King Filip and Queen Mathilde’s oldest son Prince Gabriël celebrates his 22nd birthday today (Wednesday 20th August). To mark the occasion the Royal Palace has released two new photographs of the prince. Prince Gabriël is a student at the Royal Military Academy (KMS) and took part in the military parade to mark Belgium’s National Day on 21 July.
Prince Gabriël was born on 20 August 2000 and is the 2nd of King Filip and Queen Mathilde’s 4 children. He is 2nd in line to the throne after his older sister Crown Princess Elisabeth. He has 2 younger siblings: Prince Emmanuel (19) and Princes Eléonore (17).
On the 2 photographs released by the Royal Palace to mark Prince Gabriël’s birthday, the prince is at his family home Laken Castle.
2022 Prince Gabriël has been a student of the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, where he studies social and military sciences through the medium of Dutch.
As part of the Erasmus exchange programme, he spent 5 months as a student at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in France. There he studied geopolitics through the medium of English. Saint-Cyr is one of the world’s most prestigious military academies.
National Day military parade
He has twice played an active role in the military parade that is held each year to mark Belgium’s National Day on 21 July. In 2023 he did so together with his older sister Crown Princess Elisabeth. This year he was able to take part again, but now with the saber that bachelor’s degree graduates of KMS are allowed to carry while on parade (see video below).
Prince Gabriël is a big sports fan. He played hockey for 9 years and he also likes tennis, skiing and sailing. He also plays the piano and was in the Scouts for a large part of his childhood.
