Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth are on a three-day trip to Egypt. One of the primary objectives of the trip is to open an exhibit honoring Elisabeth’s great-great grandmother, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of the Belgians. The current Duchess of Brabant is her namesake, so it’s a sentimental journey of sorts.
Background
Like many people in the 1920s, Queen Elisabeth was fascinated by Egypt. She visited the country in February 1923 to see the recently opened tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. It was the second of three trips she would make to the region. 100 years later, Princess Elisabeth is following her ancestor’s footsteps.
In the photo above, the Queen is shown with her son the Duke of Brabant, later King Leopold III. If you would like to see many more photos of the Queen touring Egypt, this blog post is a treasure trove.
Schedule
For more information about the tour, see the Belgian Royal website.
For up-to-date photos of the trip as it unfolds, see Garderobe Royale’s posts.
- Day One – Arrival in Cairo, visit to Empain Palace to open Queen Elisabeth Exhibit. Reception following
- Day Two – Arrival and tour in Luxor
- Day Three – To be announced
Day One
The Queen and Princess arrived in Cairo and headed to the Queen Elisabeth exhibit, which was followed with a reception. The Queen is wearing her Natan white dress, a favorite of hers. I know we say a lot of things about Natan but this dress is a lovely choice for the venue and climate. The Princess is all in Emporio Armani, sporting a monochrome effect. I know a few of you didn’t like Crown Princess Mary’s take on this approach, so I am interested in your opinions on this!
The Queen wore her Carolina Herrera Jasmine earrings, which she has shared with Elisabeth (who wore them back in September of 2022).
The Princess wore Emporio Armani earrings to match her ensemble.
Day Two
Continuing with the theme of archeological digs, the Queen and Princess visited El Kab. It’s an all-khaki, solid footwear kind of day! The Queen’s dress is by Scapa, a Belgian designer. Garderobe Royale has her post up, if you would like more details.
They also recreated a 100 year old pose.
📸 Then vs now: one hundred years ago, Queen Elisabeth stayed at the same hotel as the Queen and Princess Elisabeth today: pic.twitter.com/eS1irDZZlQ
— Belgian Royal Palace (@MonarchieBe) March 15, 2023
Day Three
Today the royals visited an excavation site by the university of Leuven in Deir El Bersha. We had a royals in hard hats spam post a while back and it’s a pity we didn’t wait for this. The both did a good job with that ladder. I probably would have viewed the site from seven meters above! The Princess’ shirt is by Essentiel Antwerp.
🇧🇪🇪🇬 Belgian Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth descend into and emerge from the shaft of the crypt of Nehri II (7m deep).
📍 Deir El Bersha, Egypt – excavation site by the university of Leuven (@KU_Leuven).
💬 Mathilde before descending to guide: “You look at me concerned.” pic.twitter.com/84NI7DrBjY
— [Wim Dehandschutter] (@WDehandschutter) March 16, 2023
Comments
We’ll update with the rest of the trip as the photos become available!
