Queen Mathilde of the Belgians appeared to come to the rescue of her husband, King Philippe, as he almost interrupted an abdication with a seasonal cold.
As Philippe and Mathilde entered the room in Luxembourg’s Grand Ducal palace to witness the abdication of his cousin, Henri, as ruler of the tiny country, the King of the Belgians began to cough. He took his seat but the cough persisted and that’s when the Queen of the Belgians swung into action.
Mathilde whispered to her husband and then began to rummage in her designer handbag for a remedy.
Like every wife and mother who has ever had to intervene in a situation at the last moment, she had to dig deep. But, moments later, the coughing stopped and the abdication went ahead in peace.
The Belgian king and queen had arrived with their eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, for the historic ceremony in which Grand Duke Henri brought his 25 year reign to a close with the stroke of a pen.
Just after 10am local time, he sat down at a gilt edged desk and signed the instrument of abdication. In the time it took to write his name, his throne passed from him to his eldest son, Guillaume, who is now the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
Henri appeared emotional after he signed his abdication. His wife, Maria Teresa, couldn’t contain her pride as she beamed at their son in the moments that his reign started.
The King and Queen of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander and Maxima, were also present for the abdication as were the Belgian and Dutch heirs, Elisabeth and Amalia.
The Prime Minister of Luxembourg gave a short speech thanking Henri for his quarter of a century of service as Head of State before welcoming Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stephanie.
Crowds gathered outside the palace as the abdication neared with big cheers for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde on their arrival and shouts and claps for the Dutch royals as they made their way along the red carpet.
