30 MARCH 2004
A radiant Princess Mathilde has been working her way through a busy schedule this week, combining her duties as a mother of two small children with royal engagements across Belgium.

First the 31-year-old was off to the coast, to spend the day at the Bredene Navy School. There, Mathilde met with students and received a brief lesson in charting from one of them before sitting down to a meal amongst the young cadets at the academy's self-service canteen.

Then it was a quick dash back to Brussels, where the elegant royal joined her husband Crown Prince Philippe to welcome the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, and her husband, as they arrived for a three-day state visit.

But whatever the press of public duty, the crown princess would have found plenty of time to be with her two children - the future queen Princess Elisabeth, who's two and a half, and seven-month-old Prince Gabriel.