The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Belgium

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Belgium on 17 June 2015 to attend the Opening Ceremony of the restored Hougoumont Farm. They will be joined by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium.

Hougoumont Farm played a critical role in the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo. The restored farm will open to the public on the 18th June 2015, which is the 200th anniversary of the Battle. On the 17th June, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Astrid of Belgium will be joined by Patrons of Project Hougoumont who are the direct descendants of those who fought at the Battle - The Duke of Wellington, Prince Nikolaus von Blücher of Prussia and Prince Charles Bonaparte. The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Wellington will also unveil a new monument to commemorate the British soldiers who fought at Waterloo.

The event will be hosted by Intercommunale Bataille de Waterloo 1815 and Project Hougoumont Belgium.

Notes for Editors

Project Hougoumont is a charity dedicated to raising the funds needed to restore the buildings of Hougoumont Farm on the battlefield of Waterloo.

The Intercommunale Bataille de Waterloo 1815 is an umbrella organisation that brings together the four Communes that cover the area of the battle of Waterloo (they are  Braine l’Alleud, Genappe,  Lasne and  Waterloo)  and the Province of Brabant-Wallon to the south east of Brussels  in which the four communes are found. The five parties of the Intercommunale work together over this Bicentenary period to promote heritage tourism of the area and in partnership with Project Hougoumont are co-hosting Hougoumont Opening Ceremony.

The Prince of Wales has officially visited Belgium nine times. His last visit was in February 2011. Both Their Royal Highnesses visited Brussels in 2008.