King Filip and Queen Mathilde to remain in the Middle East for an extra day
King Filip and Queen Mathilde will return to Belgium from their trip to the Middle East a day later than planned. Their return has been put back by a day after the pilots of the plane that is to fly them home were involved in a car accident. Both the pilots are in good health, but they need time to rest. The news that the King and Queen will return tomorrow (Sunday 6 February) rather than today has been confirmed by the Belgian delegation.
The royal couple have been in the Middle East since Wednesday. They spent two days in Oman before travelling on to the United Arab Emirates on Friday evening. Today King Filip opened the Belgian Day at the World Exhibition in Dubai, where he will also visit the Belgian Pavilion, the Japanese Pavilion as well as that of the host country, the UAE.
The King and Queen were to have returned to Belgium on Saturday evening. However, the pilots’ road accident means that this has now been put back until Sunday afternoon. They will now arrive back in Belgium at 2pm on Sunday.
The pilots are reported to be in good health. They were taken to hospital after the accident and were given painkillers. They have been given an extra day to rest and recover.