Royal Ladies at QEC 2009 Luncheon

Queen Fabiola, Princess Mathilde, Princess Astrid and her husband, Archduke Lorenz, and Princess Claire had lunch today with the jury members of the Queen Elisabeth Competition – Violin, of which the semi-finals were performed yesterday evening. The lunch was hosted at the Royal Palace in Brussels. Queen Fabiola is the patron lady of the Competition. This year, members of the jury include Jaime Laredo and Martin Beaver.

The Queen Elisabeth Competition is one of the most difficult competitions for violin, piano and singing, which exists since 1951. Before the war, the Competition was known as the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition. Queen Elisabeth was always a gifted musician herself, just like Queen Fabiola after her, who used to play the piano quite well, even though she always minimized her efforts. The Competition is an opportunity for the Belgian Royal family to show their appreciation and support for the fine arts. There is always at least one of them attending each final, and often the concerts in between as well.

Queen Fabiola, who looked very well in her pale lilac attire, obviously enjoyed chatting with the jury members. Most remarkable are the shots of Princesses Mathilde and Claire, laughing and talking chummily together. If you take a look at the belga gallery here, it looks like the Princesses could hardly stop laughing, and they were telling a funny story… Prince Laurent and Prince Philippe were conspicuous by their absence, especially because their wives were having such a good time together. Where Prince Laurent was at this time, is not officially known. Prince Philippe, on the other hand, was travelling from Belgium to the Russian space pot in Baikonour, Kazachstan, where Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne will be launched to the ISS tomorrow around noon CET, together with a Russian and Canadian colleague.

For more information about the Queen Elisabeth Contest, see here.
For more information about the event, see this thread.

Filed under Austria-Hungary, Belgium
Tagged House of Austria-Este, Music, Patronage, Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Claire of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians.

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