Music, style, history: King Philippe takes questions from Belgians

To mark his 65th birthday, King Philip’s children invited Belgians to send a video with a question addressed to the king on social media, receiving 2,614 questions from people from all over the country.

From those videos, 38 were selected and presented to the King. The participants were a linguistically diverse bunch which included children, teenagers, men, women, young and old.

“Your messages touched me deeply and I appreciated this new way of connecting with you,” the king says in his video response, which was uploaded to the Belgian monarchy's YouTube channel.

The questions covered a wide range of topics, including the royal role, requests for advice, questions about King Philippe's childhood and youth, memorable moments and his hobbies.

The first question was from a little girl asking why he did not wear a crown, to which King Philippe replied: “It would be heavy and too expensive. And what would I do with it? The value of a king does not depend on the crown he wears, but on who he really is.”

Another child asked about the king's good and bad memories of his time in office so far. The king said one of the best memories of his life was his coronation, and the sadder memories include the Brussels attacks in 2016, the floods in the summer of 2021 and the Covid period.

When another child asked why he always has to wear a suit, the king described it as “a form of politeness towards the people I see”, but clarified that he has other clothes and wears “casual clothes, like everyone else”, especially on holiday.

Questions from adults often focused on the role of the king, with one citizen asking: "What’s the point of protocol?"

“It's a way of making people feel as comfortable as possible,” the king answered.

“It's really the opposite of what people think. With protocol, in a meeting, we no longer have to think about who speaks first, who sits where, where we should welcome people, as all these points are settled in advance by protocol. This allows us to get quickly to the heart of the conversation.”

Another citizen questioned the king about his duty of discretion, asking if he never felt compelled to express his own opinions or get emotional. The king answered that he represents “the whole of Belgium and all opinions”.

“If I am taken over by one side, I will no longer be able to bring people together,” he said, though he added that “in private conversations, I give my opinion and say what I think”.

When asked whether he would consider retiring so his daughter Elisabeth could ascend to the throne, the king said that while kings are allowed to retire, they do not receive pensions.

“I must give my daughter time to enjoy her youth, to educate herself, to see the world,” he said. “I will do everything I can to ensure that she has time to do everything she needs to do.”

Other citizens asked for advice, including on how to build self-confidence as a young person.

“The advice I would give to young people is to take the time to discover their own talents, to take the time to discover who they are and their own strengths, so they realise they are much more capable than they think,” the king said, explaining that he struggled with low confidence in his own youth.

Part of the birthday tribute included videos that focused on King Philippe's memories throughout his life, including a trip to the Congo in 2022 with Queen Mathilde.

“We saw women who are suffering, women who are being cared for [by Nobel-prize winning Dr Mukwege], victims of this unbearable violence,” the king recalled.

“We will not forget them. I will return to the Congo, that's for sure.”

King Philippe also recalled the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, describing it as one of history’s most important events and he regrets not having driven to go see it in person.

“It was incredible, a message of hope,” the king said.

Other memories shared included that of a beloved childhood toy – a stuffed bear with a pink face – and holidays with cousins from Luxembourg.

The king described his typical day as starting at 7.00 with breakfast and coffee with his wife, followed by reading the newspapers, meditating for 15 minutes, and playing piano for another 15 minutes before beginning his work day.

Asked about his music tastes, he said he enjoyed the classical music of Bach and Vivaldi, and in terms of more modern music, he added: "When I listen to Dire Straits, I feel good."

Finally, when asked what job he would do if he was not king, he said he would probably go into science or the social sector, citing admiration for American astronaut Frank Borman.