Prince Philippe is Ready

Prins Filip is klaar om zijn vader op te volgen wanneer hem dat wordt gevraagd. Dat zei hij aan het slot van zijn handelsmissie naat Vietnam. Zes dagen was hij in Hanoi en Ho Chi Minh-stad om de Belgische economie te promoten.

In het gesprek met journalisten na afloop werd de prins gefeliciteerd met het vooruitzicht dat hij in 2013 koning wordt. Dat immers had Le Soir geschreven: op 21 juli is de troonsoverdracht. ,,We zijn nog altijd 2012. Als u mij wilt feliciteren, is het omwille van de geslaagde missie", aldus Filip, die het gesprek snel over een andere boeg gooide.

Maar de verslaggevers lieten de kans niet zo maar voorbij gaan. Is de prins klaar voor het koningschap? ,,Het is niet aan mij om dat te beoordelen. Ik vind dat mijn vader zijn werk goed doet. Ik help hem zoveel mogelijk. Wanneer men mij het vraagt, als het mij wordt gevraagd, dan sta ik klaar om hem op te volgen."

Geen ongebruikelijk antwoord, maar volgens een aantal Belgische media een signaal dat de troonswisseling niet langer een taboe onderwerp is. Vorig jaar in China zei Filip nog, doelend op zijn vader koning Albert II ,,Ik praat niet graag over anderen als ze er niet bij zijn." © GPD

My opinion is that I think Prince Philippe is absolutely ready and would be an ideal King, I always think he has performed excellently and I hate when people insult him. I do not like though the feeling of "rushing" the King out of his job. I prefer the King to reign until his death and then the next generation take over. That has always been the tradition, only one time has a King abdicated before his death and that was with very unfortunate and unfair circumstances for Leopold III. Also it would concern me then that how quickly the media would be asking when Philippe is to step down for his daughter? Of course, the King has had to deal with tremendous difficulties and there would be no fault in him wanting to retire to peace and quiet for his elder years. That should be his decision alone. For myself though I prefer the old mentality that the Crown is a commitment for a lifetime of service. When the time comes, whenever it comes I think Philippe and Mathilde will be a great King and Queen.

The King Will Not Quit

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!

Father to Son

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.

Exit King Leopold III

King Leopold III was a great man in the history of the Belgian monarchie. But on July 16, 1951 he abdicated the throne which had been "empty" since the ending days of World War II when the King was taken away by the Germans and Prince Charles was named regent (they are seen here together). This can be seen as a confusing situation to many people and it was a confusing situation for Belgians as well. Leopold III has been misrepresented by every party since the Second Great War. He was accused by the Allies of surrendering too soon, but that is not true, he fought on until he was totally surrounded, saving the British army in the process. He was accused of treason by some politicians in exile, but that is not true, he always stood firmly for independence and the national sovereignty of Belgium. He was accused of collaboration with the Germans, but that is not true, he was their prisoner the entire time, even being taken by force out of Belgium at the end.

S.M. King Leopold III was a great man and, I believe, the country would have been much better off if he had simply taken affairs into his own hands to rule the country himself. However, this could only have happened if the Germans had remained victorious and the Germans showed little or no support for Belgium even existing if they had won the war. They were more inclined to support the breakup of Belgium since many collaborators in Flanders and Netherland supported the "Greater Netherlands" idea. Yet, when the sad day of abdication and the crisis called the "Royal Question" came up, most conclude that Leopold III had more support in Flanders than in Wallonia. None of it really makes any sense. The King was supported by most people after the war too, and I would have liked him to have returned and dealt with opposition firmly. But, the King was more kind than I and he abdicated because he put his country's peace and unity first and if it would cause discomfort for the country for him to remain as King, regardless of most supporting him, he would be obligated to abdicate his throne.

It was an unfair and terrible thing to do but the King was guided by compassion to do it, which action itself should show how untrue were the lies his enemies said about him being someone who wanted to be a dictator-royale. I think it would have been better for him to do just that! Let the purge happen if necessary, but, the King was a compassionate man who did not want to put his people through any more trauma. That is the great and special bond that exists in Belgium because of the monarchie populaire, the King is not the ruler of a government or a piece of land but King of a people and the people were the first concern of Leopold III. But this is exactly why his abdication and loss was so bad, for that same reason, that he was a man to do that proves that he was the monarch of that type who is most needed.

The politicians who were often in opposition to the King, even before the war to be truthful about it, encouraged the opposition against him just as they encouraged division in their country because they would do anything to increase and maintain their own hold on power. This proves, again, how vital the monarchie is. Just as Francis Balace said, "Face aux politiciens de plus en plus discrédités, le Roi a l'avantage d'être le seul dont l'homme de la rue puisse jurer que son intérêt personnel coïncide avec celui du pays".

Abdication du Roi Leopold III des Belges