The New King and Queen Are Visiting Mons!

On September 17, 2013 it was Mons’ turn to host the royal couple, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. This occasion called Joyeuse Entrée (Joyous Entry/ Royal Entry), the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch into a town. A formal first visit to a town by an inheritor of the throne of Belgium upon his accession and since 1900 for a crown prince upon his marriage, is still referred to as a "Joyous Entry", a reminder of this tradition of the rule of law.

Thousands of people, including school children from the region, gathered around the Grand Place to cheer the King and Queen.

I had no idea about it until Prince Charming told me in the afternoon and it was too late for me to join the crowd.

Mons is the third town in Belgium visited after Crown Prince Philippe was sworn in as the new Belgian king following the abdication of his father, Albert II, on July 21 (we went to Brussels to celebrate it on Belgium’s National Day). 

It's not the first time for the royal couple to come to Mons and stroke the monkey's head. It was in February 2000, two months after celebrating their marriage and a little over a year later, they announced a happy event, the birth of their first daughter Princess Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène.

Anyway, long live the King and the Queen!