In the picture. King Filip turns 65, but he doesn’t want to think about retirement (Brussels)
Reading a good set of ears and a master’s degree in body language: a person needs to be able to understand King Filip. The man wants to speak on whisper tone more often, gently lettifying questions, afraid of saying wrong things, especially among journalists.
At the end of the state visit of King Filip and Queen Mathilde in Vietnam at the beginning of April, there was an « informal moment » with journalists in a hotel in Ho Chi Minh. Do not confuse ‘informal’ in this context with ‘spontaneous’. The king received questions about his 65th birthday. A clear answer did not come – that is typical of King Filip – but the body language spoke volumes: preferably no one reminded the man of the number that inevitably causes the pension ghost. This king, who proudly goes on his physical, does not yet sit behind the Sanseverias.
The king will not celebrate extensively on Tuesday. On Sunday he still pressed a button at the start of the Marathon in Brussels, but the palace does not want to lose where the party pig is on Tuesday. Since 2017, Filip and Mathilde have been taking a piece of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela every spring. Sometime this year they would finish the last part.
Sober
Wherever the king is, it will be a birthday without bells or whistles. Five years ago he invited a hundred Belgians who had their birthday on the same day, but the coronavirus torpedoed that party. Filip likes to celebrate sober, Mathilde too. That confirms royalty watcher Joëlle Vanden: « Son Gabriël once told fellow students that his mother’s birthday and that she had asked that the four children would cook for her. Gabriel did not like it because he couldn’t bake an egg yet, but it says something about Filip and Mathilde. »
Last year, the king blew two candles on a raspberry pie around this time with his cousin, Grand Duke Henri van Luxembourg. It is his birthday on April 16 and will be 70. On October 3, Henri will pass on the Fakkel to his son Guillaume, after almost 25 years of service. King Filip has not been on the throne that long: on July 21, 2013 he took over from his father, King Albert II. He held it up after 20 years. According to some, 2030 could be a great year for a switch for Filip: then it will be 70 and the country is independent for 200 years.
If King Filip takes a step aside in 2030, he has been on the throne for 17 years. That is not long: of all the predecessors, only Leopold III kept it full. Philip father Albert II made almost 20 years around, Albert I clocked at 24. Leopold I was good for 34 years, Boudewijn for 42, Leopold II is a record holder with 44.
Read too. King Albert wanted to recognize Delphine « Direct », but the humiliation was too great for Paola
The longer, the better
Whether those numbers King Filip is really concerned is unclear. The fact is that on a trade mission in Vietnam he gave anything but the impression of craving the end. Yet it would not be a bad idea to seriously consider 2030, says Koningshuis expert Jo De Poorter. Even though Philip Successor Elisabeth is only 29: « Anyone who starts the kingship early and perseveres it for a long time is the most successful. The British Elizabeth II was 25, the Danish Margrethe was 31. They were both at the top of the most appreciated fins. » The Queen was on the throne for no less than 70 years, her valued girlfriend Margrethe 52 years old. Does King Filip want to take his daughter Elisabeth such a long drive, knowing what obligations and limitations that entails? « He has already visited her, » says De Poorter, « By giving birth to her. Anonymous life will never have Elisabeth. She knows what to expect. »
At the same time, the king also knows what the value of a close family is, especially because he had to miss it as a child. In 2026, Elisabeth completed her studies at the University of Harvard in Boston. Then she still has to celebrate her 25th birthday. While Filip has all the time to fall in love and start a family without the pressure of kingship, according to « Scenario 2030 », Elisabeth should do that on a trot. With that in mind, Filip would give his daughter a big gift by staying up to the throne at least up to 75, perhaps even until he was 80.
Filip would give his daughter Elisabeth a big gift by staying on the throne at least until his 75, perhaps even until he was 80
« I don’t see Filip resigning in 2030, » says Joëlle Vanden Kouden Keeping quite firmly. « Precisely because he has become king so late and because he has young children. The king and I are just as old, except for a few months. But we had our children when we were 22 and 24, Filip only married 40 and had his first child in 41. There was a long doubt about Filip as King, but after one year of Filip I realized: his father Albert II has kicked it for ten years too long. »
Of course the king is not blind to an uncomfortable truth: his daughter has already overtaken him in the popularity polls. Everyone agrees that Filip is a good king who works hard and never goes beyond his book, but the majority finds Elisabeth more spontaneous and smoother.
But there is no competition between father and daughter, says Joëlle Vanden: “Filip grants his daughter everything, you can’t say that from some (The Swedish king Carl Gustaf regrets that his son cannot be the first to succeed him due to a change in the law and his daughter is, ed.). When the time is ripe and Elisabeth is ready, it’s up to her. But I am sure that Elisabeth still gets plenty of time to find a decent love and start a family. ” For a long time, the king does not have to reflect on his birthday on Tuesday: Wednesday, on April 16, will be his youngest daughter Eléonore 17.
