Diverse afbeeldingen waaronder portretten van koningin Astrid 1900 - 1950

Curator: Ah, this curious piece! It's listed as "Diverse afbeeldingen waaronder portretten van koningin Astrid," dating roughly from 1900 to 1950. Looks like an album page filled with photographs and some look to be albumen prints. Editor: Immediately, I see a juxtaposition of public image and… something more intimate, perhaps? The Queen herself has such a posed, almost regal presence in the larger portrait at the upper left. The fur, the jewels—very much a symbol of power. Curator: Indeed! But note how that initial impression shifts with the other images. We see her as a mother, with her children. It's humanizing, isn’t it? Almost deliberately curated for… propaganda, even? The aim may have been to establish her public persona with intimacy with the common man? Editor: Precisely! Especially with that inscription mentioning support for the Union des Mères et des Veuves de Guerre de Belgique... It’s weaving Astrid into a narrative of national unity and support for war-stricken families. The positioning does feel very calculated in constructing the idea of royal benevolence for public viewing. Curator: Then you’ve got those smaller images... the monument, the gravestones, a family crest… It feels intensely personal. A family's mementos bound together. Editor: I read it as an interplay of official narratives versus private experiences, of queen versus human being—especially during a time of conflict. Astrid becomes both symbol and mother. It’s like looking at the carefully crafted mask of royalty alongside the realities of loss, legacy, and perhaps even…mourning. I think about the weight of expectations on her then, now that we're viewing her history. Curator: It’s fascinating to consider the contrast: between her iconic status and the quieter, everyday life hinted at here. Editor: It makes you think about the lives of other queens through history, and wonder... What stories are we NOT being shown? It leaves a poignant aftertaste, no?