It is one of the major events of the year in Belgium. On July 21, the flat country celebrates its national holiday, a day during which the whole royal family is very mobilized, between mass, military parade and popular celebrations. The 2025 edition could only have a particular flavor for Philippe and Mathilde of Belgium who were finally able to bring together their four children, a first from the 2025 greeting card.
For their studies, Élisabeth, Gabriel and Emmanuel spent the year between the United States, France and Spain, leaving only youngest, Éléonore, with their parents. The young princes and princesses, however, showed that they had lost none of their sense of royal duty by accompanying Philippe and Mathilde throughout the day, from the Cathedral Saints-Michel-et-Gudule to the Cinquantenaire Park, passing by Place Royale and the Brussels Park.
The day has indeed started with a Te Deum celebrated in the presence of the king, the queen and their four children, followed by a military and civil parade under the eyes of the Princesses Astrid, Claire and Delphine – in a new very surprising look – and Prince Laurent. Philippe, Mathilde, Élisabeth, Gabriel, Emmanuel and Éléonore had an appointment at the Brussels park for a giant crowd bath before heading for the Cinquantenaire Park for a large concert followed by a fireworks fire and a drone show.
Mathilde, Élisabeth and Éléonore muses of Belgian fashion
To start the day, the queen and her eldest daughter both appeared in creations from the Belgian house Natan while Eléonore was in Diane von fürstenberg, American-Belgian designer, born in Brussels, a city of which she is today a civic of honorary.
If the Mathilde and her youngest have kept their dresses for the military parade, Elisabeth had to leave hers in order to put on the uniform of the Belgian army, the princess having finished her training in the Royal Military School in 2021. The Queen and the two princesses then changed entirely for the crowd at the park.
For the second part of the day, Mathilde had opted for a much more bucolic look, sporting a long white dress decorated with green leaves, still signed Natan. Elisabeth, on the other hand, was dressed in an Erdem navy blue dress while her sister remained faithful to Diane von fürstenberg, presenting a new green dress with flowery patterns and worn with sneakers.
Family fireworks
Finally, the day of the royal family ended in the Cinquantenaire Park with a large concert led, among others, by singer Axelle Red. To attend, Mathilde and her two daughters had changed again, the queen this time highlighting the Belgian creator Dries Van Notten, while Elisabeth was in Victoria Beckham and her sister in Positano.
King Philippe, meanwhile, had swapped the uniform for a polka dot tie and authorized his sons to remove theirs for more ease. Prince Emmanuel in particular, surprised by sporting a haircut longer than usual, no longer hiding his fantasy, made public with the revelation of his secret identity of DJ “Vyntrix”. The evening then ended on a giant fireworks display and a major drone show.
