The Royalty Nerd

One of the last state visits of the year saw the King and Queen of the Belgians head on over to Germany. It was a busy and sometimes chilly trip, so let’s dive right in.

Departing Belgium:

The King and Queen of the Belgians bid farewell to Belgium on December 5th. On any state visit, the royals don’t go alone, and this time they were accompanied by several government officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, and Foreign Trade, the Minister-President of the Brussels Capital region, the Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels federation, the Minister-President of the German speaking community, the Vice-President-Minister of the Flemish government, and the Vice-President of the Walloon government.

Phew.

Anyway, Queen Mathilde wore an Esmeralda Ammoun coat that I absolutely love.

Day 1: Dec 5th-Berlin

The royals touched down in Berlin, and as typical for royal ladies, there was an outfit change on the plane.

They were greeted by the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Büdenbender. As typical for Mathilde, she was in full Natan.

They also visited the Brandenburg Gate with the Mayor of Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate was built in the 18th century and is a major attraction in Germany.

The King also placed a wreath in the Neue Wache. The Neue Wache was built in the 19th century and since 1993 it’s been home to the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny. It is also the resting place of an unknown soldier as well as a victim of a Nazi concentration camp. The statue pictured above is called Mother with her Dead Son by Käthe Kollwitz, and is dedicated to her own son, who died in World War I.

That evening, there was a state banquet in honour of the visit.

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Queen Mathilde wore an Armani Privé gown, along with her diamond necklace and the base of the Nine Provinces tiara.

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Here’s a better look. The Nine Provinces tiara is Belgium’s grandest tiara but to be quite honest with you… I don’t like it too much. It’s just okay. The base is much more palatable on it’s own so while wearing the base alone is a bit small for a queen, in my humble opinion, I also much prefer it to the full version of the piece.

Day 2: Dec 6th-Berlin

The King and Queen visited the German Aeronautical Centre to talk about how Belgium and Germany work together in the space sector. They also spoke with astronauts, politicians, scientists about space, and finally met with students from Belgium that were receiving lessons at the German Aeronautical Centre.

This was pretty cool. King Philippe got to revisit a childhood memory. In that case there is a piece of the moon, which was presented to his uncle, King Baudouin. He got to take a look at this chunk of the moon when he was a kid!

There was a big focus on the energy sector for day two of the trip. So with that in mind, the King and Queen also visited with those involved in the energy sector, including operators, infrastructure companies, such as Elia Group.

At the 50Hertz headquarters, which is a subsidiary of Elia Group, they learned about the world’s first energy island: Princess Elisabeth Island, in the North Sea. This is a project of Elia Group and will act as an electricity hub. Cables from an offshore wind zone will connect to the mainland and create new electrical connections for various countries.

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They also visited S27, which is a centre that helps young people in Germany society integrate into their communities more with art and socio-professional training. They also attended a few workshops available, including cooking classes and woodworking!

In the evening, they hosted a return concert for the President and his wife. The concert featured musicians and singers interpret the works of several composers, such as Mozart and Schubert.

Queen Mathilde wore Natan once again for the morning and afternoon events. For the evening concert, she wore, you guessed it, Natan as well.

Day 3: Dec 7th-Dresden

Day three had the royals in Dresden.

They kicked off the day visiting with Imec, which is an organization that focuses on research in nano-electronics. They got a look at how Imec works with X-Fab and how they work together on semiconductors (please don’t ask me to explain, I’m already confused). They did get a good look at how microchips are created though.

While in Dresden, they also visited the Old Masters Picture Gallery to see the work being done restoring paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.

While in Dresden, they also did a walk by of the Fürstenzug, or the Procession of Princes. This is a massive mural that depicts the thirty-five margraves, electors, dukes, and kings of the House of Wettin from 1127 to 1904. I remember seeing this in person when I visited Dresden, and it’s blew my mind a little bit with the sheer size of it.

The state visit concluded with a drink at the Christmas market!

For day three of the visit, Queen Mathilde wore a Christian Dior outfit.

The Germans and the Belgians seemed to be genuinely enjoying each other’s company on this trip. As this is one of the last few state visits of the year, I’d say this was a good one!