King Philippe was sworn in during a ceremony in parliament, saying: "I swear to respect to constitution and the laws of the Belgian people, to maintain the independence of the country and to safeguard the territory."
Philippe, 53, paid homage to his father as he stepped into his shoes.Celebrations for Philippe's swearing-in have been combined with festivities already planned for Sunday, Belgium's National Day.But several legislators from northern Flanders boycotted King Philippe I's coronation, highlighting longstanding feuding between the nation's Dutch-speaking Flemings and Francophones – the biggest challenge the new monarch will face.
In his first speech as king shortly after his father King Albert II abdicated, Philippe made no attempt to paper over those cracks, instead casting the country's division between its 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million Francophones as one of its strengths.
Far from everybody in Belgium was happy with the new king.
One Flemish separatist group, the Flemish Interest party, boycotted the parliamentary ceremony, while the legislature's biggest party, the N-VA New Flemish Alliance, sent only a limited delegation.
The small N-VA delegation highlighted one of the biggest challenges Philippe will face in his reign – how to remain relevant as a unitary symbol in a nation ever more drifting apart between the prosperous northern Flemings and the economically struggling southern Francophones.
Briefly, at least, the differences took a back seat Sunday as the new royal couple, flanked by huge bouquets of white roses, lilies and gerbera, appeared for the midday official palace's balcony scene, cheered by some 10,000 well-wishers braving the relentless sun.
Albert announced his abdication plans less than three weeks ago, so there was little time to turn the occasion into a huge international event. No foreign royals were at the ceremony. Since the royal transition coincides with Belgium's national day celebrations, a military parade had already been planned.
Philippe will face a tough task in the coming months. The nation holds parliamentary elections in June 2014 amid calls, led by the N-VA, for even more autonomy for the language groups. And perhaps even less power for the king himself.
Up to now, the monarch is still involved in government formation talks by picking go-betweens and brokers to set up multiparty coalitions reaching across the linguistic divide.
After the last elections in 2010, it took a record 541 days to form a government amid bickering about how much more power should be sapped from the central state to profit the separate language groups.
Unlike his five predecessors, Albert tried to avoid politics as much as possible and Philippe is expected to do likewise.
www.L24.lt
