There was a triple political issue in Belgium this Sunday, June 9: in addition to the European elections, our northern neighbors also had to vote for their new federal and regional deputies. A triple vote which mobilized eight million Belgians to the polls. Among them, several members of the royal family fulfilled their civic duty. But that was without taking into account the thoughtlessness of Queen Paola, who unwittingly revealed her political orientations while she went to the polling station in the Laeken district of Brussels, in the company of her husband, Albert. II from Belgium…
Our colleagues from the Belgian media HLN indeed published this Monday, June 10, photos of the 86-year-old emeritus monarch walking with her cane and a handkerchief in her hand, on which several names and parties were written: “King Albert’s wife noted “MR”, “2 Wilmès” (Sophie Wilmès is the leader of the MR party in the European Parliament) and “Head of the list””, it is indicated. MR, for Reform Movement, is a center-right to right political party, of liberal and conservative inspiration. Sophie Wilmès, former Prime Minister of Belgium and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, is the head of the list for the Europeans. According to what the RTBF site reports, the latter achieved a historic record in the number of votes cast, arriving just behind the Eurosceptic far right, Vlaams Belang, in the counting. “We discover that the Queen not only has blue blood, but also votes blue,” was amused by the daily newspaper, which uses the great age of the ex-sovereign as an excuse for this little hiccup…
The four children of Philippe and Mathilde of Belgium gathered in front of the ballot boxes
Like Paola and Albert, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde also went to vote, accompanied by their four children, all old enough to present their ballots: Crown Princess Elisabeth, aged 22, as well as her brothers Gabriel, 20 years old, and Emmanuel, 18 years old, and especially his little sister Eléonore, 16 years old, were seen all together at the Laeken sports center queuing for around forty minutes to go to the polls. As a reminder, young Belgians must vote from the age of 16 and this is a duty for every citizen of the country, since voting is compulsory. “Unlike older people, who can receive fines if they do not go through the voting booth on Sunday – as in all elections -, those under 18 will not be sanctioned in the event of abstention, in accordance with a circular from the Minister of Justice”, clarified The Parisian.
Photo credits: Photonews / Bestimage