The king will award 20 honorary titles as part of National Day celebrations on Sunday 21 July.
Some 28 Belgian citizens will receive royal recognition for their accomplishments in science, society, culture and cuisine in a series of titles awarded by King Philippe of Belgium on Sunday. The news was first reported by La Libre and confirmed by the Belgian Monitor on Friday.
Belgian singer and rapper Stromae (also known as Paul Van Haver) will receive the Order of the Crown for his artistic contributions, which have put Brussels on the musical map, according to the Monitor. The 39-year-old's hits include 'Alors on Danse', 'Papaoutai' and 'Formidable'.
Titles bestowed by the king are dubbed a "royal privilege" in the Belgian constitution. Categories include dukes and duchesses, barons and baronesses and counts and countesses.
No dukes, duchesses, counts or countesses are being created this weekend but the King will name some 14 barons and baronesses - a title that cannot be passed down by birth.
Barons and baronesses
Former CEO of Euroclear and BNP Fortis Paribas Lieve Mostrey will be honoured for her role in promoting women in business. Alongside her are founder of NGO 'Kom op tegen Kanker' Marc Michils, cofounder of YouthStart Gaëtan Hennecart, former chairman of the ULB Board of Directors Pierre Gurdjian, former MIT Professor Patricia Maes, Claire Tillekaerts of Flanders Investment, entrepreneur Urbain Vandeurzen, Barbara Schmidburg of SOS Villages d'Enfants, François d’Adesky (founder of Métis de Belgique), Salomé Van Billoen, Carine Verstraeten (the founder of the organisation behind the Brussels 20 km), art collector Axel Vervoordt, scientific researcher Véronique Halloin and ambassador Alexis Brouhns.
King Philippe pictured with Carine Verstraeten in 2022, when Verstraeten was granted the Order of Leopold. Credit: Belga / Benoit Doppagne
Other awards
The Order of Leopold will be granted to judge Christine, Doctor Marleen Temmerman who is based in Kenya and chef Peter Goossens.
Goossens is not the only culinary personality to be celebrated: Seppe Nobels, a chef who employs refugees, will receive the Order of the Crown along with chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre.
Also receiving this title is Reginald Moreels, cofounder of the Belgian branch of Doctors Without Borders, VUB scientist Damya Laoui (Laoui researched a vaccine against cancer), Geertrui Serneels who was 'Psychologist of the Year' in 2020, former Antwerp Business Director Theo Vaes and founder of NGO Play4Peace Ayman Ramdani,
This last award is also honouring several authors: novelists Geneviève Damas and Caroline Lamarche and children's author Marie Paquay.
