The Exiled Belgian Royalist

The Spirit of 14

2012-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

In the difficult times of today, with everyone grumbling about austerity measures and having to cut back, some being tempted, as usual, to blame one side or the other based on prejudice, think about the generations before that have had to face much, much worse challenges and did that with great stoic courage and patriotism. Belgium should have a new national campaign to revive the "Spirit of 1914" to be inspired by the heroism and sacrifice of those people who faced the first great invasion of the country with determination, unity, patriotism and loyalty for the King and the country and each other. Everyone remember the "Spirit of 14"!

King Albert I at the Front Lines

2012-01-23T09:30:00.001-08:00

The King greets and the Queen treats wounded soldiers back from the attack

The King gets information at the front on the withdrawal to the Yser

King Albert defending Antwerp (I think)

They shall not pass!

The King directing the troops against the enemy.

It is true, the role of the King was slightly glorified in order to inspire the army to resist and encourage the people not to lose hope in the most darkest hour of the national history. But also is true that no other monarch of the Great War was, from 1914 to 1918, so close so constantly to his army and none more shared their stress and discomfort. Albert I was the King who saved Belgium!

Murder of Congolese Leader

2012-01-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

It was on January 17, 1961 that Congolese independence advocate and former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was murdered. Since that time Belgium and the United States have been widely blamed for the death of the Congolese leader. The Belgian government even did a full investigation to please the Congo authorities and in 2002 apologized for 'moral responsibility' in not doing more to prevent the murder of Lumumba even though they found definitively that Belgium never ordered such an assassination. I don't know that the United States ever admitted to any role by the CIA in the events. But Lumumba, being killed so early on, has become like a god in the Congo even though his record was not one of success and he purposely put his country on a first step of needless antagonism between Congo and Belgium. He had pushed for independence for a long time, blaming all problems in the Congo on the presence of the Belgians, in his present time and in history. He was a former beer salesman and postal worker who was once put in jail for stealing money from the postal service. But, because of his agitation for independence he became a popular figure in the Congo over time.

When independence came this should have been the happy moment of victory for Patrice Lumumba but he could not let go of his past hatreds and turned the independence ceremony into an ugly scene. There had already been some unpleasantness but at the ceremony King Baudouin gave a speech trying to put the best light on everything. He advised the Congolese leaders not to do anything too radical, assured them that Belgium was ready to help them in any way possible if they needed it and wishing them the best. Lumumba, the new Prime Minister, then took the stage and began railing against the Belgians, even digging up the memory of King Leopold II, insulting Belgium with the most wicked accusations. Everyone today (not just in Africa) thinks this was some sort of brave and heroic speech but at the time few people thought so and instead said that it simply displayed the undiplomatic and unprofessional nature of the new native government, was needless antagonistic and only ensured that the olive branch offered by King Baudouin was slapped away in favor of a continued hostile attitude. The King was so upset at this public humiliation that he almost left the country immediately but his sense of duty prevented him.

Because he was assassinated later Lumumba is portrayed as a great leader now. But at the time, his government of the Congo was a series of bad decisions. He gave everyone a raise in pay except for the army which caused an outbreak of mutiny with soldiers running wild all over the country, killing looting and causing every kind of disorder. Belgians and all other Europeans were targeted for attacks, because of the breakdown in law and because of the hostile racial attitude Lumumba encouraged at the time of independence and so all Europeans fled the country which caused a big crisis for the economy. The mineral-rich province of Katanga wanted no part of all this and declared independence and the United Nations intervened to prevent the death of innocent peoples in the area. Lumumba wanted to crush the rebels and made friends with the Soviet Union to obtain the weapons he needed to do this. Because of his hostile attitude to the western powers none of them were going to help him wage war on his people but the Soviets were always eager to help insurgent, anti-colonial movements because they usually could use this to take control for the communists after it was over.

The President in the end dismissed Lumumba because of this crisis, but Lumumba would not give up power and declared the President removed from office. Their two factions began fighting for power and this gave the opportunity for Colonel Joseph Mobutu to step in, suppress both of them and eventually take power for himself. Lumumba tried to set up his own government and arm his own private army but Mobutu captured him and arrested him. The United Nations was split over the issue with the Communist powers supporting Lumumba and the anti-communist powers opposing any return to power for him. In the end he was taken by the Katanga authorities and executed by firing squad. Things did not get better afterwards but as the man in charge of the government, Lumumba was responsible for how bad things were. He took them to that point and it is unjust to blame others for the terrible state of affairs he presided over. Peace and friendship and an orderly consolidation of the new independent government could have led to a much better future for the Congo but it was Lumumba who first rejected that attitude and chose hostility and force instead. I cannot regard him as a great leader for anyone.

Belgian Princess Marries Italian Prince

2012-01-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

Still I am on holiday from my classes (I get a break from my exile) and am enjoying being again at home to see friends and family. Not much time to be on the computer, when I am back in the States probably I will have more time with nothing to do but blogging. Today, though I noticed (a little off in my timing maybe) the anniversary of the wedding of Princess Marie-Jose and Crown Prince Umberto of Italy on January 8, 1930. I love the old photos from that occasion, and there were many of them (and postcards and souvenir items) because they were such a beautiful couple. It was an arranged marriage though, from early on because Italy and Belgium were on the Allied side in the Great War and after that conflict not many Catholic monarchies were left to have marriages with. So, in the end, they did not have a very happy marriage but did the job of having heirs for the Italian throne and the couple were never divorced but they lived apart after the end of World War II and the loss of the monarchy in Italy so clearly they were putting their duty first and only went their own ways after there was no kingdom to serve anymore, staying married in case the Italians ever came to their senses and put back the original system. Princess Marie-Jose, later the Queen Marie-Jose, was an awesome woman and this shows how dutiful she was to her obligations for her adopted country of Italy. And she was always a good mother too. I wish their lives together could have been happier but there was at least no animosity between them and no bitterness. Both I think were good people.

Kerst Toespraak 2011 Koning Albert van Belgie 24 25 december

2011-12-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

Tragedy in Liège

2011-12-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Today at lunch time has been a terrible tragedy in the historic city of Liege when a murderous attack killed four people and injured 75 (so far, numbers may change) in the middle of the city. The first target seems to have been a bus shelter at Place Saint-Lambert. There are conflicting reports about who is guilty for this. Witnesses said there were a group of attackers, shooting guns and throwing bombs, officials though say there was only one, Nordine Amrani (32) who carried out the killings and then did suicide to himself. Emergency stations were set up, people were advised to stay off the streets and emergency assistance was sent from Namur and Maastricht. It is a terrible, terrrible day and the pictures released even by the media are shocking of the horror and bloodshed. Who could do such a terrible thing? I don't know who is Nordine Amrani. The police say he was sentenced to 58 months in prison in 2008 after an inspection of his home found stocks of illegal weapons and 2,800 cannabis plants. From just the name, Amrani, I would guess he was a Moroccan but I cannot know that for sure yet. After what has happened in so many cities all across Europe and what happened in Norway, the first thing that entered my mind was this was either a deranged Muslim or a deranged Belgian angry at the Muslims all over the country. Every act of mass violence seems to be one of those two nowadays. Just recently the news said that in my beloved Antwerp a Kalashnikov (AK-47) was found in the home of a young Belgian convert to Islam who is a member of the radical group Sharia4Belgium. And in Mons a Muslim father was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for the "Honor Killing" of his own daughter, Sadia Sheikh. A brother who was the one who actually shot the poor girl was sentenced to 15 years in gaol and a sister was given five years. She was 20 years old and what was her "crime"? She wanted to marry her Belgian boyfriend instead of the Pakistani chosen by her parents. What is the country coming to? Never before have such things happened. Even my parents who are the most peaceful, moderate (and really boring!) people you can think of, are becoming alarmed by all of this that seems to be increasing every day. But what can you do? Today all I can do is say a prayer for the poor people in Liege and their families who have been robbed of their loved ones by this maniac.

The King and Queen late tonight visited the scene of the disaster, meeting with local officials, survivors and families of the victims. The feeling of horror could be seen on their faces all day.

The Holy Sepulchre Ordre

2011-12-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I saw the coverage that Vatican Cardinal John Patrick Foley (American) passed away just yesterday. The Cardinal was President of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications and, I am told, for many years provided the English language commentary for the papal Midnight Mass on Christmas every year. He was also the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. This order is, I think, not usually considered one of the "papal honors" but it is under the protection of the Popes and has a significant connection to the Kingdom of Belgium. It traces its history back to the Belgian leader of the First Crusade, Godfrey de Bouillon who was the first "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre".

On October 19, 1955 King Albert II and Queen Paola were both given membership in the order. The King is "Knight of the Collar" and the Queen is "Dame of the Collar". It is the only Vatican order of which the Queen is a member. The King also is "Bailiff and Knight Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion" of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Prince Philippe is also a "Knight Grand Cross" of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, he was given that honor also in 1995. He is also a "Knight of Honor and Devotion" of the Order of Malta as well. Prince Laurent is not a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre but he is a "Knight of Honor and Devotion" of the Knights of Malta since 1998 (so take that everyone who thinks he is a bad person!). I don't think I have ever heard of Cardinal Foley before but he sounds like he was a very good, devout priest from what I have read about him since his passing away, defending even those positions of the Church which have become unpopular to many people today. The new Grand Master of the Holy Sepulchre Order is another American, Cardinal Edwin Frederick O'Brien, and I hope he has great success in that post. If any of you reading want to be a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre also, all I can say is to make some important friends. Membership is given only by invitation of local bishops with endorsement by active members.

Princess Claire Defends Her Man

2011-12-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

To start at the beginning, some days or weeks ago was made a sensationalist report in the media against Prince Laurent in a show on RTBF. I did not care to mention it at the time because it seemed too absurd and everyone is always trying to say something negative about Prince Laurent and it seemed to me this was just trying to purposely be the most outrageous to get more attention in the media. The accusation was that Prince Laurent is some brutal maniac who is terrible to everyone around him and even abusive to his family. Just when he was starting to show up at family events again, like the King and Queen were starting to forgive him for being such a loose cannon something like this of course happens. I never believed such a thing at all, no matter what the television says. Prince Laurent has never seemed to me to be a malicious or brutal person at all, only someone who seems to lack good judgment sometimes and wants to do things his own way. He also does not realize that for a Prince, anything at all you say in public, 'can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion'. That is a long way apart from being a harsh, unfeeling brute.

