King Philippe shows off his royal family's pets

King Philippe of the Belgians has revealed why he doesn’t wear a crown and no one really noticed because he also brought along a puppy.

The Belgian king was answering questions sent to him after he issued a social media invitation to grill him on any subject as part of his 65th birthday celebrations. Members of the public were able to submit questions to the Belgian king to learn more about him. As he responded, he also took the chance to introduce two rarely seen family members! 

King Philippe received over 2,500 questions from the public during the submission period and was able to answer 38 of them by video. At his home in Laeken, the Royal Castle, he spent forty minutes answering questions in Dutch and French. 

Among the most intriguing was the question of why he doesn’t wear a crown. When he took the Belgian throne, on July 21 2013, he swore an oath of allegiance and wore military uniform. There is no coronation ceremony for the Belgian monarch. And Philippe confirmed that while the crown is the symbol of monarchy, there is no need for it to be worn for the king or queen to assume their position.

However, it was another family member or two that stole the show. King Philippe introduced the Belgian Royal Family’s two pups in the video, as well. Jeep, their Westie, wandered throughout the room while Simba, their Norwich Terrier relaxed with Philippe for a few moments during the interview.

Philippe also shared that while the family enjoys their dogs, it is Princess Eleonore who spends the most time taking care of Jeep and Simba. 

While Simba chose to ignore his human dad for the most part, Philippe explained, “If my youngest daughter were here, it would be a party for Simba.”

Princess Eleonore’s fourteenth birthday portrait featured the two pups, highlighting her longtime love of the family’s pets..