The Royal Palace has released new photographs of Queen Mathilde to mark her 53rd birthday. The pictures were taken during a state visit to Chili last June.
Last week it was announced that Queen Mathilde will be leading Belgian economic missions abroad following Princess Astrid’s decision to step back on health grounds.
Queen Mathilde will lead Belgium’s foreign trade mission temporarily until her daughter, Crown Princess Elisabeth, is ready to assume the position.
Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz was born in the Brussels municipality of Ukkel on 20 January 1973. She is the daughter of Patrick d’Udekem d'Acoz and Anne Komorowski. She married Prince Filip in 1999, when she was 26.
She had the man that was to become King of the Belgian 3 years earlier. She became Queen in 2013 when her husband ascended the thrown following the abdication of his father, King Albert II.