As not unusual, the Prince tried to ignore these terrible accusations and go on with his life but the media will not let it go. A story like this, with Prince Laurent, is like catnip for them. So, a few days ago the Prince is opening in Brussels a new homeless shelter for homeless people with pets (he often does charity causes for pets). When he was speaking to the press about this occasion (or rather he wanted to be talking about this occasion) all they wanted to do was hurl questions at him about the show on TV saying what a terrible person he was. That was when Princess Claire could stand by silently no more. She stepped forward and ended the press conference right there, saying that would be the end of it, that what was said about her husband was totally untrue and very hurtful to her and their children. Not only these accusations but all the other stories that are passed around like gossip that always portray Prince Laurent in a negative light. Bravo Princess Claire! Here is a strong woman who will defend her husband.

I am proud of Princesse Claire for doing this. It must be very hard on her and the three children to have their husband and father so often picked on in the media, a very popular pasttime lately it seems. And I just cannot believe those stories. Prince Laurent does not and never has seemed that type of personality to me, I don't think Princess Claire would still be married to him if he was and I think about the King and Queen. Would they let their grandchildren stay in a home if the Prince was in any way abusive? The King has shown he will take firm measures when the Prince acts in an undisciplined way and Queen Paola --what fiery Italian grandmother would let that situation continue? I cannot believe it and I always thought it was too outrageous to be true. That makes it very unfortunate for Prince Laurent and his family but I am glad he has a strong and loyal wife like Princess Claire to get him through these difficult times. She is really great!

The King and the New Government

2011-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, in the presence of the King at Laeken Palace the new government was sworn in. So it is finally over. The bad jokes can stop, politicians wives can stop withholding sex from their husbands, patriotic men can shave their beards off and everyone be glad that the country will not be falling apart right now, at least not because of the deadlock of the parties. One thing that prompted an agreement to finally be made was the inability of the caretaker government to deal with the worsening economic crisis, not just across the European Union but Belgium itself also when agencies downgraded Belgian credit rating from AA+ to AA, which will make borrowing money more expensive (not that I understand economics at all). So, after all this time, even the parties began to realize that if Belgium did not have some kind of government, if even it was not ideal, the two halves of the country would be ruined together. So, finally an agreement was made and the King asked Elio Di Rupo to take the position of Prime Minister. It is one of the smallest governments Belgium ever had with only 13 ministers and 6 secretaries of state. In this case, at this time, maybe smaller is better anyway.

Not everyone of course is happy. That is not going to be surprising but what might be is just what some people are complaining about. One headline said of the new cabinet, “Too few women and too West Flemish”. Is this for a joke? Over five hundred days of deadlock and no government and some people are complaining because only 6 of the 19 are women and 6 of the Flemings are all from West Flanders. Too little diversity? But surely having Elio Di Rupo for Prime Minister should count for a number of different minorities. Limburg has no representative, Antwerp only 3 (hey!) and, for the first Francophone prime minister in decades there is worry for the ability of Elio Di Rupo to speak Dutch (he does not do it very well). The feminists are upset, many Flemings are upset (which should have been expected under the circumstances, by both groups) and one feminist Fleming said there is “no excuse” for this outrage! My apologies for not having all groups represented ideally but really, it was 541 days without any government at all! Obviously not everyone will have everything they want and when this much time has passed by and the situation becomes more and more serious the choices will clearly be worse and worse. This mentality itself is for me what is upsetting. It is no wonder the country seems always on the brink of collapse when everyone is keeping a chart to see if “their” side, group, language, gender, region and everything else is always represented no less than every other one with their own charts.

With everyone talking about the deal that was made, who gets this or that and how many “firsts” this represents for Elio Di Rupo being Prime Minister, the one person the media overlooks in all this is the most important, THE KING! It was all along the King who was the only person involved in the process with no ulterior motives or agenda, no special interest for anything before the nation entire and there was no one like the King who put everything else aside to find an agreement that would be in the best interests of the country. In 2007, 2010 and this year the King had to call off his vacation time because of the crisis and we know how many times he has had to pick new mediators, persuade mediators to stay on and acted himself as a broker between the leading politicians. Before anyone applauds too highly Monsieur Di Rupo, remember the times he was wanting to give up on the process but the King recalled him and persuaded him to stay on and see things through until an agreement was at last reached. While foreign politicians mock Belgium for this impasse and while the media makes a big joke of the inability of the parties to work together it has all the time been the King who has done his duty, ignoring all else, refusing to participate in any festivities so long as the work of the state was left undone because of the deadlock.

Think back to how many mediators resigned over these difficulties. Can I remember them all? Not at all, Bart De Wever, as a courtesy, made the first effort but no one was having anything to do with him. Elio Di Rupo then came in, tried and failed. Danny Pieters and Andre Flahaut took their turn, I remember Johan Vande Lanotte who quit after three months of negotiations (who tried to resign earlier but the King refused him). He was followed by Didier Reynders (who I cannot help find funny, something about him makes me always laugh) then there was Wouter Beke of the Christian Democratic and Flemish Party, also ending in frustration and finally Elio Di Rupo again who has finally emerged as the Prime Minister. Throughout all of these people who tried, grew frustrated and failed in these hundreds of days, the one permanent, reliable and sincere figure who never gave up and who always had only the best interests of his country at heart was King Albert II. He should be given credit for all of his efforts, he is the real hero in this ugly display of partisanship and it is the King who everyone should applaud and be proud of. Vive le Roi! Leve de Koning!

Birthday of Princess Lea

2011-12-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, December 2, was the birthday of Princess Lea, wife (now widow) of Prince Alexandre and sister-in-law of the King. Even though I am late to mention this I wanted to because she is from that part of the family that seems to get very little attention or consideration. Surely they are grateful to be spared the sort of attention the others are given but it bothers me that so many act as though they 'don't count'. Princess Lea would agree with me I think since she said that was a reason for publishing a photograph book on her husband and the family. I realize naturally there were problems. She had been married twice (I think) before and Prince Alexandre married her without the approval or knowledge of the King and their union was only known in 1998. Even so, she seems like a nice lady and I don't wish anyone unpleasantness. They had no children so all the worry about titles and succession seemed a little silly to me, just take them all as they are I say and I hope there are still friendly relations with Princess Lea and all the rest of the family. Happy late birthday wishes to her.

Belgian Maneuvers 1939

2011-11-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me, reading from a book they just had been given, about the Belgian maneuvers of 1939 and asked how this was not a betrayal of France just at the critical point when World War II is about to begin. This is completely untrue though and I do not understand how anyone could think such a thing. This is the context: Belgium had always been neutral since independence until Germany invaded in 1914. After that, Belgium was allied to France because both countries were of course worried about the Germans, seeing that they would have no hesitation to invade and threaten both countries (or especially to invade France and Belgium would be a useful corridor). So there was an alliance until 1939 when on September 3, after the invasion of Poland, King Leopold III declared neutrality again. The Belgian army was at that time called out and put through some exercises as a show of force, not particularly for Germany, but for France so that they would know that if they tried to violate Belgian territory to attack Germany they would have a difficult fight and Belgium would resist them just as they had strongly resisted the Germans in 1914. This was not a betrayal, this was a realistic view of the on-the-ground situation.

Consider for a moment that prior to this time Germany had gone back on one provision after another of the Versailles Treaty and France and Britain had done nothing. Britain even signed a naval treaty with Germany. Italy had been opposed to Germany at first but left the Allies to join the Germans when Britain or France would not stand beside Italy in stopping the takeover of Austria and then later scolded Italy for occupying Abyssinia. After the Rhineland and Czech occupations and the union with Austria the French had done nothing. This was a concern to Belgium as was the French war plans which many thought left Belgium on its own. Then when Germany invaded Poland the British and then French declared war on Germany. What was Belgium supposed to do? They could do nothing about Poland, even Britain and France could do nothing to save Poland but they had declared war anyway. The Germans had made no aggressive moves against the Low Countries, Britain or France at that time. But the British and French had declared war on Germany so Belgium was suddenly faced with the possibility of France doing the same thing the Kaiser had done in 1914, attacking Germany and marching through Belgium maybe as an easier way to go.

The Allies had, honestly, done a poor job of diplomacy and foreign relations prior to World War II. They had given in to Hitler time after time and then, finally, declared war on Germany on behalf of a country neither of them could defend and which was being occupied by the Soviets also. It was perfectly understandable for King Leopold III to again declare Belgian neutrality and hope that, unlike before, the country could be kept out of the conflict. Later the King joined with Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands to call for all the countries to get together and make peace. Today this seems ridiculous because Hitler was a lunatic who wanted to take over the world, but try to remember what the people knew then, not what we know now. All Hitler had done then was to invade Poland and the Soviets had joined in. France and Britain had declared war on him, even though he had not threatened their countries, but they had not declared war on the Soviets for taking part of Poland or for taking over the Baltic republics. All that had really happened by then was that Poland had been partitioned, which was unfortunate for the Poles, but not something new, they had been partitioned between Germany and Russia for years. So, it seemed not unreasonable to many at the time that the two sides could talk through their differences and make peace without another world war.

That did not happen, but it is not the fault of the King that he could not look into the future. He was only trying to do what was best for his country in the situation he was in. When the war came Belgium was as strong an ally as she had been before and fought as hard as possible for 18 days against the crushing Nazi blitzkrieg, in doing so saving the lives of many French and British troops. That is what should be remembered, the free countries fighting as allies against invaders and do not waste time on accusations that are pointless and only efforts to stir up bad feelings between people and nations. There is already enough of that.

Famous Belgians

2011-11-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

One of the youngest famous Belgians has today his birthday, 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner Thor Salden.

Nova Belgica

2011-11-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Just a few years after the Pilgrim Fathers of Massachusetts founded their colony on Plymouth Rock, the Dutch Republic was establishing the colony of New Netherland, the original territorial claims of which reached from what is now about Delaware up to southern Massachusetts (obviously there were competing colonial claims that would only be ended by the settlement, holding and development of an area). This was during the "Golden Age" of the Netherlands and we can only imagine how history would have been different if the Dutch colonial effort had not been taken over later by the English and re-named New York. But regardless of that, after studying in America I know that not many people are aware that New York and the surrounding area was once New Netherland and naturally no one knows (unless you read it here since I think I mentioned it early on from starting this blog) that many Belgians were involved in this and, in fact, because many still did not consider the status of the independent Netherlands and the Austrian Netherlands "settled" the names where interchangeable and New Netherland was called on some maps "Nova Belgica" or "New Belgium".

