It’s like a holiday air blowing across Europe. And Gotha does not escape this atmosphere. Before long, the various European royal families should take advantage of the summer months to rest and recharge their batteries. If Kate Middleton and Prince William should return to Windsor, to their residence at Adelaide Cottage, Philippe and Mathilde of Belgium should fly to France… Direction the Vendée and the island of Yeu, landmark of the royal family Belgian for decades. Close to Noirmoutier, this island is a little paradise, between winds and tides, it is the ideal place to discover numerous water sports, the passion of the King of the Belgians: “I have known the King for 15 years”confides Maxime Burgaud, director of the island’s sailing school to France Soir. “He was still a prince when I gave him private catamaran lessons, then sailing.”
Owner since 2019 of a typical small white house, with a tiled roof and windows with blue and gray shutters, Philippe from Belgium, aged 64, also practices kite surfing: “He does it here. […] And more recently, he started [au] wingsurf. […] He is very strong for his age”, continues the monitor. The king’s children, accustomed to spending their summers on this island, followed the same path as their father and all came “courses” in the island’s sailing school. Prince Gabriel has also become a sailing instructor and sometimes stops by to lend a hand: “You know, they are customers like any other. Very simple and discreet. We don’t know if they are kings or princes. It makes no difference to us, nor to them.”
Royal holidays on the island of Yeu
The King of the Belgians and the Isle of Yeu: a family story
Having become King of the Belgians in 2013, Philippe quickly wanted to find a little haven of peace, a reasonable distance from his country in case there was a problem. It was therefore natural that he thought of the island of Yeu where, as a child, he had already come: “He has always known the island!”, reveals Anne-Claude Cabilic, the first deputy mayor of the island. island. “Actually, it was his dad who came here first. […] King Philippe already came here when he was 12 years old”. After years of being welcomed by friends with a residence there, the Saxa-Cabourg family finally settled down in 2019, in a residence located on the Route du Ponant, a place called Le Caillou Blanc. Since then, on the island, the family has blended into the landscape… or almost: “The King of the Belgians? We never notice it. But we know he’s there…because of his bodyguards,” underlines a shop owner.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias.
Photo credits: Bestimage
