20 January marked the 50th birthday of Queen Mathilde, wife of King Philippe of Belgium. In celebration of the happy milestone, the Belgian royal family released two elegant new portraits of Mathilde – including one that graces a new commemorative stamp.
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Taken by Brussels-based photographer Michel Gronemberger, the Belgian Royal Palace unveiled the images on Instagram, writing: ‘Hooray, the Queen turns 50 today!’ The first picture is a full-length portrait, showing Mathilde standing in a doorway, dressed in a chic white top and trouser set, accessorised with nude heels and pearl earrings.
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In the second, taken in front of the Palace’s Winter Garden, the queen dons a black and white skirt and a white blouse as she poses with the magnificent Royal Greenhouses in the background. The Royal Palace revealed in the caption that this portrait has been used for the design of a new commemorative stamp, issued by Bpost (the Belgian Post Group) in honour of Mathilde’s birthday.
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Another Instagram post offers insight into the creation of the new stamp, with a video of its manufacturing process. The Palace captioned the clip: ‘The postman brought us... the Queen’s new stamp! This is a unique stamp designed in collaboration with @bpost to celebrate the Queen’s 50th birthday!’
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The day before Mathilde’s birthday, the Royal Palace delighted its social media followers by releasing a series of images delving back through the queen’s life, chronicling her biography to date in three sections. Part one, entitled ‘the queen’s youth’, includes an adorable snap of a 10-month-old Mathilde in 1973; an image from her school days; and photos of her travels in Tibet and Peru. The second instalment takes royal fans through ‘her life as a princess’, from her marriage to Prince Philippe in 1999; through to the birth of their first daughter, Princess Elisabeth, in 2001; and some of Mathilde’s many philanthropic ventures, including as Honorary President of UNICEF Belgium.
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King Philippe ascended to the throne in 2013 upon the abdication of his father, Albert II. The final series of images centres on Mathilde’s ‘life as a queen’, from driving to the Royal Palace with her husband after his swearing in as king; to charity engagements with Princess Elisabeth; and a speech Mathilde delivered at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2019, in her capacity as advocate for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
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Born in Uccle on 20 January 1973, the daughter of Count and Countess Patrick d’Udekem d’Acoz, Mathilde is the first native-born Belgian queen. Formerly a speech therapist, it came as a surprise when her engagement to the then heir-apparent to the throne, Prince Philippe, was announced. The couple wed in Brussels in 1999, with a civil ceremony at the Brussels Town Hall and a religious one at the Cathedral of S. Michael and St Gudula, with the bride donning a gown by Belgian designer Édouard Vermeulen. They have four children, Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (born in 2001); Prince Gabriel (born in 2003); Prince Emmanuel (born in 2005); and Princess Eléonore (born in 2008).
