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Belgium

King Felipe of Spain apologises to Belgium’s queen after arriving late for palace lunch

By
7th October 2025
King Felipe, King Philippe, Queen Letizia and Queen Mathilde pose in front of Belgian and Spanish flags

King Felipe of Spain issued an apology to the Belgian royals after traffic delays meant he and Queen Letizia ended up being late for a long planned lunch in Brussels.

Felipe and Letizia are in the Belgian capital to see a cultural festival, Europalia, which has a special focus on Spain this year.

Ahead of that visit, they were invited to the Royal Palace in Brussels to see their friends, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgains.

However, the Spanish king and queen ended up arriving several minutes late as bad traffic proved too much even for their police escort.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians in profile
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde wait for King Felipe and Queen Letizia to arrive at the Royal Palace in Brussels
(Casa de S.M. el Rey still/ fair use)

As King Felipe arrived, he told Queen Mathilde that he and Queen Letizia’s cars had encountered ”several queues” as they made their way to the palace which is set in the heart of Brussels.

Later, the royals toured part of the palace with King Philippe volunteering his wife to take over guide duties and talk about some of the treasures on show.

The four had lunch before heading to Europalia which is being held at the Centre for Fine Arts, known as Bozar, in Brussels. It officially opens on October 8 with the royal visit a preview of the displays about to be revealed.

It’s been a busy weekend for Philippe and Mathilde who are just back in Brussels after attending the events marking the accession of Luxembourg’s new Grand Duke, Guillaume.

The couple were in Luxembourg for the celebrations and were joined by their eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, who flew back to Europe from her studies in Harvard for the occasion.

King Philippe appeared to be suffering from a cold during the events in Luxembourg with a coughing fit taking hold as he walked into the room to witness the abdication of his cousin, Henri, as Grand Duke. Queen Mathilde rummaged in her handbag for a cough sweet with proceedings about to get under way.

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About author

Lydia Starbuck is Editor in Chief at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra.Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024.June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station.June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.