This Wednesday, December 18, the royal family welcomed half a thousand people to the Throne Room of the royal palace in Brussels to attend the recording of the traditional Christmas concert. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were surrounded by their two daughters, Princess Éléonore and Princess Élisabeth.
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The Belgian royal family thanks those who contributed to the smooth running of royal activities
The Christmas concert is a well-established tradition of the Belgian royal family. Every year, the rulers organize a concert at the royal palace, choosing a theme to select their guests. This year, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde invited around 500 people who “contributed to the smooth running of royal activities in 2023 and 2024”explains the Palace.
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King Philippe and Queen Mathilde wanted to thank these people “for their welcome within their organization or their help in organizing activities at the Royal Palace”. The recording of the concert took place this Wednesday, December 18, 2024 and the concert will then be broadcast on numerous private and public channels in the country, around December 25. King Philippe, 64, and Queen Mathilde, 51, were accompanied by their two daughters, Princess Élisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, 23, and Princess Éléonore, 16. Their two boys, Prince Gabriel and Prince Emmanuel, were absent, both held back by their studies.
Prince Gabriel is in his third year at the Royal Military School and has just completed an Erasmus at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in Brittany. As for Prince Emmanuel, this year he joined a sports academy in Spain where he trains football intensively. Princess Elisabeth began her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard, near Boston, and Princess Éléonore continues her secondary studies at the International School of Brussels.
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Princess Élisabeth and Princess Éléonore accompany the royal couple to the recording of the Christmas concert
This concert marks the great return of the event to the Throne Room, which has regained all its splendor. In recent years, the royal palace has undergone renovation of the facades and certain rooms, notably preventing the use of the Throne Room for last year’s concert. The Royal Orchestra of the Chamber of Wallonia and the MuCH Ensemble accompanied the singers. Two choirs were also invited to enrich the accompaniment. The Children’s Choir of the Flanders Opera-Ballet and the mastery of the Royal Opera of Wallonia-Liège.
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The guest singers were Fleur Strijbos and baritone Oleg Volkov, resident of the Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel. Singer Mentissa, known for her participation in The Voice, was also on the program, covering compositions by Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Gruber and Britten, under the direction of conductor Vahan Mardirossian.
The royal family took the opportunity to pose together in front of the majestic Christmas trees and nativity scene. Queen Mathilde wore a creation from the Natan fashion house. Queen Mathilde once again trusted Edouard Vermeulen to dress her on this special day. This pleated, high-neck red satin dress fit the Christmas theme perfectly.
Princess Elisabeth, returned from the United States where she has been studying since the start of the academic year, wore a burgundy velvet dress. According to Garde Robe Royale, the velvet dress worn by Princess Elisabeth was also a Natan creation. Princess Elisabeth also wore for the first time a ruby bracelet that belonged to Queen Fabiola. As for Princess Éléonore, she also looked very elegant in a silver Ralph Lauren dress.
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]
