Peter Piot

24 September 2020

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde hosted a lunch for Peter Piot at the castle of Laeken.

Mr Piot is a Belgian virologist and the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Centrum voor Evaluatie van Vaccinaties

 23 September 2020

Queen Mathilde visited the Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccines in Antwerp. 

She talked to the researchers & volunteers at the vaccine trial unit and she was informed about the current state of affairs regarding COVID-19 and a possible vaccine against the disease.

Für Jan Van Eyck

22 September 2020

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde attended the world premiere of the concert "Für Jan Van Eyck", a new composition for choir and organ written by Arvo Pärth and performed by Collegium Vocale at the Sint-Baafs Cathedral in Ghent.

Private: A Lodger at Laeken

Prince Léopold de Nassau, the 20 year old son of Prince Guillaume & Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg is currently studying in Brussels, and living with his "aunt" Mathilde and "uncle" Philippe at the castle of Laeken.

On 20 September 2020 he joined the family for a bike ride & museum visit.

Léopold has a twin sister, Charlotte, an older brother, Paul-Louis and younger brother, Jean. His father, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg is a younger brother of the current Grand Duke Henri. Guillaume works as director of ArcelorMittal. 

Léopold & twin sister Charlotte at a mass in memory of the late king Baudouin, 2018.

King Philippe and his cousin Guillaume have always been on very good terms. This didn't change once they got married and became fathers. Their families have often spent holidays together. 

2011: holidaying together in Spain

2014: holidaying together in India.

Car Free Sunday 2020 + SDG Video Conference

20 September 2020

King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, Prince Gabriel (17), Prince Emmanuel (15) and Princess Eléonore (12) took to their bikes on Car Free Sunday in Brussels. They were accompanied by Prince Leopold de Nassau (20).

They cycled to the House of European History, to make a visit as it was also Journée du Patrimoine.

A nice detail: the royals, minus Gabriel & Léopold, were wearing face masks inspired by Magritte!

Crown Princess Elisabeth (18) couldn't participate as she's taking part in a 4 week military training at Camp Elsenborn. She's spending this school year studying social & military sciences at the Royal Military Academy.

 
After she got home from her bike ride, Mathilde changed into another outfit to have a video conference with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and her fellow SDG advocates. They talked about the role of the UN, the implementation of the SDGs and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.