Queen Mathilde of Belgium
Mathilde Marie -Christine Ghislaine d' Udekem d' Acoz ( born January 20, 1973 in Uccle / Ukkel ) is Queen of the Belgians and married to the Belgian King Philippe.
Life
The aristocrat was born of Belgian nobility on 20 January 1973 in Ukkel, a daughter of Count Patrick d' Udekem d' Acoz (April 28, 1936 - September 25, 2008 ) and Countess Anna Maria Komorowska (* September 24, 1946 ). Patrick d' Udekem d' Acoz is the son of Baron Charles d' Udekem d' Acoz (1885-1968) and Suzanne van Outryve d' Ydewalle ( 1898-1983 ). On the occasion of the marriage of his daughter with the Crown Prince, he was elevated to the hereditary title of Count. The mother, Anna Komorowska, is the daughter of Count Leon Michał Komorowski (1907-1992) and Princess Zofia Sapieha - Kodenska ( 1919-1997 ). The Komorowski are an old Polish noble family to which, among other things, Count Tadeusz Komorowski, the leader of the Warsaw Uprising and 1947-1949 president of the Polish government in exile, as well as the current Polish President Bronisław Komorowski belong.
Mathilde has four younger siblings: Marie -Alix (* 1974; came in 1997 his mother together with her grandmother, Sophia Sapieha - Kodenska, in a car accident ), Elizabeth ( b. 1977, married with Marquis Alfonso Pallavicini ), Hélène ( b. 1979 ) and Charles -Henri (* 1985). Mathilde grew up in the Castle of Losange in Villers -la- Bonne- Eau (village of Bastogne, Luxembourg Province) on.
After she had attended primary school in Bastogne and finished high school at the Institut de la Vierge Fidele in Brussels, Mathilde studied from 1991 to 1994 in Brussels at the Institut Libre Marie Haps. From 1995 to 1999 she was in the Belgian capital in private practice, where he worked as a speech therapist; by the way, she studied at the Catholic University of Louvain psychology and made there in 2002 her psychology degree cum laude.
HM King Philippe HM Queen Mathilde
- HRH Crown Princess Elisabeth
- HRH Prince Gabriel
- HRH Prince Emmanuel
- HRH Princess Eléonore
HM King Albert II HM Queen Paola
- IKKH Princess Astrid HRH Prince Lorenz, Archduke of Austria - D'Este HRH Prince Amadeo
- IKKH Princess Maria Laura
- HRH Prince Joachim
- IKKH Princess Luisa Maria
- IKKH Princess Laetitia Maria
- HRH Princess Louise
- HRH Prince Nicolas
- HRH Prince Aymeric
HM Queen Fabiola
At the time of her psychology studies Mathilde met at a tennis match her future husband, Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium, know. In the following three years, the relationship of the opposite public was so well kept secret that in 1999 made famous engagement talk of an arranged marriage was.
She speaks fluent English, French, Italian and Dutch. She loves music ( playing himself piano), literature and sports.
The Queen is particularly committed to children and has assumed the patronage of various projects. 2000 "Princess Mathilde Fund " was established, which selects projects that have set themselves the goal to support the socially disadvantaged and the weak.
Queen Matilda is the godmother of Princess Alexia of Orange- Nassau and Princess Isabella of Denmark.
In 2007 she joined her husband Prince Philippe in the Pontifical Equestrian Order of the Holy grave of Jerusalem, since 2010 with the rank of Grand Cross Dame.
Family
On December 4, 1999 Mathilde and Philippe were married in the last royal wedding of the 20th century. Through her marriage Mathilde received the title Princess of Belgium.
Mathilde and Philippe have four children together:
- Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène (born 25 October 2001 in Anderlecht)
- Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie / Gabriël Boudewijn Karel Maria ( born August 20, 2003 in Anderlecht)
- Emmanuel Leopold Guillaume François Marie ( born October 4, 2005 in Anderlecht)
- Eléonore Fabiola Victoria Anne Marie ( born April 16, 2008 in Anderlecht)
Trivia
After the divorce, and the early death of Diana, Princess of Wales, née Lady Spencer, was Crown Princess Mathilde next to Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, née Duchess in Bavaria, and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Stéphanie, née Countess of Lannoy, one of only three European heir - wives, which were from a noble house.