New Netherland was the product of the Dutch West India Company that wanted to find a western passage to Asia and later to establish a commercial trading colony on the North America continent. The Dutch West India Company included many people what would today be Belgians. Many of the founders or investors were Flemish Protestants who left Belgium (then belonging to the Catholic Roman Emperor) to go to the Dutch Republic and they helped in establishing the Dutch West India Company which organized the voyages of discovery and colonization to North America. Many people have heard the story about how the GWC agent Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan island from the natives for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. Some think he was Dutch, others think he was German, because he was born in Germany, but Peter Minuit was actually a Belgian and not Flemish but Walloon, his family being from Tournai. They were Protestants though and left Belgium to go to Germany because the Protestants were in power there. It is also not true, I have learned, that he cheated the natives out of Manhattan. He was actually the one cheated because the natives he first bought the island from were not really from there and had no right to sell it and later, when Peter Minuit found this out, he had to buy the island again from the correct owners -so he bought Manhattan twice!

This map has both names "Nova Belgica" and "New Netherland"

In 1664 the New Netherland colony was first taken by the English (the Dutch did not make an effort to protect the colony since it was supposed to be a place of total liberty) but later the powerful Dutch navy defeated the English and restored the colony to Dutch rule in 1673, however, only the next year the Netherlands was attacked by France, England and parts of Germany, exhausted her resources and had to give up the colony to England again who re-named it New York.

Our Queen Elisabeth

2011-11-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

My friend, The Mad Monarchist, writes about Queen Elisabeth, our heroine of the Great War

10 ans de la princesse Elisabeth de Belgique

2011-11-19T14:49:00.001-08:00

Royal Nose in the News

2011-11-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

King Albert II made a short visit to the hospital to have surgery on his nose to treat basal cell carcinoma today. Official Belgian monarchie website says it was not serious and the surgery was successful and the King has been able to go home. I hope he feels better!

La Fête du Roi 2011

2011-11-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

Happy King's Day!!!

Belgian Royals Remember Armistice 1918

2011-11-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

Unity - Please

2011-11-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

This was kindly made at my request by my friend The Mad Monarchist (click picture for larger view)

Prince Philippe in China

2011-11-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Belgian Crown Prince and Princess recently were in the People's Republic of China. It was for the usual reason, foreign affairs, Sino-Belgian trade, investment in Flanders and the usual things like we have seen before, business and trade missions being led by Prince Philippe are not very unusual. Only lately though it seems to me a little concerning the growing influence of China. With countries in Europe on the edge of being bankrupt, Greece already, today Italy is on the news for being in big trouble and everyone worries about Spain and Portugal and maybe others and European Union goes to China to ask for the money to bail out these countries. Think about how the world has changed. Many of these countries, like Italy and Portugal, even Belgium and numerous others, once had their own concessions in China and now it is China that is being called upon to rescue the nations of Europe from their own poor economic choices. This causes me just a little bit of worry. Am I alone? I don't really remember the Tiananmen Square incident but I have seen video of it Has anyone forgotten this is the same government responsible for that? Also why did it used to be called everywhere the "Tiananmen Square Massacre" but now is called the "Tiananmen Square Protest"?

The Chinese government may not be really communist anymore but they still revere the memory of Chairman Mao who killed millions of people. He is just not a significant figure in their history but he is the founder of their whole modern country and government. Also I have heard other economics expert people say that the seeming wealth of the Chinese today is all an illusion, that the interior of the country is just as impoverished as ever, if not worse and that the true state of the economy cannot be known because the government controls all the media and all the financial reports and also we know they manipulate their currency and use criminals as a source of slave labor in labor camps. These are not secrets but it seems not many people want to talk about it. Anyway, I must confess to being a little nervous about Europe becoming more and more indebted to China, a country where they still have no real freedoms at all.

Belgian Royals Run in New York

2011-11-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Princess Astrid of the Belgians, Prince Lorenz and Prince Amedeo have completed the New York Marathon on Sunday. Princess Astrid did pretty good, finishing the 42.195 km course through the streets of the Big Apple in 5 hours 52 minutes and 38 seconds. Not bad for a woman 49-years young! She was listed on the roll of runners as “Astrid, princess de Belgique” (which of course some language - snobs have to point out like is a problem, so tiresome). She trained for the recent months to prepare for this and her time is in the 'normal' range for completion of the marathon by most runners. There is, though, no time limit for the New York Marathon so even if you are slow, you can still run it with enough determination. Of course, being the most fit and young, Prince Amedeo crossed the finish line first (before his parents, not first over every one of course) which we should expect for him being 25 and having endured military training. He finished with a time of 3:39. Prince Lorenz was not so fast as his son but came in a considerable time ahead of his wife when he completed the course in 4 hours and 23 minutes. Congratulations to all of them for their achievement!

Riots Rock Antwerp, Asylum Seekers Pile Up

2011-11-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

This problem really is getting out of control. Only recently there have been many stories about the centers to house those seeking asylum in Belgium are over-filled to bursting with over 2,600 more people coming in just in the month of October. And the government is trying to deal with this problem while the national debt is growing larger and the EU-economic crisis becomes more extreme every day. And, at the same time, while more and more people flood Belgian shores, there is rioting in Antwerp between rival immigrant groups; Kurds and Turks, that the authorities have to deal with. The big riot on Saturday in Antwerp was the third such disturbance in only one week. Bus shelters were torn apart, store windows were smashed, cars were vandalized, at least one person was stabbed and many have been taken to hospital. Each side blames the other for responsibility for the violence. Surely anyone can see that this problem is not going to disappear, take care of itself or become better instead of becoming worse. There are Muslim groups now taking to court the government for discrimination (the burqa ban) and rioting in the streets, yet each month thousands more arrive wanting asylum in Belgium. This cannot be a good idea, especially for a small country where, as we see painfully today, even the native population has some problems getting along with each other. Nothing will be done it seems like, at the moment nothing can be done I guess because of the political deadlock but I am afraid these riots and things will only get worse as we have more people coming in and now bringing their own ethnic feuds with them.

Hommages des Volontaires de Bruxelles 1830 au cimetière de Bruxelles

2011-11-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Some great photos here.

The Provisional Government

2011-11-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

At this time in history, in 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, power was held by the Provisional Government led by Charles Rogier, chairman of the committee, which had declared the independence of the provinces of Belgium on October 4, 1830. The provisional government ruled by decree during this time. They had already called for elections to choose a national congress but this took time to organize and to have people vote since they were at war at the time and the patriots were still facing the threat of the Dutch military. It was the provisional government that asserted the basic freedoms of what would become the Kingdom of Belgium such as freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of religion and freedom of education.

This provisional government held power until the election of a congress and after that time a more formal government was established under the statesman Baron Surlet de Chokier as Regent of Belgium. The provisional government had diverse members, some more liberal supporting a secular "enlightenment" state and others more conservative, supporting independence but still with ties to the monarchie of the House of Orange of the Netherlands. In the end, we know they decided on total independence and a Belgian monarchy with Louis, Duke of Namours as King. However, the British opposed this idea, not wanting Belgium to become an instrument of France. The powers agreed Belgium needed a strong and independent monarch and so the choice was later suggested of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who became the first King of the Belgians, Leopold I, starting our dynasty.

Belgium, Britain and Monarchy

2011-11-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

It is not good, I know, to compare one country with another, but sometimes I cannot resist it. Especially this is so for the countries of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Belgium. The two are very different and also have very much in common. It is also my confession that I think of this more probably because I hear now so much criticism from British politicians directed toward the existence of Belgium as a “proper country”, which they say it is not. And yet, look at the similarities of these two countries. Both are constitutional monarchies, both even have the same family of royalty. Both are also diverse countries, not like all countries in Europe are diverse now, but the mixture of Flemish and Walloon in Belgium and the mixture of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon and Norman in Great Britain. Both have also been close allies since the British intervened in the First World War in reaction to the invasion of Belgium and for that the Belgians have never missed being grateful and honoring that sacrifice on our behalf. And yet, some British politicians still denigrate my country and publicly cheer for Belgium to be broken up and destroyed.

What inspired me to think of a new comparison was that some of these political figures, in their own country and policies relating to that, are quite correct. Time to name a name: Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party. I cannot be anything but opposed to this man because he constantly insults my country, my people and wishes for us to be broken up and destroyed. He is also very much against the European Union, which does not bother me so much as his being very much against the Kingdom of Belgium. Yet, I have at least one friend (who is pro-Belgian of course) who greatly likes Nigel Farage and has pointed out to me that Farage is a proud British monarchist who wants the UK and the Commonwealth countries to preserve their monarchy. That is good for them and I have no problem with that, I support that also, and if he would only keep his words about his own country and not mine I would maybe be able to like Farage also. But, he does not and so I cannot like him and must be opposed to him. But this made me think to compare the attitudes toward the British and the Belgian monarchies in each country.

My perspective may not be correct but anyone can leave a comment to tell me so. I never used to watch much news coverage from Britain. I did not watch much news at all when I was very small (I was watching cartoons!) but now I am in education exile I see occasionally the BBC while still trying to stay up to date with news from home. One thing I have noticed is that the British news does not seem to mention their Queen very much at all. Unless there is some major social event she is connected with, they do not, as I have seen, pay much attention at all to the Queen or the others royals of the family. This surprised me because, since the British monarchy is so grand and famous around the world, because of their past empire (and everyone must agree it is the most grand) I thought the BBC would have always some news about the Queen. But I have seen very little and that what I did see was always in reference to some occasion social. Not like Belgium at all. From my perspective, the news in Belgium mentions the King quite regularly and in terms political and governmental not social only. Even though in Belgium we are being a popular monarchy and have no grand ceremonies with the King wearing ermine robes and wearing a crown and surrounded by servants in antique costumes, it seems the monarchie in Belgium is more central while the monarchy in Britain the serious media (not the gossip mags) just more often ignore their Queen and royals.

Is my perception incorrect? I know British friends read this (they are my number three source of readers after the USA and Belgium) so they can tell me if my view is incomplete. Thinking about this, I thought it was logical because the monarchy is for Britain now very separated from politics and all political problems and solutions. In Belgium this might also be the case except that the divisions in the political parties* means that the King must have a more central role as keeping peace between the two sides and forcing him to be the “adult in the room” (and the politicians do often behave like children it looks like). This does not happen in the United Kingdom. I heard nothing about the Queen being involved when, after last elections, a power-sharing government had to be negotiated between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party. I know in Britain there is also now regional governments in North Ireland, Scotland and maybe Wales (I am uncertain of that one, I thought they had an assembly their own but also I thought they were always a part of England so, I am not certain of that situation). Maybe this worked better for United Kingdom than Belgium, I do not know, since I never hear of the Queen must settle disputes between English, Irish and Scottish people. However, in Belgium, the monarchy may not be so grand but is very important because the King is the one person with no regional agenda.

