Governors 2023

26 September 2023

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde received the Governors of the 10 Belgian provincs at the castle of Laeken.

In the evening they had another activity: their daughter, Crown Princess Elisabeth got sworn in as officer in the Belgian army.

Flashback: Institut Jules Bordet

31 March 2000

Princess Mathilde paid a visit to the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, on the occasion of the Télévie TV fundraising campaign for leukemia research.

Mathilde, who'd been a princess for four months, asked questions about bone marrow transplant and the umbilical cord blood bank.

Professor Dominique Bron, head of the clinical hematology department told the press: "Elle était vraiment intéressée. On voit qu'elle a une base médicale. Elle comprend la finalité des recherches. Elle est restée au moins un quart d'heure avec chaque patient. Pour eux, c'était comme une bouffée d'oxygène. Il y avait notamment un malade hospitalisé depuis six mois. Ca lui a fait un bien fou d'avoir la visite de Mathilde".

Flashback: Cyclocœur

23 September 2001

Crown Prince Philippe & pregnant Princess Mathilde were in Marche-les-Dames to meet the cyclists of Cyclocœur, a cycle club for visually impaired persons who can enjoy tandem bike rides accompanied by a sighted co-rider. 

Mathilde was nearing the end of her first pregnancy. About a month later Elisabeth was born. Nobody knew yet the first child, and eventual heir to the throne, would be a girl - only the parents were aware! 

Mathilde & Eléonore watch Cassandra

21 September 2023

Queen Mathilde was at La Monnaie in Brussels to watch the opera "Cassandra".

It is the first opera written by Bernard Foccroulle and talks about climate action, the warnings about climate change being ignored and disbelieved - just like Cassandra's predictions.

There was a surprise: Mathilde had brought along her youngest daughter, Princess Eléonore (15) who seems to be as big a (classical) music lover as her mother. 

Eléonore was wearing a top by Belgian brand Indee.

Flashback: Autumn Family Pictures

Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde and their daughter Elisabeth in 2002.

UNGA78

From 17 to 19 September 2023 Queen Mathilde was at the UN in New York to take part in the SDG Summit, a part of UNGA78.

Half of the "Agenda 2030" goals, that Mathilde has been invested in from the start, when they were launched, have been accomplished. 

The Queen wished to stress the absolute urgency of the implementation of these goals. She also wanted to underline causes such as women's and children's rights, mental health and the fate of refugees. 

17 September 2023

Arrival at the UN, and meeting with Caroline Gennez, Federal Minister for Development Cooperation.

🇧🇪🇺🇳 HM the Queen has arrived at the UN Headquarters in NY.

🗣️ As Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals @SDGoals she will be participating in the #SDG summit and in #UNGA78 side events about children’s rights, mental health, decent work, among other important topics. pic.twitter.com/jAsrR3JxnJ

— Belgium UN New York (@BelgiumUN) September 17, 2023

With Forest Whitaker

With Dubravka Suica, Vice President of the EU Commission in charge of Democracy and Demography.

In the evening, Mathilde took part in a UNICEF meeting, where she also encountered Queen Rania of Jordan and Jill Biden.

video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1703663644741873942

Mathilde addressed the audience, stressing the need to make progress in implementing the SDGs for the most vulnerable children.

18 September 2023

The Queen, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib, Minister for Economy & Work Pierre-Yves Dermagne and Minister for Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez attended the opening session of the UN's Summit of Sustainable Development Goals.

Goal of the summit is to take stock of the of the implementation of the 17 SDGs and determine the way forward for the next 7 years.

Mathilde with Queen Rania of Jordan and Princess Mabel of the Netherlands.

Afterwards Mathilde met with young participants of the General Assembly, like Mayada Adil, a Sudanese women's rights activist who campaigns against female genital mutilation in Sudan and Mali, and young Belgian delegates at the Assembly.

Queen Mathilde spoke about her field visit to Bangladesh last February, where she witnessed efforts to improve the working conditions in the textile industry.

She also attended a lunch of the UN's Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, dedicated to female leadership: “Women Rise for All”.

Meeting with the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN, Queen Mathilde expressed her heartfelt condolences and solidarity following the earthquake hit the Region of Elhouz.

As Honorary President of the King Baudouin Foundation, the Queen also attended a working dinner of the Foundation's American branch with US-based philanthropic organisations. Among the guests was Belgian born fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg.

19 September 2023

The last day of the Queen in New York began with the opening of the general debate of the 78th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

With Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg.

With the chair of the Euro Parliament, Roberta Metsola and with Austrian President Van der Bellen and his wife, Doris Schmidauer. Last time they saw each other was last week in Brussels!

Working lunch on refugee women and girls, with several senior UN officials such as UNHCR Refugees Chief Filippo Grandi.

Mathilde spoke at the "Mental Health for all" meeting, a joint event of Belgium, Bhutan, Unicef and the WHO on mental health. “It is imperative that we create a society that recognizes the importance of mental well-being just as much as physical health”, she said in her speech.