Sure, most incidents are caused by Laurent but Astrid also had her moments. It's unprofessional to openly show discontent with staff members, or to miss out quite a few of the mayor events she was expected to attend etc.
I am interested in those incidents; could you please provide further details (or a link)?
And it's not Astrid's fault but her father's decision to ask for a dotation for his younger kids is haunting the RF since decades. It was one of the biggest misjudgements and it needs to be fixed soon. But I should have started a new paragraph as this was a more general remark.
I would say it has been fixed with, as you noted, the overhaul of the dotation system to withhold dotations from the next generation of younger siblings.
Had his mother been retired she would not have been out and about representing the monarchy two days after the incident became known. She would have gotten away with a 'no comment' as she would not have a relevant role any longer. And the Prime minister who attended the opening of the Atomium with her would not have felt the need to come to her rescue with the statement 'case closed', which was well intended but only made matters worse. The public would not have to think about the possibility of Astrid being ill and spreading the virus during the opening. She was invited to make sure the visitors of the Atomium and other attractions felt confident and safe about going there. But now the focus totally shifted and people are angry because they feel that rules are only for Joe Average. Had she not been a paid working member of the RF it would still have been bad but the impact would have been smaller imo.
To clarify, is it your belief that the public anger at rules being only for Joe Average would have been lessened if Prince Joachim was only the grandson and not the son of a paid working royal? And that if Princess Astrid had not been a paid working royal, whichever paid working royal opened the Atomium would not have had to face the same questions that she did?
It was reported in the Belgian press prior to the visit that both Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz had tested negative (which she confirmed).
That already happened. Only Elisabeth gets a dotation. The younger children will be private persons, who must earn their keep. They are only entitled to a reimbursement of expenses if they represent the crown. (see the law concerning the dotations from Nov 23rd 2013)
We will see how it plays out. There are manifold European royals who are treated as public persons with public duties without receiving any government dotation. For the moment all of King Philippe's children are treated as public persons. On the royal family website they rank above the King's working royal siblings and retired working royal parents. Their birthdays are acknowledged on the royal social media and photographs are published.
Joachim, Astrid and Lorenz certainly knew only essential travels were allowed. And they all knew that attending a party under the cover of an internship isn't a valid reason for travelling to Spain. They all thought Joachim would fly under the radar and no one would notice.
There were people dying in their hospital beds without their relatives being able to comfort them. Funerals were held with a minimum attendance, weddings and birthday parties were cancelled, grandparents hadn't seen their grandkids in ages and yet Joachim travels around in Europe like rules are not for him. Out of respect and solidarity he should have stayed home. Sure, he is a grown up man and it was his decision to travel. But he did live under one roof with his parents. They certainly talked about the travel and Astrid and Lorenz could have convinced him that this is a bad idea since he certainly did not make the right decision. A 'no comment' is not the adequate answer in this situation.
We will have to disagree about the "certainty" that the prince's parents were aware of the birthday plans and he would not have attended without their consent. It is possible that it happened exactly as you believe it did. But I see nothing unbelievable in the possibility of an adult disregarding his parents' wishes (particularly an adult who disregarded the rules intended to protect his fellow guests).
If the Royal Palace and the Ortiz Martínez-Sagrera family can be believed, Prince Joachim had a legally valid reason for "essential travel", specifically a professional internship. If it is true that the internship was arranged as a cover for attending a party, then that would indeed be an abuse of the laws.