“Sire, proceeding, last year, in this same Palace, to the celebration of the marriage of Your beloved brother, the Prince Albert, I underlined that only four of my predecessors had had the honour of uniting a royal prince or princess of Belgium.
“Today, my colleagues and I join in an event even more exceptional, as it is the first time, since 1830, that the solemn ceremony of the marriage of the sovereign happens in the national territory. This historic circumstance will be, for us, the most moving souvenir of our careers.
“Madam, on Your Joyeuse Entrée in the capital as in many other cities of the country, You were surprised and intensely touched by the enthusiastic and passionate welcome of this Belgian people, considered distant and cold, but that rejoices when its most inner feelings are touched.
“You arrive, Madam, preceded by the praising of Your qualities of heart and soul by the Spanish people, but it was the immediate perception of Your simplicity, of Your grace and of Your goodwill that conquered the people since Your first contact. This people, to whom the King has given You while electing You, gave themselves to You, spontaneously and with all their soul.

“Sire, Madam, after the difficult moments the King has already gone through, You will now walk together the route of the future, full of radiant hopes for Your own happiness, that one of the Royal Family and the one of Your people. This is, together with humble and sincere congratulations, the certainty that in this prodigious day I have the satisfaction to express to You in their name.”

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