Royal toast in Brussels
Brussels, May 9, received May 10: At the State banquet King Albert said: ‘‘Belgium is touched by the promptitude with which the King and Queen returned the visit we paid to London a year ago. Belgium cannot forget how the British Empire threw itself into the war with all its forces to fulfil the pledge which it entered into with Belgium. Never was a higher lesson in honour and respect for treaties given to the world. That engagement was consecrated by the courage, sufferings, and the death of many heroes, of whom large numbers
came from the dominions and distant colonies. The Belgians would always remember the fraternal care with which our wounded were treated on British soil, and the hospitality extended to the refugees. I drink to the health of the Royal Family and the prosperity and glory of the British Empire.’’
King George replying, recalled his visits to Belgium during the war, but happier far was the enjoyment of this hospitality now. The Belgian Sovereigns were restored to the throne they had never lost, surrounded by the devotion of admiring and grateful people. ‘‘Of all who fought in the war,’’ said the King, ‘‘it cannot be doubted that the Belgian nation has, with industry and a national spirit which are a stimulous to the world, advanced most rapidly on the road to the recovery of national prosperity. In the future of Belgium all the sympathies of the British Empire are enlisted.’’
— ODT, 11.5.1922