How many synonyms are there for "classic"? I might need them all.
The Belgian royal family celebrated National Day yesterday, attending a Te Deum and a parade. King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, and their four children (Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, and Princess Eléonore) were in attendance.
This whole picture could serve as the definition of the word, as a matter of fact. Paste it right there in the dictionary. This is one nice, elegantly dressed family all around - a model of royal special event dressing, basically.
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| Royal Palace |
Mathilde, of course, was dressed by Natan in a new pale pink dress of organza and lace, topped by a matching hat from Fabienne Delvigne. And matching accessories all the way down, because Mathilde. Princess Elisabeth was looking a little chic too, in a dress from Brussels-born Diane von Furstenberg (per
ModeKoninginMathilde) and her updo. Introducing them to #TeamUpdo early and often is a parenting decision I can get behind.
Happy Friday to all you members of #TeamGloves. She has one glove removed for shaking hands, in case you're wondering.
Later, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde visited the festivities in the park.
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| Royal Palace |
This is a lovely summer dress - and such a great spot for a colorful belt - just to cap the day's successes.
On the other hand, here's Prince Laurent, the King's brother and resident family black
sheep, chatting on his phone during the parade. For the second year in a
row.
And sitting all by himself on his section of the dais, because his wife, Princess Claire, and his sister and brother-in-law, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, didn't attend. Astrid's absence in particular is very unusual. Speculating on the status of an alleged rift in the Belgian royal family has been a popular gossip sport for years, and...well...this year's National Day didn't do anything to help. (To be fair, Astrid and Lorenz did go to a Te Deum in a separate town earlier, and Astrid had another engagement in the evening. They also went to a pre-National Day concert with Mathilde and Philippe.) I'm not among those royal watchers that enjoy picking apart who misses each event and why/why not, but - if this is actually much ado about nothing - I am surprised to see a rumor mill so willingly fueled.
Programming Note: Starting next week, we'll move to our usual summer posting schedule while most of the royals are hidden away on holidays. That means Tidbits moves to Mondays, and we continue with posts on Monday through Friday, with one post instead of two on Thursdays. See you Monday!
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