The King of the Belgians must work very hard, especially when there is disagreement and discord (as we have seen very clearly in this extended time with no government) and although British and Belgians both have people that like to mock and make comedy ridicule of their monarchs, in Belgium, even those who are not supportive of the monarchy must accept that it is important and they cannot ignore it because it is the central, unifying institution of the country. The former Prime Minister was ridiculed by some for saying all that kept Belgium together was football, beer and the King. If that is so, the King is even more important than anyone thought because beer and football cannot take any action to bring about political compromise and encourage national unity. The King may not be every day in the news, but he cannot also be ignored and it cannot be denied his crucial part in the political process of the country.

*Another problem I have is Farage saying there are no national parties in Belgium. This is not true! Votez B.U.B.!

Baby Belgians

2011-11-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Queen Astrid and Prince Albert

Princesse Josephine-Charlotte

Prince Baudouin (and a big bunny)

Halloween Costume Idea

2011-10-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

I understand it is too late for most of you, but I address the readers in the Americas. It is Halloween and you still have no costume. What to do?! Here is an easy idea, go to 'trick or treat' as the most scary King of the Belgians, Leopold II! (I don't think he was scary, I think he has a very incorrect image but you cannot argue with popular opinion) This is an easy last-minute costume to make, especially since the stores I see here start putting out Christmas items as soon as the first cool wind blows through. All you need is something like a blue coat, maybe also attach some brass buttons, then go get a Santa Claus beard from the store and you are done, ready to go 'trick or treat' as the scary King Leopold II. Best I could come up with at this short notice. Happy Halloween to everyone!

Princess Astrid to Run Marathon

2011-10-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Prince Amedeo will be running in the New York marathon on 6 November. Archduke Lorenz and Prince Amedeo ran before, years ago, this year I think will be the first time for Princess Astrid. Article from De Standaard:

Op 6 november staan maar liefst drie leden van de Belgische koninklijke familie aan de start van de marathon van New York. Dat meldt het Laatste Nieuws dinsdag. Naast prins Lorenz en prins Amadeo zal ook prinses Astrid deelnemen aan de beroemde marathon.

Prins Lorenz en zijn zoon prins Amadeo liepen in 2007 al de 42,195 kilometer door Manhattan. Zij kunnen prinses Astrid dus gidsen tijdens de marathon, die door zo'n 45.000 mensen gelopen wordt. De familie laat niets aan het toeval over, ze zouden zich zelfs laten begeleiden door een atletiekcoach die zich specialiseert in marathons.

'De prinses is een fervente jogster', verklaart Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw, woordvoerder van het paleis. 'Momenteel is ze in volle voorbereiding voor de marathon, ze traint hard en veel.'

De Belgische overheid bekijkt nu met de Amerikaanse veiligheidsdiensten of voor de uitgebreide delegatie van het Belgisch koningshuis op de marathon extra veiligheidsmaatregelen nodig zijn.

Joyeux Anniversaire, Élisabeth!

2011-10-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 10th birthday of our future Queen and the Royal Palace issued some new photos for the occasion. They are great! Joyeux Anniversaire, Princesse Élisabeth!

Belgian Royals Visit China

2011-10-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde are right now in Beijing, China with a large number of business people to try to encourage the Chinese to buy more Belgian exports and make a better environment for Belgian businesses in China. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said this was important because the economic crisis had made trade even more important. Currently there are many business ties between China and Antwerp especially. Crown Prince Philippe has met with the Deputy Prime Minister of China, Wang Qishan, and Crown Princess Mathilde has visited a dance academy also in Beijing. Belgium used to have a concession in China during the days of the Manchu Emperors but I would wager that today there are probably even more Belgian owned properties in China because of the place of importance China has today in the world of trade and the global economy. The Chinese economy has grown faster than any other in history, of any country, just in the recent decades.

Great Video! "Let's Stay Together" by Belgian Deejays United

2011-10-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Officers in the Congo Free State

2011-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

This summer the website "Nobility" posted an article on Captain Leopold Louis Joubert, a real hero of Belgium. He was one of the volunteers of the Papal Zouaves who fought to defend the estates of Pope Pius IX from the Italian nationalist movement. With other veterans of the zouaves in 1880 he went to the Congo Free State of King Leopold II doing missionary work but he and his comrades had to revert to their military role to defend the poor natives from the cruelty of the Arab slave traders. This is not much talked about today but was a big part of the Belgian involvement in central Africa as King Leopold II pursued the war against the Arab slave trade. He built mission-forts to defend the area, showing great courage, and was later supported with men and arms by the Congo Free State government of King Leopold II. Certainly not a racist, Captain Joubert married the daughter of a local African chief by whom he had ten children. He was knighted by the Pope for his actions defending the Church and was also knighted by King Leopold II for his actions defending the Africans of the Congo.

Also, on a different tone, there is the case of Finn Kjelstrup, a Norwegian officer in the service of King Leopold II in the Congo Free State. I do not read Norwegian but can tell this webzone, from the University of Oslo, takes the more typical negative view of the Congo Free State as they relate the long career of this officer there. However, the photos and letters of the officer are interesting and how he tells what changes were made in attitude and why. This also I have commented on, that in the early days of the Congo Free State, and even much later in the era of the Belgian Congo, the officers of the Force Publique included more Scandinavians than Belgians, as they had many military officers in need of employment. Norway, for example, as related in the site, had to downsize the military after parting from the royal union with the Kingdom of Sweden and so many veteran military men needed work and were employed by King Leopold II in the Congo after a short training period to make them familiar with the unique circumstances of service in central Africa.

Belgium and the Bonapartes

2011-10-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Brazen Bonapartist reports on Belgium and the Bonapartes. Also, this is an opportunity to look back on some past posts dealing with that subject: The Duchess of Richmond Ball, General Van Merlen, General Dumonceau, Regent Chokier (an admirer of Napoleon) and the Children of King Leopold II. It was Leopold II's daughter Princess Clementine who married Prince Victor Napoleon (Napoleon V for the Bonapartists) and only recently I again happened to see some pictures of the modern Bonaparte family and had to smile. You can definitely see the genes of King Leopold in them with their prominent noses! The King was, I think, not so happy about his daughter marrying a relative of Napoleon but he seems to have left his mark on the House Bonaparte.

Displaying the Flag 4

2011-10-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

A little different approach this time:

Busts of Kings

2011-10-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

I love these, they make the Kings seem like Roman Emperors -especially King Leopold II and King Albert I the way they are wrapped up almost looks like togas!

Our Favorite Luxembourger

2011-10-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of the birthday of our favorite Luxembourg Grand Duchess, who was born in 1927, Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium who was the daughter of King Leopold III and Queen Astrid. The Grand Duchess died in 2000. I remember her and I always liked her, even from looking at her photographs, from when she was very small to when she was an old lady she had a look in her eyes like she would have been a lot of fun to be around. A happy anniversary to her highness!

Burqa Ban Remains

2011-10-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

The constitutional court has thrown out a case filed by two Muslim women which called for the law which bans the wearing of the burqa (that awful head-to-toe goth beekeeper outfit) in Belgium. This was put forward by the women on the claim that it limited their freedom of movement since they cannot wear the burqa in public yet they feel they have no choice but to wear the burqa at all times -so they claim that they cannot go anywhere. The court thought this was ridiculous and threw away the proposal. Whether or not the burqa ban is constitutional has still not been decided so the law could go away anyway next spring when the court is expected to make the big decision about the law. I don't like any government telling people what to wear but for me this case only illustrates why I support the ban on the burqa. By saying they cannot go anywhere without being covered in black robes from head to toe these women only show how repressive their religious belief is and not the law. This is why I think the ban is necessary because it will force people to make a decision who have been trying to push legalism to the limit or to say it different, using freedom to promote oppression. I say I do not like laws telling people what to wear but this is exactly what these women are saying about their religion -it tells them what they have to wear everyday! For my opinion this shows a simple test these people did not make. Belgium is a traditionally Catholic country, today largely non-religious and tolerant. If your religion is so repressive to demand this extreme form of control you really should not be moving to a place like Belgium at all. We have a tolerant society but that cannot mean we tolerate everything. Oppressing women, which the burqa is a symbol of, keeping them subservient and second class is not something we will tolerate. If the Muslim men think women should have to wear a burqa and if it is not oppression then they should have to wear the burqa also and see how they enjoy that! Besides, most women are beautiful and it seems a bigger crime to hide them all just if the men cannot control themselves.

The King Will Not Quit

2011-10-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Rumors, which I never gave credit for truth, that the King was wishing to abdicate are not true according to royal adviser Pierre-Yves Monette. In an interview with RTL-TVi Monette said what we all should know. That after five hundred days of deadlocked negotiations the King is extremely frustrated, Monette said, "After 500 days the King has had enough". In addition though he also says that does not mean the King is ready to quit or desires to abdicate. He is very frustrated with the position of stagnation but he is not frustrated with being our King, which he loves and wishes to continue. I never believed the rumors but it is nice to hear this reassurance. Alone in the (non)government the King is only Belgian and looking out for the country and all the people. Whatever happens with the selfish political class, the King will always be King of the Belgians until he is called by God. I sympathize with his position and am grateful for him doing all he can to preserve the country, our national integrity and showing that we have two (or three) languages but we are ONE people. Leve de koning! Vive l'roi!

A Picture By Request

2011-10-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

Belgique-sur-autel

Another New Royal Book

2011-10-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

This I would really like to get. Known royal author Christophe Vachaudez also working with Olivier Defrance, will come out with this book after being allowed access to the photographs collection of Queen Elisabeth and others of the Belgian Royal Family to make this great royal photo-album book. It will be available in Dutch and French languages and is to be released October 22. It should be great! Here is the specific informations:

Title: l'Album Royal, de Léopold I à Baudouin
ISBN: 9782873867515
29,95 EUR
Hard cover
Pages: 192
Publisher: Racine

Ceci n'est pas une brabanconne

2011-10-03T13:41:00.001-07:00

If Belgium split, we would have to reinvent it. This is a musical response to the nonsense.

New Bio of First King

2011-10-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

For those interested, there is released now a new biography (Dutch language) on the first King of the Belgians, King Leopold I. See it here.

Great Military Paintings (fourth part)

2011-09-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

King Leopold II presides over army field maneuvers (I assume it is the Queen who is with him?)

Great Military Paintings (third part)

2011-09-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Exhausted and some wounded Belgian soldiers falling back up the coast.

Belgian soldiers directed forward (this may only be maneuvers)

Proud old veterans of the 1830 Belgian Revolution

Great Military Paintings (second part)

2011-09-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Belgian soldiers at army maneuvers in the dunes

Belgian artillery moved into position

The carnage of Flanders, the Great War

Great Military Paintings (first part)

2011-09-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Belgian troops moving in the harsh conditions of the Flanders front

Victorious Belgian troops parade through liberated Brussels in 1918

One of the brave defenders of the country, from the uniform probably early in 1914.

Princess Astrid in New York City

2011-09-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Our Princess Astrid, along with children Princess Maria-Laura and Prince Amadeo are in New York City and are seen in this picture at the Intercontinental Barclay Hotel for a reception to celebrate the UN decade to the "Roll Back Malaria" partnership. Princess Astrid later spoke at the reception and it was nice seeing her there with Princess Maria-Laura and Prince Amadeo (though I always like best to see Princess Marie-Laura ;-)). This event was yesterday.

Royals Out of Senate

2011-09-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

It has happened that I have found a part of the new compromise already that I do not like, one of the oldest parts of the constitution is to be done away with. That is that Prince Philippe, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid will no longer be able to have their seats in the Senate according to the new changes. This is a tradition that dates back to the original 1831 constitution which stated that the sons of the King could have seats in the Senate to gain political experience and keep in touch with understanding the will of the people. Later, SM King Leopold II changed this to extend to other royals since he had no children but still wanted his heir, future King Albert I, to sit in the Senate to gain political experience. Of course, they do not count towards a quorum and they cannot vote until they attain legal maturity but now the children of the King will be denied their place in the Senate. I think this is a terrible change. Surely it would be a good idea for the children of Prince Philippe, such as Princesse Elisabeth who will be our Queen someday, to have actual experience in the workings of government? It is probably not so important that Philippe, Astrid and Laurent no longer sit, but it is not good I think to deprive the next generation of this valuable tool in growing their understanding of the political system and how things work.

Astrid spreekt over strijd tegen malaria

2011-09-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

De Belgische prinses Astrid neemt deze week als speciaal vertegenwoordiger van het Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnerschap deel aan een aantal activiteiten in New York. Aanleiding is het tienjarig bestaan van het Partnerschap.

Prinses Astrid houdt op uitnodiging van Asho-Rose Migiro, adjunct secretaris-generaal van de Verenigde Naties en van Awa Coll-Seck, uitvoerend directeur van het RBM Partnerschap, een toespraak tijdens een receptie.

Astrid verhaalt daar over de resultaten voor van tien jaar malariabestrijding. En ook spreekt zij over de vooruitzichten op de uiteindelijke uitroeiing van de ziekte, voornamelijk in Afrika, tegen de streefdatum van 2015.

Prinses Astrid ontmoet ook tijdens haar verblijf in New York vertegenwoordigers van organisaties en landen die deel uitmaken van het RBM Partnerschap, aldus een mededeling van het Paleis te Brussel. © RB

No Holiday for King Albert

2011-09-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

King Albert II cannot get a break! It is true, every time the King tries to go on break and take a holiday his feuding politicians force him to come back home to try to get all the children to behave themselves and play nice with each other. In August of 2007 the King had to leave sunny southern France from vacationing because Prime Minister Yves Leterme (Flemish Christian Democrat) had enough and wanted to quit his position. In July 2010 the King could not even leave on his hoped for vacation because of the politicians fighting, in an argument still unresolved. This year the King tries again but the crisis do not stop. First he had to stop his vacation and return home because of the Pukkelpop music festival tragedy and just after deciding to try again to have a little break the King is now having to fly home from Nice because of the breakdown in government formation talks led by Francophone socialist leader Elio Di Rupo. The King was already being frustrated with them for taking so long to accomplish anything and urged them to at least quickly reach an agreement on state reforms.

What has been happening there? Mr. Di Rupo has been giving the appearance of being ready to quit himself because of the political deadlock but did just finally reach one agreement on the division of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde which has been the subject of contention for a long time, almost since the start of the great Belgian experiment in federalism. Di Rupo turned up the drama meter and basically told everyone the world would come to an end today if they did not make some agreement about the BHV and the burgomasters of the three Flemish municipalities around Brussels with language facilities, which they have. So, some progress is made on the BHV which has been argued about for 48 years since it was created in 1963. But we know that this does not solve the problem of Belgium having no government. This push to solve the BHV problem was started by the King who has been frustrated watching the conditions for the people growing worse in the face of the economic crisis but with the political deadlock preventing taking new action to deal with the problems. The King hoped getting the BHV problem out of the way would make the negotiators able to deal with the budget and social economic issues that are greatly needed.

Prins Filip Joins Special Forces

2011-09-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Just for a day, Prince Philippe joins the special forces, para-commandos who are in training, see the video here. (the picture above is from an earlier occasion)

First Speech of Princesse Elisabeth

2011-09-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Princess Elisabeth gave her first speech at the opening of a new children's hospital in Ghent.
Here is news video of the event
and
video of the arrival and speech
I thought the princesse did wonderful job, she spoke with great firmness and showed no nervousness even speaking in front of so many dignitaries. She is a wonderful asset to the Royal Family and credit to Belgium. Prince Philippe seemed more nervous for her, Princesse Mathilde just a big smile of pride all throughout and the crowd looked very impressed.

Marie-José and Mussolini

2011-09-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

This story has been talked about much in the recent days, so I will give my thoughts here instead of to each one. The issue, spoken of by The Mad Monarchist and The Cross of Laeken among others, involved the rumor that Princesse Marie-José (who would be the last Queen of Italy) who was the daughter of SM King Albert I of the Belgians, had a short affair with the infamous Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Many media people are saying the rumors have now been proven but that is certainly not the truth, all that has been proven is that Mussolini's son, who was just a teenager at the time, mentioned the gossip in writing. I do not think anyone who has written about this, in the media, to believe any of it have any knowledge or understanding at all about Marie-José or even Mussolini. From everything I have read on the subject, far away from any affection for each other, the two were closer to hating each other greatly.

I have read one book about Mussolini's rule in Italy (a very big book I had to read for group project) stated that the regime of Mussolini disapproved of Marie-José because she was the opposite of what they thought a good Italian woman should be. She was too thin, her hair was too short, she was too fashionable and she was too independent. That is naturally not what the Fascists wanted women to be like, they wanted them to be matronly, mothers and obedient. Also, we know that the Princess plotted against Mussolini, along with others, because she was so opposed to him and his totalitarian rule over Italy, she supported the dissidents against him and tried to have him overthrown from power. She was probably his biggest enemy of all in the Family Royal of Italy and she also had been raised with the values never to do something like that and in fact such an affair would have been unthinkable for her.

Mussolini, we know, had affairs all the time with lots of different women and maybe he wanted people to think that he had, and just spread the rumor around himself because Marie-José was the most beautiful and glamorous princess around. However, if there was any truth of that Mussolini would have been telling everyone and there would be lots of evidence for it instead of there being none but a mention in some old Mussolini family letters. There is no way any of this makes any sense. Marie-José was a very liberal, liberty-loving person, totally the opposite of a Fascist dictator and Mussolini never said anything even kind about her. She was in every way the kind of woman he did not like and he considered a bad influence on Italian women. This story is just a lurid tale to injure or harm, I think just because Mussolini was the dictator and Marie-José was the most famous and glamorous woman in Rome and people just have to make up something to link the two. But it is illogical, unreasonable and too fantastic for any person to believe.

Displaying the Flag 3

2011-09-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Never give up for the countrie!!!

Houses of Coburg and Savoy Together

2011-09-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

King Albert I and King Vittorio Emanuele III in World War I

Belgian and Italian royal families meet; Crown Princes Leopold and Umberto, King Albert I, Queen Elena, Queen Elisabeth and King Vittorio Emanuele III

The Belgian and Italian Kings and Queens on the occasion of the marriage of Princess Marie Jose of Belgium and the Italian heir to the throne Prince Umberto of Italy.

The couple who would be the last King and Queen of Italy, Marie Jose and Umberto II

volontaires belges thuin st Roch 2010

2011-08-31T09:43:00.001-07:00

I wish I could have been home to join in that.

Prince Laurent in Potsdam

2011-08-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to mention that our Prince Laurent was in Potsdam this weekend to represent the Belgian Royal Family at the wedding of the head of the House of Hohenzollern, Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia to Princess Sophie von Isenburg. From the pictures I saw it looked a nice wedding, not much of a royal gathering but if the Germans are going to insist on being a republic they have to expect it will not be like London or Monte Carlo. Of course, although I wish them all all of the best, for obvious reasons the Prussian royal family are not my favorites. Maybe this influences me but I cannot help wondering if there was a subtle message from the King to this Hohenzollern wedding? Do you think the King said something like, "Okay, to show that we are all friends and all, we will send a representative to the Prussian royal wedding ... but since this is the wedding of the great-grandson of the Kaiser who invaded our country and forced us into World War I, the occupation, the rape of Belgium and all of that, he will have to be satisfied we are sending -Prince Laurent!"

At least the Prince can say he did not fall down this time in front of everybody, tripping over the carpet like in Monte Carlo.

Remembering Queen Astrid

2011-08-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Cross of Laeken remembers The Death of Queen Astrid, a great queen, and a queen who seemed somehow unreal or too good to be true, like she stepped from the pages of a storybook.

Joyeux Anniversaire, Maria Laura!

2011-08-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

It is the birthday today of "Her Imperial and Royal Highness" Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, also Archduchess of Austria-Este who is today 23 years old. I really love Princess Maria Laura best and not just because she is so pretty, really, but because she is not so shallow like most of the really attractive, wealthy or highly born girls seem to be. She is not just flying around to lavish parties and fashion shows, she seems very sweet and shy and she must be very smart, she spends most of her time in study and when she speaks at length you can tell at once she is not just a pretty face but has a real head full of brains on her shoulders. This is a princess with the 'whole package', beauty and brains and I think she's the best!

King & Queen Visit Pukkelpop Disaster Site

2011-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Story here. Something similar happened I heard in the United States recently. Someone should take greater precautions for the bad weather or see that the stages are built more sturdily.

Joyeux Anniversaire, Gabriel!

2011-08-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

The young Prince Gabriel is now eight-years-old today. Best wishes to the Prince! I confess to having some trouble to not refer to him as our future King. I really don't want to seem sexist or anything like that but in spite of the law changes I just cannot "see" Belgium with a Queen with her brothers standing beside her all the time. Belgium has kings, has always had only kings. There is nothing wrong with a Queen but, I guess because it has never happened before in our history, it is hard to visualize for me. I cannot resist thinking that Prince Gabriel should be king someday even I know he cannot be. I'm sure he would be good at the job, he would be probably King Baudouin II, but the government will prevent that from happening. King or not, best wishes to Prince Gabriel for his birthday today! I wish I was home to have a chance of seeing them.

Belgians Aid Defense of Ethiopia

2011-08-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

You can always learn something new and recently, talking to a friend about the second Italian-Ethiopian War, I did also. In that conflict, one of the predecessors of World War II, the only Belgian connection I knew of was Crown Princess Maria Jose, wife of Crown Prince Umberto of Italy, and neither of them had anything to do with the conflict. However, I have learned there was a fairly significant Belgian contribution to the war on the Ethiopian side. Here is how it happened: Clearly, since the first war between Italy and Ethiopia (which the Ethiopians won at their favorite battle of Adwa) there had been tensions between the two countries. Later, however, they signed a something like a friendship treaty. It seems doubtful though that either took the document seriously. The Italians extended their most favorable trading relationship to Ethiopia and assumed or expected that Ethiopia would be their customer and obtain all of their foreign goods from then. Ethiopia, however, was wary of the Italians and began buying weapons and recruiting military advisers from foreign countries other than Italy in case there was another war. The Italians were upset by this but that was expected and there were also internal problems in the country that made the famous Emperor Haile Selassie think it best to have the strongest army that he could.

The contribution of foreign experts to the instruction and modernization of the Ethiopian military was considered crucial and the largest probably came from Sweden. However, there were Swiss, British, Dutch, Finnish and an array of other foreigners represented in helping the Ethiopians prepare themselves to fight the Italians. The Belgian government sent a military mission to Ethiopia in 1934 which established itself at Harar to build up two completely modern infantry battalions, in addition to squadrons of horse cavalry, camel cavalry and armored cars. In 1935 one Belgian Colonel Reul commanded the "Unofficial Belgian Mission" to Ethiopia, all modern soldiers where he reported to Emperor Haile Selassie at his headquarters at Dese. The Belgian Congo also sent many military instructors and these were highly prized since the Force Publique was the most feared military force in Africa made up of African soldiers. They helped to organize and modernize the Ethiopian army and Belgian officers even led some of these troops into battle such as Captain Cambier who was killed in one of the early battles with the Italians.

Ethiopia did not win, mostly because they simply did not have enough of the latest technology that the Italians had. However, they put up a very fierce struggle for seven months and this was possible, not because they were, like many think, a huge mob of primitive warriors, but because, thanks in part to the help of the Belgian volunteers, they became a modern, organized army that would have been a formidable enemy for any force in Africa. Also, the Free Forces of the Belgian Congo also helped in the liberation of Ethiopia from Italian rule during World War II and played an instrumental role there.

Remembering Volunteers to Mexico

2011-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Address by King Albert to the Belgian Parliament, 4 August 1914

2011-08-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen:

Never, since 1839, has a more solemn hour struck for Belgium: the integrity of our territory is threatened.

The very force of our righteous cause, the sympathy which Belgium, proud of her free institutions and her moral victories, has always received from other nations, and the necessity of our autonomous existence in respect of the equilibrium of Europe, make us still hopeful that the dreaded emergency will not be realized.

But if our hopes are betrayed, if we are forced to resist the invasion of our soil, and to defend our threatened homes, this duty, however hard it may be, will find us armed and resolved upon the greatest sacrifices.

Even now, in readiness for any eventuality, our valiant youth is up in arms, firmly resolved, with the traditional tenacity and composure of the Belgians, to defend our threatened country.

In the name of the nation, I give it a brotherly greeting. Everywhere in Flanders and Wallonia, in the towns and in the countryside, one single feeling binds all hearts together: the sense of patriotism.

One single vision fills all minds: that of our independence endangered. One single duty imposes itself upon our wills: the duty of stubborn resistance.

In these solemn circumstances two virtues are indispensable: a calm but unshaken courage, and the close union of all Belgians.

Both virtues have already asserted themselves, in a brilliant fashion, before the eyes of a nation full of enthusiasm.

The irreproachable mobilization of our army, the multitude of voluntary enlistments, the devotion of the civil population, the abnegation of our soldiers' families, have revealed in an unquestionable manner the reassuring courage which inspires the Belgian people.

It is the moment for action.

I have called you together, gentlemen, in order to enable the Legislative Chambers to associate themselves with the impulse of the people in one and the same sentiment of sacrifice.

You will understand, gentlemen, how to take all those immediate measures which the situation requires, in respect both of the war and of public order.

No one in this country will fail in his duty.

If the foreigner, in defiance of that neutrality whose demands we have always scrupulously observed, violates our territory, he will find all the Belgians gathered about their sovereign, who will never betray his constitutional oath, and their Government, invested with the absolute confidence of the entire nation.

I have faith in our destinies; a country which is defending itself conquers the respect of all; such a country does not perish!

Belgium Responds to German Ultimatum

2011-08-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Delivered by the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, M. Davignon, to the German Minister in Brussels, Herr von Below Saleske in response to German ultimatum demanding free passage of German troops through Belgium in order to attack France, claiming that France was preparing to do the same.

3 August 1914

This note has made a deep and painful impression upon the Belgian Government. The intentions attributed to France by Germany are in contradiction to the formal declarations made to us on August 1, in the name of the French Government.

Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, Belgian neutrality should be violated by France, Belgium intends to fulfil her international obligations and the Belgian army would offer the most vigorous resistance to the invader.

The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870 vouch for the independence and neutrality of Belgium under the guarantee of the Powers, and notably of the Government of His Majesty the King of Prussia.

Belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations, she has carried out her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiality, and she has left nothing undone to maintain and enforce respect for her neutrality.

The attack upon her independence with which the German Government threaten her constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. No strategic interest justifies such a violation of law.

The Belgian Government, if they were to accept the proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the honour of the nation and betray their duty towards Europe.

Conscious of the part which Belgium has played for more than eighty years in the civilisation of the world, they refuse to believe that the independence of Belgium can only be preserved at the price of the violation of her neutrality.

If this hope is disappointed the Belgian Government are firmly resolved to repel, by all the means in their power, every attack upon their rights.

Remembering King Baudouin

2011-08-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Notre-Dame de Laeken Queen Fabiola and about three hundred loyal supporters visited the royal crypt to remember the passing of the late King Baudouin. A delegation of veterans also attended, members of Pro-Belgica and also Princess Lea, widow of Prince Alexandre, who also left followers at the tomb of King Leopold III so that, in a touching way, the tombs of the father and son kings, Leopold III and Baudouin, were both brightly covered with petals. Boths kings I am sure would be touched. King Baudouin was a great and good man, I am sure he would be distressed to see how his people are not now getting along with each other, to the great distress of his brother, and although people like me can look back on the time of King Baudouin with nostalgia and think, if he were alive things would not be like this, also I have to be realistic and think that given the uncompromising attitude of the parties I cannot see what King Baudouin could do to effect a reconciliation that our King today has not already tried. It is still good to see King Baudouin remembered and I hope he is resting happily in whatever plain of existence he is in today.

Princess Lilian

2011-07-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

The consort of SM King Leopold III, who has been treated so unfairly by public perception. A video via The Cross of Laeken:

Belgium-Norway Connections

2011-07-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

As everyone is still in shock over the tragedy in Norway but also there are new connections having been found between the terrorist suspect and Belgium. In his really odd "manifesto" the shooter makes numerous mentions of Belgium and even related a list of targets for terrorist attacks such as oil refineries and nuclear plants in Antwerp and Liege. He also makes Belgium a special target for his hoped-for war because 9-12% of the population in Belgium is now Muslim. The Knights Templar organization to which he says he belongs also, supposedly, has one member and who is the co-founder of the group in Belgium. He also pointed to Vlaams Belang leader Filip Dewinter as someone good to argue his cause for what he was "fighting" for (I would only call it real fighting when the other side is able to fight back against you). It is also known that the Norwegian terrorist sent messages to radical right-wing leaders across Europe including to Tanguy Veys, an MP for the Vlaams Belang. Party leader Bruno Valkeniers has said that VB has no connection or sympathy with the terrorist but it is really revealing that he evidently sympathized with them. It is also not a surprise to me really that exceprts from the terrorist's manifesto were published in the Brussels Journal which has long been known for its right-wing opposition to the monarchie and the very idea of a united and independent Belgium. The leader of Brussels Journal, Paul Belien, is also a close friend of Geert Wilders the controversial Dutch politician who was also praised in the manifesto. Paul Belien has made his living for a long time by attacking the Kings of Belgium, the country of Belgium and calling for Flemish independence and a campaign for racial/cultural "purity".

The King, Elections and Norway

2011-07-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

The King has sent all the negotiators home for a break from the government formation efforts, saying that everyone, their staff workers included, needed a vacation from the constant negotiations. The King also is in need of this as the palace and even Queen Paola have said that his health is becoming weakened by the stress and anxiety of this issue, he must take medication to sleep and is becoming more exhausted. All the time that goes by makes it seem more likely new elections will be called but the King has resisted this for fear that another attempt at voting could only increase the strength of the N-VA. We also note with great sadness the tragedy that has happened in Norway, our close friends and allies, by a ultra-right extremist. It is also noteworthy that in the manifesto published by the mass-murderer is praise for the extremist parties across Europe, including the N-VA. This should, I think, really give the Flemish people some concern for the party a majority have voted for. Obviously, any party which such a hate-filled murderer could admire does not share the common values of the Flemish people who are, I am sure, as sickened by this event as anyone. I know, it is half my family and they are proud to be Flemish but not at all hateful of any other people (they also really think of themselves as Belgians and never would vote N-VA anyway but). If this man considers Bart De Wever a great political leader that should be sufficient cause really for anyone to want to keep him out of any position of power in Europe.

110721 National Day Belgium II

2011-07-25T11:28:00.001-07:00

King Albert II Applauded for Speech

2011-07-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the King as a jovial man who liked to laugh but he is serious in his concern for Belgium and people were surprised this National Day by how forceful and frustrated the King was in his speech. You can see it in French and Dutch. I am in complete agreement. The King said, quoting the English constitutional monarchy theoretician, that the King can advise, be advised and warn and since he had given all the advice he can and been given advice from the politicians now he has decided to use his power to warn. He warned that the politicians need to grow up and get along or else all of the people will soon suffer, also that Belgian interests around the world will suffer -the King making mention of the crisis of women abuse in the Congo that he wants the UN and EU to address and also he warned that Belgium was a model for European integration and that if Belgium cannot get along with Brussels being the capital city of Europe it could be a terrible blow for the whole European Union. And that is all perfectly true. After the speech, at a concert and at a Church thanksgiving, the King has been warmly applauded and most seem very supportive of him and in total agreement with his statement. I have already heard numerous say it is his best speech ever, certainly his most impassioned plea for national unity. There has also been more talk, in Gazet van Antwerpen, that the frustrated King is tired of these constant squabbles and wishes to abdicate to give the throne to Prince Philippe but only after the current crisis is resolved. Really, this is speculation, no one knows that and as much as I like Prince Philippe I would also not like to see the King abdicate, the only other abdication in the Belgian monarchy having a bad impression. Really this shows though the level of concern the King has and how heavy he has felt in his heart over his hard duties in trying to make a compromise so the government can be formed to handle the business important of the country. He is doing his best, with the best motives and it is good to see him have some appreciation this National Day. Leve de Koning! Vive le Roi!

