A nine-year-old girl named Finn was given the opportunity to visit King Philippe of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Laeken (also called the Royal Castle of Laeken) in the Laeken neighbourhood of Brussels.
Belgian news agency, Flanders News, released the one and a half minute video of Finn with the King of the Belgians on 23 December. With the video, they wrote, “It doesn’t happen very often, but 9-year-old Finn got the opportunity to pay a visit to the royal castle to meet King [Philippe] in person and have a chat with him. Finn was dazzled by the environment, but that didn’t stop her from asking the king a couple of interesting questions.”
Finn visited His Majesty for the VRT’s youth television channel Karrewiet. Young Finn told the camera that she “got butterflies” in her stomach when she arrived at the Royal Palace of Laeken.
When she meets King Philippe inside, he shows her a photograph of his family and talks about his four children with Queen Mathilde: Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, and Princess Eléonore. He also took the time to show her around the castle.
Then they sat down for a chat. Finn asked His Majesty what he likes best about being the King of Belgium. He responded, “Well, I get to meet so many people. Interesting people, like you for instance. And also, that I can represent the country, also abroad. That I can bring so many people together from different backgrounds.”
She then asked, “What is your wish for Belgian children in 2017?”
He told her, “A beautiful and successful year! I hope that they will be happy and that they study well. That they play a lot and have a good holiday.”
Afterwards, Finn said to the camera, “It was nice to have a chat with him. It was very nice and beautiful in there. Magnificent!”
You can watch the video, with English subtitles, here.
