The Belgian Royal Family hosted a spectacular State Banquet for their cousins King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway at the Château de Laeken on this day in 2003, during the Norwegian State Visit to Belgium. King Harald V and King Albert II of Belgium are first cousins, through their mothers; Crown Princess Martha of Norway and Queen Astrid of Belgium.
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King Harald V (in the Order of Leopold) and Queen Sonja (wearing the Norwegian Emerald Parure and the Order of Leopold) were accompanied by King Albert II (in the Order of St. Olav) and Queen Paola of Belgium (wearing the Nine Provinces Tiara, Diamond Necklace, Half-Moon Earrings and the Order of St. Olav) as they walked through the Royal Greenhouses of the Château de Laeken.
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Queen Fabiola, the Duke of Brabant (in the Order of St. Olav), and Princess Mathilde (wearing the Laurel Wreath Tiara, Diamond Scroll Earrings and the Order of St. Olav) also attended the State Banquet.
Also present at the Banquet were Prince Laurent (in the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit), Princess Claire (wearing her Wedding Tiara and the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit), and Prince Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este (in the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit).
