On December 14, 2011, King Albert II and Queen Paola attended Christmas concert, followed by a reception, held at the Palais de Bruxelles (Palace of Brussels). Also in attendance were Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz. The concert is provided by the orchestra “deFilharmonie” and with soloists from the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe.
To view photos please click the links below:
Source: La Monarchie Belge
Photo courtesy of: Daylife/Reuters
On December 8,, 2011, Her Majesty Queen Paola of Belgium attended a Christmas concert for the Queen Paola Foundation (QPF) held at the Hotel Plaza in Brussels. Those who performed during this annual concert included soprano, Haeran Hong and tenor, Thomas Blondelle. They were accompanied by Philippe Riga on the piano. The Christmas concert is an opportunity for the Queen Paola Foundation to bring together those who help the QPF with the projects the Queen Paola Foundation supports.
Meanwhile, His Majesty King Albert II of Belgium hosted a reception to mark the tenth anniversary of the “Laeken Declaration on the Future of the European Union,” held at the Château de Laeken. To view photos please click here.
Source: La Monarchie Belge
On October 4, 2011, at Château de Laeken His Majesty King Albert II of Belgium had an audience with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. After the meeting there was a nice luncheon at the château in honor of President Rousseff’s visit. Also in attendance was Her Majesty Queen Paola, T.R.H.s Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde, T.R.H.s Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, and Queen Fabiola.
Later that afternoon members of the Belgian royal family along with President Rousseff attended the opening of the Europalia Brazil Festival and exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. In case you were wondering why Prince Laurent, aka Peter Griffin, did not grace his lovely presence at the luncheon or at the festival, well, he wasn’t invited. Why? He’s still banned from the palace.
To view photos please click the links below:
Photo courtesy of: Daylife/B. Doppange/AFP
There were some speculations as to whether or not Their Majesties King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium would attend the princely wedding in Monaco on July 1 and 2, 2011.
Well, it has been confirmed. According Monaco-Matin, via the Palais Princier de Monaco, the king and queen will attend along with H.R.H. Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium, T.R.H.s Prince Laurent and Princess Claire, and H.R.H. Princess Astrid.
To view the updated royal guest-list please click here and scroll down.
Also, to watch a video about the wedding preparations please click the here. Push the “play” button and roughly a minute and a half into the program the information about the wedding will begin. If you are having trouble viewing the program, all I can say is sorry. 🙂 Finally, the link will most likely air the princely wedding on July 1 and 2 so you might want to bookmark it if you live outside of France and Monaco.
Source: Monaco Matin
On May 17, 2011, Their Majesties King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium visited the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) in Antwerp, Belgium.
The MAS museum was designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects and completed in mid-2010. According to the official website for the museum, MAS.be, the structure of the building:
…immediately catches your eye. Antwerp’s latest tower reminds us of the 16th-Century storehouses typical of the city of Antwerp and its port. The MAS is designed as a giant storehouse with stacked containers or “boxes”. These museum boxes are stacked in such a way that they create a spiral tower. As you ascend, you get a constantly changing view of the city. A breathtaking 360° panorama awaits you on the roof.
Since its initial completion it took sometime to move the permanent collections into the museum which officially opened today thus the reason Their Majesties visit. The museum houses, “… ethnological, maritime, ethnic and art historic collections…”
To learn more about the Museum aan de Stroom please visit their site here. To view photos of His Majesty King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium at the MAS this afternoon please click the link here.
Source: MAS.be Photo courtesy of: Nieuwsblad.be by Belga
According to the Belgian online newspaper, Knack.be, T.M.s King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium will attend the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on May 1, 2011. Also, T.R.H.s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias will attend on behalf of the Spanish royal family, according to the newspaper, Rome Reports.
It is unknown at this time if other members of various royal and princely houses will attend, such as Luxembourg and Monaco, but I have a feeling the latter two houses will confirm in the next few days so stay tuned.
To view a video report regarding the royal attendance please click the link: Video
For more information about the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II please click the links here and here.
Source: Rome Repors and Knack.be