New Diplomats + Push

14 March 2019

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde met with the latest promotion of diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In May they will join a Belgian embassy or consulate general abroad.

In the evening, Queen Mathilde attended the opera "Push" at La Monnaie in Brussels, in the company of Simon Gronowski.

"Push" is a community project based on the life of Simon Gronowski, who as a young Jewish boy escaped from a nazi death transport in April 1943. Mr Gronowski was 11 years old when his mother pushed him off a train bound for the nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, while the train was briefly halted by Belgian resistance fighters.

Mr Gronowski's mother & sister were killed in Auschwitz, his father died of a broken heart in 1945.

The Queen has met Mr Gronowski before, during a visit to the Dossin Memorial in Mechelen in 2018, as you can see here.

International Women's Day 2019

12 March 2019

For International Women's Day, queen Mathilde met various talented women from the province of Liège, at the Palais Provincial of Liège. The guests are active in fields as varied as agriculture, management, arts, design, the prevention of domestic violence and sports.

Among the invited ladies was olympic athlete Nafi Thiam.

They talked about gender equality and female opportunities and challenges, both in Belgium and the world.

Ladies Lunch at Laeken + Breast Cancer Conference

12 March 2019

After a week of holidays, queen Mathilde was back at work.

At noon, the king & queen received a number of female guests for lunch at Laeken castle in honour of International Women's Day.

Their guests were:

- Jennifer Beauloye, founding member of BeMuseum.
- major general in the airforce, Lutgardis Claes.
- Imke Courtois, former professional football player.
- Photographer Bieke Depoorter.
- Adeline Dieudonné, playwright and author.
- Prof. Firouzeh Nahavandi, Director of the Centre for Studies on International Development (ULB).
- Trees Paelinck of Fairtrade Belgium en General Manager of Women on Board.
- Laurence Rase, Director of the Flemish Taekwondo Federation.
- Anne-Catherine Trinon, CEO of Altavia-ACT.
- Prof. Karine Van Doninck, Biologist & researcher at UNamur.
- Birgit Van Hout, European Representative at the Office of the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York.
- Annick Van Overstraeten, CEO of Lunch Garden Group.

In the afternoon queen Mathilde attended a conference on the medical treatment of patients with breast cancer. The conference was organized at Flagey by the Jules Bordet Institute.

Mathilde is the honorary chairwoman of BIG - Breast International Group.

Flashback: Ladies' Working Lunch

7 October 2014

Queen Mathilde joined a local delegation of all female business network Markant for lunch at restaurant Figaro in Hasselt.

Flashback: RITCS

5 March 2009

Princess Mathilde visited audiovisual media & producing school RITCS (Royal Insititute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound) in Molenbeek, Brussels.

Springtime Concert 2019

28 February 2019

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde have started a new annual tradition of spring concerts.

Young academics and scientists were invited to a concert by Bel Ayre and soprano Lieselot De Wilde, as a way to honour their valuable work for tomorrow's society.

Princess Astrid & Prince Lorenz were also present.