The Royal Palace of Brussels shared the titles of three books recommended by Queen Mathilde at the beginning of November. The Queen of the Belgians recommends three captivating historical stories, which will complement Queen Camilla's reading recommendations.
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Queen Mathilde's reading advice to members of Queen Camilla's book club
Queen Mathilde of Belgium, 51, chose to enrich her British counterpart's reading club by sharing three book tips to get. Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom is passionate about reading and opened a virtual library during confinement, which gradually transformed into a real foundation dedicated to the promotion of reading and the creation of libraries. The Royal Palace of Brussels shared the Queen of the Belgians' reading choice on its social networks in order to encourage British readers to discover Belgian authors. The books offered for reading by the wife of King Philippe are “captivating historical stories with reflections on the beauty of everyday life”specifies the Palace.
Among these books which “inspire reflection, understanding and appreciation of the world around us”, we discover, unsurprisingly, one of Queen Mathilde's favorite authors, Bart Van Loo. For several years, the author has known that Queen Mathilde reads his books: “Queen Mathilde loved my book”the history enthusiast proudly declared to La Libre, in 2021. The Palais has chosen to present books that have met with a certain success and which have been translated into English. The first book proposed by Queen Mathilde is none other than the author's best-seller: “ The Bold – When Burgundy challenged Europe ».
“Bart Van Loo powerfully brings us back to the Middle Ages”explains Queen Mathilde to justify her choice. “In a very colorful and entertaining style, he tells the reader how the Dukes of Burgundy shaped what we know today as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern France. He succeeds in transforming historical figures into real, flesh-and-blood people that you would have liked to know. Don't let the 600 pages put you off, this book reads like a thriller. »
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Queen Mathilde offers three thought-provoking books
The second book that found favor with Queen Mathilde was “ Amnesics », written by Géraldine Schwarz. This bestselling book, translated into many languages, tells how the writer confronted her family history, after discovering the atrocities committed by her grandfather against the Jews. In this book, Géraldine Schwarz “dares to confront his family tree by telling his family history”explains Queen Mathilde. This book, which won the European Book Prize in 2018, “questions our past and our present as Europeans. It invites us to think about how nations should deal with collective guilt and how to ensure that we remember. “It’s a book you’re likely to discuss with family, friends, or in class.”
The third book is “ Celebration of everyday life », written in 1997 by the Belgian author Colette Nys-Mazure, now in her eighties. This book is a collection of short, poetic, thought-provoking texts. “Colette Nys-Masure's wonderful book invites us to appreciate the little things in our lives, because in the daily routine, we are often elsewhere, absent from ourselves, deaf to the permanent miracle that is our ordinary life”explains Queen Mathilde. “I hope his lesson in hope appeals to you as much as it appealed to me. »
Nicolas Fontaine
Editor-in-chief
Nicolas Fontaine has been a designer-editor and author for numerous Belgian and French brands and media. A specialist in royal family news, Nicolas founded the site Histoires royales of which he is the editor-in-chief. [email protected]
