Queen Mathilde of Belgium becomes 50
There was once a very noble girl ...
It could be the start of a fairy tale, but in fact this was the start
of Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.
A girl!
Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz was born
on 20 January 1973 at Edith Cavell Hospital in Uccle, Belgium.
Her parents are Count and Countess Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz.
Mathilde had three sisters:
Marie-Alix (died in 1997) ,
Elisabeth, married to Margrave Alfonso Pallavicini
Hélène, married to baron Nicolas Janssen
and one brother Charles-Henri, who married to Caroline Philippe.
👉 Mathilde is the only Belgian Queen who is born in Belgium!
own picture taken at royal palace in Brussels
Childhood and education
Mathilde attended primary school in Bastogne.
Mathilde lived together with her family at Château de Losange.
This had an interesting royal connection.
It was here that Princess Marie José ,daughter of King Albert I
and Queen Elisabeth, announced her engagement
to Crown Prince Umberto of Italy.
At the age of 13, Mathilde went to Brussels, she studied modern
languages at the Institut Vierge Fidèle.
Princess Astrid of Belgium also studied in this school.
From 1991 until 1994, Mathilde attended the Institut Libre Marie Haps
in Brussels, where she studied speech therapy and graduated
magna cum laude.
She worked as a speech therapist in her own practice in Brussels from
1995 to 1999. She also worked part-time at a primary school.
During the summer time, she accompanied the sick and elderly
on the Lourdes trains of the Order of Malta.
When she was 18 years old, Mathilde became a volunteer in the
the slums of Cairo.
She also studied psychology at the Université catholique de Louvain
and earned a master's degree in psychology in 2002 with
honours (cum laude).
Love and Marriage
heir-apparent Prince Philippe came as a surprise to the country.
Palace of Laken.
civilly at the Brussels Town Hall and religiously at the
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.
Titles
8 November 1999 (published on 13 November 1999 and
effective from 4 December 1999).
Duke of Brabant in 1999, King Albert II of Belgium elevated
the d'Udekem d'Acoz family from the baronial to the comital
rank, hereditary in the male lineage. Upon the accession of her
husband, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant to the throne of Belgium
she became the first queen consort of native Belgian nationality.
Children
at Erasmus Hospital in Brussels
throne and ahead of her younger brothers and sister, who are second,
third, and fourth in line to succeed, owing to a change in Belgian
succession laws in 1991, allowing for the eldest child to
succeed, regardless of sex.
Princess Isabella of Denmark.
Belgium (picture taken in 2021)
Duty
including education, child poverty, intergenerational poverty,
the position of women in society and literacy.
Unicef Belgium.
She serves as the World Health Organization's Special Representative for
Immunization. She also the honorary president of the Breast International
Group, a non-profit organisation for academic breast cancer
research groups from around the world.
in 2001, which promotes the care of vulnerable people and awards an
annual prize for good works in a particular sector.
women's health, and protecting young people from violence.
citizens who are struggling to cope with financial hardship in their
daily lives and often turn to her as a last resort.
for missing and sexually exploited children.
, an international competition founded in 1937 as an initiative of
Queen Elisabeth and Belgian composer and violist Eugène Ysaÿe.
Federal Council for Sustainable Development.
According to the royal tradition, Queen Mathilde became an
honorary member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.
Goal Advocate in 2016, promoting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(2030 Agenda for global sustainable development).
As an SDG Advocate, she is particularly focused on mental health.
King Baudouin International Development Prize.
King Philippe, Crown Princess Elisabeth and Prince Gabriel. Prince Emmanuel
plays Saxophone and Princess Eléonore violin.
tennis. At the Royal Glasshouses of Laeken there even is a swimming pool!
which is close to the Royal Palace. More about the history of the Avenue Louise
on this link. There also is the shop of her favourite couturier Natan.
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A book
book in Dutch was written by Brigitte Balfoort and Joëlle Vanden Houden.
Family ties
Netty Royal on this link
An exclusive interview
composed by Eva Peeters.
Queen Fabiola:
than we speak. Then the world would be a better place."
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