Some 5,600,000 Belgians went to the polls this week to elect a new Parliament. They cast their ballots with Belgian calm; but one incident in Brussels revealed the social tension beneath the surface.
Near the royal palace, septuagenarian Queen Mother Elisabeth approached a voting booth. For a moment she fumbled for her glasses in her handbag. Housemaid Juliette Deemes shouted: "Let Leopold come back and get a good kick in the backside!" From indignant bystanders rose countercries "Vive la Reine!"
Though the housemaid plainly did not know it, she and the Queen Mother,...
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