Tuesday, 18 October 2016

A meeting of kings


Have books, will travel - the Kings of the Netherlands and the Belgians in Frankfurt today
(photo koninklijkhuis Twitter)

Two kings, one queen and a lot of books. There was a right royal get together in Frankfurt today and all in aid of promoting literature. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and King Philippe of the Belgians met in Germany to open a pavilion celebrating Dutch-Flemish culture and books as the Frankfurt Fair gets under way.





Willem-Alexander and Philippe jointly opened the Dutch-Flemish pavilion at the book fair, one of the largest in the world, on October 18th with the event itself starting on October 19th. They were joined by Queen Mathilde for the day.




The pavilion has been designed to represent the flat lands of the Netherlands and Flanders as they reach out to the coast and the two kings were given a tour of the area and an idea of some of the books and works that will be on show during the fair.  More than 70 authors from their two countries will take part in the event which runs until October 23rd and which is expected to attract more than 280,000 visitors.


That's Christmas sorted then - Philippe, Mathilde and Willem-Alexander at the Frankfurt Book Fair
(photo MonarchieBe Twitter)

Philippe and Willem-Alexander have been friends for many years and both became monarch in 2013, within three months of each other. Along with their wives, they have carried out plenty of joint engagements and they won't have long to wait until they meet again. The King and Queen of the Belgians are due to pay a State Visit to the Netherlands at the end of November.





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