabeth at the time. 

Happy 51st Birthday!

20 January 2024

Two new photos, taken by Vlad Vanderkelen, were shared with the public today. We see Queen Mathilde posing at Laeken with the Japanese Tower as background.

World Economic Forum 2024

15 January - 18 January 2024

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde were in Davos, Switzerland to attend the 54th annual World Economic Forum. They were accompanied by PM Alexander De Croo, deputy PM Petra De Sutter and Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden. WEF 2024's theme was "Rebuilding trust".

15 January 2024

Arrival at Zurich airport.

16 January 2024

At the opening session the Royal Couple was seated between Prince Albert of Monaco and WEF's founders, Klaus & Hilde Schwab.

Next to Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic.

With Cindy McCain, Director of the World Food Programme.

Queen Mathilde attended the Opening Speech by Ursula von der Leyen.

Queen Mathilde at the “Facing a World without Antibiotics” session.

Meanwhile King Philippe had meetings with President Zelenski of Ukraine, Prince Emmanuel de Merode of the Virunga Natural Park in Congo and local representants of the Amazon Forest, and President of Armenia Vahagn Chatsjatoerian.

At the Belgian Cocktail Reception "Clean Tech Innovation on the Road to Net Zero" King Philippe & Queen Mathilde met Bill Gates who invests in GlaxoSmithKline's Walloon Brabant vaccine activities through his foundation.

In the evening Philippe & Mathilde had dinner with the WEF's founders, Klaus and Hilde Schwab.

17 January 2024

At the Special Address by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

At the "Addressing the North-South Schism" session.

A Conversation with Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State.

King Philippe met John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, during a panel session.

Meeting with the social innovators of the Schwab Foundation, striving for a more equal and sustainable world.

In the afternoon Queen Mathilde hosted a talk on mental health among young people facing the challenges of social media and AI. Her company were Doctors Doraiswamy, Hickie, Hijabi and Ospina.

18 January 2024

King Philippe meeting with Sam Altman (OpenAI - ChatGPT), Philipp Sindler and Ruth Poret of Google, and with Peter Faernhead of African Parks, Feike Sijbesma of Philips and Rolly Van Rapperd of CVC Capital Partners to talk about bio diversity and nature protection.

Meeting with the President of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and former EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso.