Belgian Royals Run in New York

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!

Princess Astrid to Run Marathon

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.

Le Prince Lorenz de Belgique

Le prince Lorenz de Belgique - Blog sur famille royale belge

How does 'Emperor Lorenzo' sound?

I alluded earlier to this subject, a thought that first came to me commenting on another blog about the late Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. I know, or know some people 'in the know' about the imperialists of Mexico and the heir to their monarchy, one Hungarian-Australian named Count Maximilian von Goetzen-Iturbide, never seems to have even visited Mexico and shows no interest in restoring the Mexican Empire or taking any leadership of the legacy of the empire for the Mexican imperialists. So, what about the Mexicans starting over and trying again? I would suggest a good candidate for their throne would be our own Prince Lorenz of Belgium. Think about the similarities. Like Maximilian he is an Austrian archduke, House of Hapsburg like the first Christian monarchs to rule over Mexico, and he and Maximilien share an Italian connection. Maxil was Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia and Prince Lorenz is of the Italian branch of the Hapsburg dynasty and titular Duke of Modena. Both are also married to beautiful Belgian princesses, which of course is a big plus!

Prince Lorenz also has some benefits poor Emperor Maximilian did not have. First place he has a nice family so there is no worry over the succession to the throne. He is also very well educated in business and economics (from what I know Maximilian was terrible with money issues) and so he could maybe do what is needed to take Mexico out of poverty and put her on a good financial platform. Of course the family are good Catholics like most Mexicans and since there is no French empire involved anymore the United States should have no legitimate grounds for complaint if Prince Lorenz were to become "Emperor Lorenzo of Mexico" (I say legitimate only because I know they would anyway just because the US does not like monarchies at all and does not want any in America especially).

Obviously this is a daydream like I am told, but it is a fun one and an idea that has stuck in my mind since I thought of it. How could such a thing be worked out today? I have been thinking of fictional scenarios for this and maybe, just for fun, I will post them here as a sort of alternate-current events serial. It might be fun, if for me and no one else. Also, if I can "scoop" a friend, I am told that a deeper look at the real historical Belgian army that served in Mexico back in the time of Maximilian and Charlotte will be coming on another blog and I will certainly be linking to that. I wish someone would make a movie or even a good historical novel about that. I think it would make a great adventure story. I also will mention, in connection to my last blog entry, in the Indiana Jones movies, where did the hero meet his Belgian friend and decide to join the Belgian army in World War I? It was in Mexico, fighting in the revolution with Pancho Villa. You see, I am finding lots of fateful reasons to carry on these fancies.