The Palace bets on a Belgium on the move

NATIONAL DAY AND TEN YEARS OF ALBERT II'S REIGN Extraordinary encounters with 10,000 "mobilised" Belgians. A stroke of communication genius! How to reach out to the Belgian population? By addressing its most engaged citizens, who are a bit activist at heart. They always answer the call. And that was certainly the case this Sunday, July 20, on the occasion of the various festivities organized around the 10th anniversary of the King's reign. According to official figures, more than 10,000 people turned out to participate in the three flagship events of this Sunday: roller parade, vélo parade, and moto parade. Cyclists, motorcyclists, and roller skaters alike campaign for their right to exist on the roads, and even more so within cities. Furthermore, their participants come from all social classes of society. A three-wheeled scooter It all began at 12 p.m. sharp, opposite the entrance to the Parc du Cinquantenaire, when Prince Laurent, without Claire, arrived at the start of the roller parade. In an unbuttoned shirt, looking a bit tight in his red trousers, the Prince was welcomed by Carl de Moncharline, initiator of roller parades in Brussels and several cities across the country. With the sound system blasting, sunglasses on their foreheads, mobile phone earpieces in their ears, over 600 people, including many foreigners, were gathered there. It was on a "Trikke", a kind of three-wheeled scooter, that the Prince gave the signal for the start of the roller parade, descending, with varying degrees of skill, the slope towards the rue de la Loi. At 2 p.m., it was Prince Philippe's turn to enter the scene in a somewhat surreal manner, arriving all alone in front of the Royal Palace on his bicycle, against a background of African tam-tam drums, to meet the roughly 1,100 cyclists gathered by Jean-Luc de Wilde, president of Pro Vélo, an organization defending the use of bicycles in the city, who could hardly believe its success. On the mayor's Harley An even more roaring success at 1 p.m., when the King, accompanied by the mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans, arrived at the foot of the Atomium to meet the motorcyclists (numbering 10,000 according to official estimates) who had come to participate in the parade organized by the MotorCycle Council. In a very friendly atmosphere, the King, considered "one of their own" by the bikers, was awarded the title of "First Biker of the Country". He also received a blue leather vest from the "Blue Knights", an international group of bikers from the police forces. Although the King gave the start for the moto parade, he refrained from getting behind the handlebars of a motorcycle, keeping his promise to give up riding two-wheelers for good. He could not resist, however, sitting on the mayor of Brussels' Harley-Davidson, turning the ignition, and revving the engine.