First National Day

2011-07-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Leopold Ier becomes first King of the Belgians!

Father to Son

2011-07-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

On July 16, 1951 SM King Leopold III abdicated his throne in the face of leftist opposition lingering from World War II. The next day, yesterday in history, his son Baudouin became King of the Belgians. This time was controversial but I think it is offensive that it is so. The justification claimed by the enemies of the monarchie, whose face was King Leopold III, was his remaining with his army and staying in Belgium during the German occupation. Really, this was just a distraction. The King only did his duty and what happened in World War II was not the reason for the opposition to King Leopold. These people really hated the kingdom altogether. They were not really happy that Baudouin becoming king, they would rather have had no king at all and be a Marxist republic. It is also not much talked about that there was a vote on the future of King Leopold and the majority voted for him to remain king because he had done nothing wrong, he was the rightful monarch and that was only justice. Also interesting is that he had more support in Flanders than in Wallonie, but the radicals made such trouble that the King, and King Leopold was a compassionate man, did not want to risk any civil strife, perhaps even violence, by the radical minority in order to keep his throne and so he abdicated to give the throne for his son. I have shown before the video also of the leftist protest at the swearing-in of King Baudouin so it is obvious they were not having a reasonable position. They hated King Leopold no matter what he did and they hated King Baudouin before he even finished taking the oath to be king so he had not the chance to do anything to displease anyone. It was only unreasonable prejudice against the Belgian dynasty because of who they were.

I would be happy if this was only a sad page of history but we can see today it still continues as King Albert II pleads with the politicians to put the good of the nation first and come to an agreement with each other but they do not listen, only their political power and personal prejudices mean anything to them.

New Photos of Royal Family

2011-07-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Flemish Queen of England

2011-07-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Mad Monarchist profiles Queen Mathildis van Vlaanderen, wife of William the Conqueror who took over England for the Normans in 1066.

Belgians in Monte Carlo

2011-07-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

The whole Royal Family was in Monaco for the wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. Here are some photos of them

Many of the royal men wore white uniforms but not the Belgians (do we still have whites?) and this picture Prince Philippe looks to be giving a 'thumbs up' to Prince Albert

Queen Paola and King Albert II -I noticed King Albert was the only foreign royalty to wear his sash and medal of the Knight Grand Cross of St Charles for Monaco

But the poor King and Queen got seated next to the little French president who did not even have his wife along with him. No luck.

And speaking no luck, Prince Laurent of course fell down. He would, wouldn't he? If anyone is going to have to fall down you know it is going to be Prince Laurent. I really feel more and more sympathy for him.

Pro Belgica Call to Patriots

2011-06-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

Pro Belgica has sent out a message to all members to address the sad state of political stalemate in the country. As they said, to ignore this is to stick our heads in the sand -the situation is not looking good for our country. The radical elements are the ones more happy at this moment, not the good and loyal people who love their country. In their words, "Les flamingants, à ne pas confondre avec nos frères flamands, se font de plus en plus radicaux, de plus en plus pressants pour revendiquer l'autonomie de la Flandre, et certains extrémistes wallons et bruxellois ne sont pas en reste."

However, they hold out hope that the majority of Belgians have not been brain washed by the extremism and support to continue our unity and independence. So, a great patriotic demonstration is being called for Saturday 24 September 2011 to coincide with the 181st anniversary of independence and the 180th anniversary of the Belgian royal dynasty since the battles of 1830. They also ask for arguments, written or oral, to make the case of supporting the country. Let the national colors be waved, let the world see that the Belgians have not given up to the extremists, the sacrifices of past generations will not be brought to ruin. We love our country, we love our King and Family Royal. We reject extremism and separatism. Eendracht maakt macht! L'union fait la force! For more and to show support people are directed to René Lievens, President of the Dynastic Movement.

Kan koning Albert naar verjaardag Burundi?

2011-06-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Mag koning Albert II naar het Afrikaanse Burundi? Het is een vraag die het demissionaire Belgische kabinet voorlopig niet wil beantwoorden.

Belgian Royals in Washington Area

2011-06-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Aside from the business issues of the royal visit to America (which as much as I can tell the U.S. media still ignores, I think a little unfair since if President Obama came to Belgium he would get all the attention) Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde have also made time for some solemn commemorations. While in New York City the Duke and Duchess of Brabant visited Ground Zero (former site of the World Trade Center) and placed a wreath their sent by the King in honor of the victims of the terrible terrorist attack (there was one Belgian killed in the 9-11 attack and of course many friends). Yesterday, moving to the Washington DC area, the couple visited Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia where, you can see in the picture, they placed a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in honor of those who died in Belgium during World War II at the battle of the Bulge. It is very appropriate to remember the brave Americans who, with all the other Allied powers, fought to liberate the Kingdom of Belgium from the Nazi occupation. Thanks America!

Belgian Royal Visit to America

2011-06-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Prince Philippe and Prince Mathilde are now on a visit to the United States. I just learned this, nothing seen on the news programs about it at all. They arrived on Wednesday and will stay through the end of the month. They came with a large delegation of Belgian businessmen to hopefully encourage more economic ties and business deals between the United States and the Kingdom of Belgium. They arrived in New York City and will also visit Washington DC and Boston before returning home.

Today in Belgian History

2011-06-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine gave me the idea for this, a way to expand on the "Famous Belgians" postings.

Today in 1305 the Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge was signed between King Philippe IV of France and Count Robert III, the "Lion of Flanders". By this treaty Lille, Douai and Béthune were ceded to the King of France in return for which Flanders was allowed to remain as an autonomous fiefdom by the French power. This resulted from the French victory at the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle.

Also, today in 1612, in Antwerp, was born the great mathematics scholar André Tacquet. He was a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and he prepared the foundation in his work for the eventual discovery of calculus. Famous mathematic experts such as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, John Wallis and Blaise Pascal all later became famous building on his work.

Crown Prince Rudolf and Crown Princess Stéphanie of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia

2011-06-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

The Beast of Berlin

2011-06-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

In 1918 Hollywood made a propaganda movie called "The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin" to show the American people just how evil and wicked was Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II. Almost every detail in it was wrong but nobody cared, it was about the enemy! It is an interesting film to show how Allied propaganda worked in the First World War and it was made before the war ended so they could indulge their imagination as to how they thought things would work out for the Kaiser. What caused me to give my attention was the treatment of our King Albert I who is something of an avenger in the movie, so very interesting for that. I am obviously not happy that the Germans invaded Belgium and caused such atrocities and misery but this movie is really incorrect and King Albert was actually someone who wanted to just end the war without any more countries being ruined. I don't think he cared that much about having revenge on anyone.

In this movie the Kaiser is really a beast! He is vicious and cruel to everyone, his own people too, and he wants to cause as much pain and suffering as possible. The hero of the movie is Macas, a blacksmith in Louvain who has to save his daughter from being ravaged by a German soldier when the Kaiser orders Belgium to be invaded. The country is brutalized and it makes the Kaiser very happy. But, since this is a movie for American audience, the action quickly moves on from "plucky little Belgium" to scenes that involve the United States. A British ocean liner, Lusitania, is sunk by a German submarine drowning lots of American women and children. The Kaiser is so happy he gives a medal to the U-boot captain for killing so many civilians but the captain feels bad and later kills himself. The United States goes to war and the Kaiser boasts that when Germany wins the war he will see America broken up and destroyed. There are many scenes of German atrocities but the American army soon comes to France to save the day.

The ending is most interesting to me. No one making this movie thought there would be such a thing as the armistice. They have Germany being totally crushed and invaded by the Allied armies who march in to occupy Berlin and take the Kaiser prisoner. The Allied leaders and generals all meet in the Kaiser's palace to decide how to punish the war criminal who is such a monster. You think they will kill him? I thought this movie would do that but, maybe they thought that would make them too much like the Kaiser so they all decide that it is only justice for King Albert I of the Belgians to be given the Kaiser to deal with since Belgium was the innocent country Germany first invaded. King Albert decided it will be fitting punishment to keep the Kaiser in prison and he appoints the blacksmith Macas from Louvain to be his guard, a representative of the people who most suffered and now the shoe is on the other foot for the cruel Kaiser. Almost everything there is not true of course. The Kaiser did not order atrocities and though the ocean liner was sunk the captain did not get a medal for sinking it and he did not kill himself, he died in action later in the war I think. We also know the war did not end with the Allies in Berlin but this is an unashamed openly propaganda film and it caused a great deal of anti-German hatred as you can imagine. The involvement of King Albert, of course, I found interesting.

Philippe et Marie, comte et comtesse de Flandre

2011-06-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Troisième fils du roi Léopold Ier et de la reine Louise-Marie (après Louis-Philippe mort à l'âge d'un an et le futur roi Léopold II), le prince Philippe naît au château de Laeken le 24 mars 1837. En 1840, son père le titre comte de Flandre. A l'âge de 13 ans, il perd sa maman. Sa formation est assurée par des précepteurs privés et complétée par un passage au sein du régiment des Guides. Passionné par les arts et les lettres, ce prince discret ne s'intéresse pas à la politique : il refuse les trônes de Grèce en 1862 et de Roumanie en 1866, ainsi qu'un mariage avec la princesse héritière du Brésil. [Plus]

King Albert I

2011-06-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

My friend The Mad Monarchist has posted a look at the life of King Albert I. Of course I agree that he was a great man and he was also the only Allied head of state to lead his soldiers in the field to final victory. He was the steady leadership at the time when the future of our countrie was decided, when it was not certain if Belgium would even exist if the Germans had won. Even to the very end the Germans had wanted to keep Belgium or at least the Flanders coast (part of France as well) and even if Belgium had not resisted I cannot imagine the Germans just going back to the way things were once they already occupied the whole country. King Albert led the fight against the invaders and his courage and calm style inspired people to resist, to work harder for the liberation and to struggle on in continue to the final victory. He was, I think, the best monarch of his era. Leve de Koning! Vive l'Roi!

Famous Belgians

2011-06-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Today in history saw the death of Mons native Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus in 1594. Also on this day died cartoonist Jean Roba, native of Schaerbeek and a Knight of the Order of Leopold in 2006.

New Honour for Antwerp Station

2011-06-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Antwerp Central Stations winning the Europa Nostrum Prize, a European heritage award (international) for restoration projects. Antwerp Central Station was one of the many ambitious building programs of King Leopold II.

Famous Belgians

2011-06-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today was born microbiologist and winner of the Nobel Prize Jules Bordet in 1870.

