Prominent Poles
Mathilde DHS (née Mathilde Marie Christiane Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz) is the Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Philippe, who ascended the throne on 21 July 2013. She is the first Belgian-born Queen consort of the Belgians, and the only one with noble ancestry among the current consorts of Europe.
Born: January 20, 1973 in Uccle, Belgium
Early life.
Though her grandfather and her uncle were barons, she and her father were members of the untitled nobility. Mathilde grew up at the family estate, Castle Losange in Villers-la-Bonne-Eau (fr), Bastogne. Mathilde's father was Count Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz of Walloon noble ancestry; her mother was Countess Anna Maria Komorowska The Komorowski family is well known for Count Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish Commander-in-Chief and Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile, as well as for Count Bronisław Komorowski , the current President of Poland. Upon the accession of her husband, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant to the throne of Belgium she became the first Belgian queen consort of native Belgian nationality. Mathilde has three younger sisters and one younger brother.
Education
Queen Mathilde attended secondary school at the Institut de la Vierge Fidèle in Brussels. She then studied speech therapy at the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels from 1991 to 1994 and earned a diploma with high honors . Mathilde then worked as a speech therapist in her own practice in Brussels from 1995 to 1999. She also studied psychology at the Université catholique de Louvain and earned a master's degree in psychology with honors. She speaks French, Dutch, English and Italian. Her mother, who spent most of her life outside of Poland, did not teach her Polish, thinking that it would not be necessary. Therefore, Mathilde knows only a few words in Polish.
Marriage and children
Mathilde married Philippe on 4 December 1999 in Brussels, civilly at the Brussels Town Hall and religiously at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudula. She was made Princess of Belgium on 8 November 1999 .The couple have four children: Princess Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène, Duchess of Brabant; Prince Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie; Prince Emmanuel Léopold Guillaume François Marie; Princess Eléonore Fabiola Victoria Anne Marie. Princess Elisabeth, the couple's eldest child, is the first in line to the throne. The Queen is also godmother to two princesses: Princess Alexia of the Netherlands and Princess Isabella of Denmark.
Royal role.
As Queen of the Belgians, Mathilde carries out a number of official roles, including representing Belgium on state visits, receiving state visits from abroad, and as patron of many charities. She takes part in the annual World Economic Forum in Davos; since 2007, the Queen has been a member of the Young Global Leaders group. With King Philippe, she has led economic missions to the USA in 2011 and to Vietnam in 2012. Since 2009, Queen Mathilde has been the Honorary President of Unicef Belgium. She serves as the World Health Organisation’s Special Representative for Immunization.. She set up the Princess Mathilde fund in 2001, which promotes the care of vulnerable people and awards an annual prize for good works in a particular sector which changes each year. She also presides at the ceremony awarding the King Baudouin International Development Prize.
Before the wedding, by means of a Royal Order of 8 November 1999, Mathilde was made a princess of Belgium in her own right. This Royal Order entered into force on the date of the wedding. The wife of a Belgian prince used to receive this title automatically, but a special creation is now required. In addition, her father and two uncles were elevated to the rank of count.
Belgian honors:
Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
Foreign honors: Finland, Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose (2004); Holy See,Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (2010); Luxembourg, Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (2007); Netherlands,Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (2006); Norway,Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav (2003);Poland, Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2004); Portugal, Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Christ (2006); Spain,Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2000); Sweden, Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (2001).
Source:
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mathilde_Queen_of_belgium"" Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
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