Third Day of the State Visit to France - Chantilly and Lille

After activities in the capital, the King and Queen conclude their state visit to France with a programme in two parts, in the morning in Chantilly, and in the afternoon in Lille.

The Sovereigns are joined today by the Secretary of State for Digitalisation, in charge of Administrative Simplification, Privacy and the Buildings Agency, Mr Mathieu Michel, as well as the Minister-Presidents of the Brussels-Capital Region and the Flemish Government, Mr Rudi Vervoort and Mr Matthias Diependaele.

The Royal Couple starts the day with a visit, in preview, to the exhibition "Louise d'Orléans, First Queen of the Belgians, a romantic fate" at the Condé Museum of the Château de Chantilly. This exhibition, on view from October 19th on, takes a renewed look at our King's great-great-great-grandmother, and rightly puts this Queen back in the spotlight. This exhibition is the result of a collaboration with the Department of Museums and Cultural Heritage of the Province of Namur.

The delegation then travels to Lille, where they will be welcomed by the Mayor of Lille, Ms. Martine Aubry, and the Prefect of the Hauts-de-France Region, Mr. Bertrand Gaume, who will offer them lunch at the Opera House.

In the afternoon, the Royal Couple visit the site of EuraTechnologies. They will be presented with various start-ups and projects that are being developed within this leading incubator. This is a good example of how cross-border cooperation between Flemish, Walloon and French players in the region leads to the creation of an integrated digital ecosystem that can compete with major European cities.

The State Visit concludes with a military farewell ceremony on the Place de la République.