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Saxe-Coburg Watch: Royals Leave the Red Cross
02/26/2008 :: The Belgian Red Cross suffers from the same disease as the whole of Belgium. While the Flemings have to work and pay, the Walloons spend and refuse to stay within their means. Every year the Flemish chapter of the Red Cross has to subsidize the Walloon chapter with many millions of euros.
The Flemings have had enough. They want more autonomy for the regional chapters.
Traditionally a member of the Belgian royal family is the president of the Red Cross. Up until last year Princess Astrid, the daughter of Belgium’s King Albert II, was RC chairperson. She sided with the French-speaking Walloon minority against the Dutch-speaking majority.
Embarrassed
Last Fall, it became clear that the Flemish majority would no longer vote the Princess into a new term in office as RC president. In order to avoid the embarrassment of being voted down, the Princess announced that she was no longer a candidate for the function.
Her younger brother, Prince Laurent, at once announced that he was a candidate to replace his sister. Prince Laurent is on bad terms with his sister as well as his older brother, Crown Prince Philip. King Albert, however, ordered his youngest son, whose name has been implicated in recent corruption affairs, to keep out of RC affairs.
Hence, from this year on, for the first time in almost a century, the royal family no longer has anything to do with the Belgian Red Cross.
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