Today also was born Senator Jean-Marie Dedecker in 1952.

Queen Fabiola is 83

2011-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

A special weekend update to congratulate Her Majesty Queen Fabiola of Belgium on her 83rd birthday! She is a great lady, a much beloved member of the Royal Family and I think she's the best!

Famous Belgians

2011-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today is the birthday of two famous Belgians:

Jan Frans De Boever, born in Ghent in 1872, is a world famous painter, known for his morbid-erotic styles. Not to the taste of everyone of course (seems he thought women were evil) but that is how art is.

Also, Kim Clijsters, the tennis star, born in Bilzen in 1983, she is probably more famous around the world today. In 2011 Time Magazine ranked her as the 16th most influential person in the world, the first person from the world of sports named on the list.

Duchess of Richmond Ball

2011-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

If you have read some of the history of the downfall of Napoleon or seen the famous movie "Waterloo" you will remember the glamorous ball held by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels. This was held for the officers of the Allied army, local officials and celebrities and everyone was there when word came from the Germans that Napoleon was advancing on Brussels. That is when the Duke of Wellington, the Prince of Orange and the Allies all left to join the army and stop Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.

This year the ball is being held again at the British embassy in Brussels. In 1965 and 1995 it was also held to commemorate the anniversaries of the battle of Waterloo (you can see Queen Paola at the ball in the picture in 1965). This year the ball will be to benefit many Anglo-Belgian charities such as the Royal British Legion, Belgian Red Cross and others.

Another Royal Birthday

2011-06-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today SM Albert II is 77 years old, Happy Birthday to the King!

The new prince with his father King Leopold III

Joyeux anniversaire!

2011-06-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the birthday of Princesse Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este. Best wishes!

Empire of the Coburgs

2011-06-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting page on the website of the House Saxe-Coburg-Gotha called "Coburg and Europe" which shows the many different countries married into by the Coburg family, the Royal Family of Belgium, Great Britain and by various brides parts of many other dynasties. Those who gave connections to Germany, Greece, Russia, Romania, Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria, Mexico, Austria, Italy and Luxembourg are all listed. I made up the map above to give a better picture of the huge portion of the earth ruled over by various members of the Coburg family. Even though there were marriage ties with the French, I did not include them since they will insist on being a republic. But what an awesome sight to see how various matches put this family from a tiny German duchy north of Bavaria to such fantastic heights of influence.

Our First Queen

2011-06-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I just found this portrait and thought it was really nice resemblance of our first Queen.

Belgians Killed Osama - NO!

2011-05-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine (who I always disagree with) said, just in mention, that he was afraid Belgium might come under attack by Muslim terrorists because “our weapons” killed Osama bin Laden. This I had not heard! Seems strange to me, America being the country where almost everyone has a gun, why would United States use Belgian weapons for their best troops and secret missions? This I had to investigate. I also should mention my friend was very upset that Osama bin Laden had been killed. He thought it was very stupid for the Americans to do since Osama had not done anything for 10 years and now his death would cause Muslim terrorists to launch a whole new wave of attacks in revenge for the killing of their leader. Allow me to say here that is NOT my point of view. Osama bin Laden was responsible for the killing of thousands of people at 911 and he deserved to pay the consequences, no matter how long it took. For example, there are very old men still being arrested for war crimes done in World War II, it does not matter that they are 80 or 90 years old and have done nothing wrong in all the decades since. Still the authorities pursue them.

Anyway, I do a little search and find out really there is no evidence the American commandoes used Belgian weapons anyway. It is true (I was surprised to learn) that the United States bought Belgian made rifles from FN Herstal in Liege because they thought they were superior weapons. Nice to know we make good guns but there is no evidence the Americans used these in the killing of Osama, other articles I found said they used a US-made rifle called M4 Carbine. The only thing I could find that was Belgian being used in the attack was “Cairo” the Belgian Malinois who was trained to find bombs and alert the commandos to escaping terrorists or the arrival of Pakistani soldiers to the compound. So, calm down everyone, probably the only thing Belgian involved in the attack was the dog and he probably was born and bred in America also with the only thing Belgian of him being his breed.

But regardless of that though, I do not think we should have to be in fear of taking any action against a known criminal because it might upset others in his gang. Law and order has to be upheld and the guilty have to be punished no matter the consequences or otherwise we have to be just cowering in the corner anytime someone attacks us, doing nothing in response but begging for mercy. And also, these sort of terrorists that admired Osama bin Laden seem to need no provocation to attack western countries. As long as we have a different religion or no religion at all we will be the enemies of those kind of people no matter what other actions we take. That is a fact we have to face.

English Support for Belgium

2011-05-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Some in England certainly don't like Belgium. Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, recently spoke in Ghent, further pressing his denial of the right of Belgium to exist and giving his support for a Flemish republic -and so the destruction of the Kingdom of Belgium. I never had strong opinions of EU before but recently have become more opposed to it. But it makes a problem that the anti-EU people like Farage are also anti-Belgium and while many think that being outside the EU is keeping Flemish nationalists from reaching total support for their goal of division of the country. So, in a way, EU is a sort of uncomfortable ally for me. The views of Farage are not universal of course and I found today these two articles from a blog called The English Mail-Coach which denounce the tactics of Farage and give support to the history and identity of Belgium. That is good to see. UKIP vs Belgium Part 1 and also UKIP vs Belgium Part 2.

I will repeat again that, though tirades against my country make me tempted, I have nothing but the desire to be a friend of Great Britain, I admire the British and their great historic accomplishments. I also appreciate the British forces who came to defend Belgian independence in 1914. But it is all of that which also makes me more upset at those who speak anti-Belgian anger. It also seems to me dangerous. I don't want Belgium to divide and I don't want Britain to divide either and there are more historic differences on Britain between Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland than between the regions in Belgium. Supporting those who thrive on ethnic rivalry does not seem very wise to me for the British to do. I want to see both countries continue and both countries be close friends as in the past has a long time been the case.

Belgium: Natural NOT Artificial

2011-05-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

About a week or two ago someone sent me an article from the Brussels Journal about how Belgium is an “artificial state”, an “invented” state just put together for political reasons, doomed to failure and which never should have existed in the first place. Why this was sent to me? Maybe to see my reaction since going to school in Texas everyone at home thinks I’m becoming a far-right extremist. I don’t think so but my friend and native Texas the Mad Monarchist did worry me when he said that Texans were like the Klingons of the United States. Yikes. Anyway, everyone should probably know already my opinion on this and I feel like I have said it a hundred million times but the “artificial state” and “invented state” accusations just keep coming. I do not think that is true but additionally I do not understand how anyone else could think it is true. It goes against all of history, and that I have tried to talk about on this blog. Regardless, it is still repeated and it makes me depressed. Also I have been depressed by how many Belgians are so quick and calm to criticize their own country. A good friend of mine said when the burqa ban was passed that Belgium must be the most racist country. We really put down ourselves too much. Seriously, if Belgium was really so racist then I don’t think so many other races would want to come live in Belgium.

Back to the point, Belgium is not “artificial” or “invented”. How do people think this? I know, part is because of the quarreling between the French and Dutch speakers communities but do they really think these two were just put together in 1830? Do they think before that the space on the map was empty? The two regions had been together when we were part of the United Netherlands Kingdom, when we were the Austrian Netherlands before that, when we were in the larger Spanish Netherlands before that and when we were Burgundy before that. There had always been this area, not always an independent country, but always definitely not French, not German and not Dutch. Even in those days people still called the whole area “Belgium” and it was Belgium even all the way back in Roman times. So, why don’t people understand? No one “invented” Belgium! Belgium has always been here, right where it is today! There has always been Belgium, there have always been Belgians. This is not disputable, this is a fact of history.

Look at the brief period between the first effort for independence (United States of Belgium we talked about) and the country being taken over by France and Napoleon. That was when we were, again, the Austrian Netherlands but war was already about to happen with France so military forces had to be ready and they formed a unit, part of the Austrian Imperial Army, with green and yellow uniforms with cool crested helmets that had the big letters “LB” on them. What did that stood for? “Legion Belge” or the BELGIAN Legion. This was going back before 1814, so how could there be a Belgian Legion when these people keep saying Belgium was just invented in 1830 by a bunch of countries? Why do I have maps from back to the Renaissance period and the Roman Empire with a big area labeled “Belgium” on them if the country was only “invented” in 1830? So why do they keep saying that? It is ridiculous and I do not understand them!

The people always had different languages and different customs, not just in the regions, but town to town. However, in the past most everyone also had a common language if it was Latin or later French and everyone always had the same religion. Today it is more rigid and one area is for speaking Dutch, the other French and a little bit German and no changing! That has hardened feelings I think, not like the way it was in the past. In the past there were language issues also, no denying that, but there were also more things that all Belgians had in common in those days and today there is less of that. But artificial or invented we are not. The area of the country has been a distinct unit since hundreds of years and the people living there knew they were not French or Dutch or Germans, but Belgians!

Publication on the Monarchie

2011-05-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

There is a new publication (in English) available here on the Belgian monarchie. I thought it a very helpful and informative booklet, suitable for printing. It is pdf format and covers the history of the monarchie, the accomplishments of the past kings as well as the duties of the King in the government, the role of the monarchie today and the modern Royal Family. Also it includes some nice pictures from history and current times.

Also I heard today that Princess Melanie de Ligne is going to be married to Paul Weingarten (no date known yet). Princess Melanie is the daughter of Prince and Princess Wautier de Ligne, the granddaughter of Prince Antoine de Ligne and Princess Alix of Luxembourg who is sister to Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. Her uncle, Prince Michel, is head of the Ligne house, successor of the famous Belgian Prince Eugene de Ligne who might have been our king.

Is Willem I Statue a Sign?

2011-05-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

A committee in the city of Ghent has asked to put up a statue of King Willem I of the Netherlands, saying that he was very good for their city. This caused some disquieted feelings when I saw the news but not only because of this alone. It is not so bad for Ghent to want a statue of King Willem I (though I am unsure of other countries with statues of foreign kings put up in today's times). He was, after all, a figure of Belgian history and he was our monarch as part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from the defeat of Waterloo to the 1830 Revolution. That conflict and the independence probably would not have been able to happen if Willem I had been not so heavy-handed but regardless, it is true he was a significant figure. Taken together though with the risen popularity of the Flemish radical nationalists, the inability to form a government and the recent suggestion by the NV-A that the Benelux countries combine their militaries to save costs all makes me worry that Belgium (and possibly even Luxembourg) could be lost in such a union so much dominated by the greater numbers of the Dutch. I like the Netherlands, I like their Family Royal and admire their history, all they accomplished around the world and I want to be good neighbors but I do not want anything that endangers the continued life and independence of the Belgian kingdom.