Home News

Filip is more popular as king than he was as crown prince

Since he became the new King of the Belgians on 21 July, people are putting more trust in Filip. That's according to a poll carried out by De Morgen, Le Soir and the commercial TV stations RTL and VTM. In June, the then crown prince Filip obtained a score of 51 percent, while in August this had climbed to 69 percent.

In general, Brussels and Walloon residents display more enthusiasm where the royal family is concerned. While in Flanders some 60 percent gives Filip a "satisfactory" score, this number climbs to 82 percent among the Francophones living in Brussels and Wallonia. However, in the three different regions an upward trend could be seen.

As to the king's political role, more than 1 in 2 Flemings do not want him to intervene during the formation of the federal government. The king now appoints a so-called formateur or informateur to get the formation process started after the elections, but a majority of the Flemings estimate that this is not his task. The Francophones have a completely different opinion, with 80 percent giving the king's present political role thumbs up.

Top stories