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On January 20, Mathilde, the first Belgian-born queen consort, celebrates her 50th birthday. Their marriage with King Philip cannot be called dynastic – before marriage, the girl was a speech therapist in a Brussels clinic, and they met while playing tennis. And yet the first lady of the kingdom is not so simple, and by marrying her, Philip solved not only his personal, but also Belgian political problems.
Mathilde Maria Cristina d’Udekem d’Akoz was born on 20 January 1973 in Uquel to a noble family. Her father, Count Patrick d’Udekem d’Akoz, came from a noble Flemish family, his father and older brother were barons. And mother Anna Maria Komorowska was the daughter of Count Leon Michal Komorowski, who fled from communist Poland, and Princess Zofya Sapieha. By the way, on the maternal side, the Queen of Belgium is related to the ex-president of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski. Among her noble ancestors are not only Polish, but also Lithuanian and Russian nobles. They say that she is a great-granddaughter in the 16th generation of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Shemyaka.
Mathilde and her three sisters and brother spent their childhood in the picturesque castle of Losange in the province of Luxembourg. However, the family lived modestly, and the girl, by her own admission, learned to save money. She was a modest young lady brought up in Catholic traditions, she went to church twice a week with her grandmother. After graduating from school in the nearby city of Bastogne, Mathilde moved to Brussels, where she studied modern languages at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin, and then trained as a speech therapist at the Maria Gaps Institute. After that, she traveled with friends, and in 1996 she opened a school for children with speech disorders. Then she met on the tennis court with the Belgian Crown Prince Philip, the son of King Albert II and Queen Paola who ruled the country.
The young people immediately began a stormy romance, which the couple managed to keep a secret from journalists for three whole years. On August 14, 1997, a tragedy occurred in Matilda’s family: her younger 22-year-old sister Maria-Alix and grandmother Princess Zofya Sapieha died in a car accident. The heir to the throne attended the funeral and supported his beloved girl. Even then it became clear that he had serious intentions. And in September 1999, Matilda was introduced to the whole world as the bride of Prince Philip, Duke of Brabant and the future king.
It had the effect of a bombshell: no one knew who she was. Public and media attention fell on her at the moment when she was taking exams for a degree in psychology at the Catholic University of Louvain. Some media even speculated that the engagement was a PR stunt by the royal family to make the monarchy more popular. However, Matilda, with her usual grace, quickly dispelled all doubts. And very soon it became clear that she was an ideal candidate for the queen of a country that had long been divided along linguistic and ethnic lines. Mathilde is fluent in Dutch, French, English and Italian, was born in the Brussels-Capital Region, has Flemish roots and a family castle in French-speaking Wallonia. By the way, even during the announcement of the engagement, it became clear that she would be a modern princess. In the photos that were published in the media, the future queen was wearing a simple linen pantsuit.
Understandably, the prince’s fiancée had to quit her job as a speech therapist, but her school was in the safe hands of her sister, Elizabeth. On October 29, 1999, Matilda and her fiancé visited her students, and they presented her with a class model they had made. When the bride and groom were leaving, one of the children exclaimed: “Our teacher will be the queen!” And a month and a half later – on December 4, 1999 – the lovers got married in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Guduls in Brussels. So Mathilde became the first princess, Duchess of Brabant, as well as the future queen consort of Belgian origin. The ceremony was attended by representatives of royal families and dignitaries from around the world.
It was a beautiful winter wedding, where page boys and flower girls were dressed not only festively, but also warmly – in red velvet outfits. The 39-year-old son of King Albert II and Queen Paola looked stern and elegant in his uniform. And Mathilde shone in a tailored ensemble of a white silk dress and a high collar coat by Edouard Vermulen, her mother-in-law’s favorite couturier. The length of the train of her wedding dress was 4.5 meters, and it was ideally combined with a family veil made of the finest Brussels lace, which has been worn for 120 years at the wedding of the bride of the Belgian kings. In addition, Queen Paola gave her daughter-in-law an antique diamond tiara, in which she once married King Albert. In 2001, Princess Mathilde gave birth to her husband’s daughter and heir to the throne, Elizabeth. In 2003, the couple had a son, Gabriel, in 2005, Emmanuel, and in 2008, a daughter, Eleanor.
Of course, the work of a speech therapist is now out of the question. The prince’s wife devoted herself to charity. On December 1, 2000, she founded the Princess Mathilde Foundation, which annually awards the best youth projects aimed at helping young people in difficult life situations. At the foundation’s opening ceremony, she said:
It has been almost a year since I married Prince Philip. During this first year, I got to know my husband better, learned more about the history and institutions of the monarchy, but most of all I learned through meetings with ordinary people. As a speech therapist, I have learned to listen and hear people who find it difficult to speak. And this means that I can listen to those who are not heard in our society.
King Albert abdicated in 2013 in favor of his son Philip. So Matilda became the Belgian queen. Today, she is not only a faithful companion of the king at all important events and on foreign trips. In addition to participating in various charitable projects, Queen Mathilde assumed the functions of the honorary chairman of the Belgian branch of UNICEF, as well as the special representative of the European branch of the World Health Organization to promote vaccination. She is well known in the UN, she is a frequent guest at economic forums in Davos. And yet she enjoys the unconditional love of her husband and her people.
Source: Hellomagazine
Jason Root is a writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth coverage of famous people in entertainment, sports, and politics. He has a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines and bringing readers an inside look at the lives of the famous. He has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley.
