110721 National Day Belgium II

King Albert II Applauded for Speech

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

Leopold Ier becomes first King of the Belgians!

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.

New Photos of Royal Family

Flemish Queen of England

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

 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

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?

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

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

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

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

The Beast of Berlin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!