Has King Albert Of Belgium Signed His Abdication With A Ball Pen?

[idazle]

While I was watching the news this evening I caught this image of King Albert of Belgium signing his abdication today in Brussels.

 

I've always believed that even when the use of fountain pens has declined so much that hardly any other than FPN freaks currently use them, they were still displayed in solemn occasions. But if I am not mistaken the writing instrument used by King Albert today IS NOT a fountain pen, is it?

 

[Paul80]

The man obviously has no class or breeding, must be an impostor.

 

Paul

[idazle]

The man obviously has no class or breeding, must be an impostor.

 

Indeed!

[idazle]

If Queen Elizabeth were to sign her abdication ever, I'm sure she would use her Parker 51

[OldGriz]

If Queen Elizabeth were to sign her abdication ever, I'm sure she would use her Parker 51

 

Actually she would use a Conway Stewart.... not a Parker 51...

Conway Stewart pens have graced the finest hands. Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

[brunico]

Conway Stewart pens have graced the finest hands. Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

 

Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

 

Fixed!

[N2theBreach]

Interesting. That looks like a pen bought off the wall at a Staples or a WHSmith in a blister pack. I don't know anything about the former king, but judging from the pen he chose, he could be a man who doesn't "put on airs." That"s a plus, where I was raised.

 

Of course, a king couldn't put on airs, could he? He's at the top and anything he does is done "the way a king would do it," by definition!

[idazle]

 

Actually she would use a Conway Stewart.... not a Parker 51...

Conway Stewart pens have graced the finest hands. Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

 

Really?

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/130638-does-queen-elizabeth-use-a-parker/

[Florida Blue]

 

Actually she would use a Conway Stewart.... not a Parker 51...

Conway Stewart pens have graced the finest hands. Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

It probably would end up being a Conway Stewart, although her personal pen is a burgundy Parker 51 with a gold filled cap.

CS keeps giving her commemorative fountain pens covered in gold and jewels, but I doubt she actually uses them except for the occasional signing ceremony. She is too practical for something like that. For her 60th wedding anniversary, CS gave her a solid gold pen and she actually wrote back to them saying that unless it wrote she could not accept the gift.

 

Parker still has the Royal Warrant as suppliers of "pens, pencils & inks" to the Queen.

[idazle]

What I tell you ;-)

 

[rhodialover]

The story I keep hearing is that CS keeps sending her pens and she keeps accumulating them .

They really want a royal warrant, though. Some pictures I've seen at the G8 summit had Tony Blair giving out CS pens to George Bush, and others. I know Obama has used and been given CS pens too.

[RMN]

At first, the clip of the pen reminded me of Visconti, but after watching the footage again it did not look Visconti, that was just at the particular angle of the picture above..

I think it is a rollerball. there are few ballpoints with a cap like that. You see him uncapping it, and has a sizeable cap.

 

3 moths ago Queen Beatrix DID use a fountainpen, a Parker Sonnet, I believe.

 

But Rollerballs seem popular, they are the official Whitehouse signing pens (Cross)

 

 

D.ick

[N2theBreach]

I stand corrected then. I didn't realize there was a cap. In the still picture, it looked to me like "click pen."

[Tom Aquinas]

On one hand F D Roosevelt would not allow a "new fangled" ball pen to be used in the Whitehouse. However in the 1970s I saw a number of military commissions signed by the Australian Governor General in his Vice Regal role where he used a ball pen !

[hari317]

Perhaps the former King has not heard of the Belgian Conid pen.

[Namru]

Actually she would use a Conway Stewart.... not a Parker 51...

Conway Stewart pens have graced the finest hands. Distinguished users include Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and British Prime Ministers

Yeah, Parker holds the Royal Warrent, not some lame company that bought a long dead brand name.

 

So waiting for the heat...

Edited July 22, 2013 by Namru

[GordonH]

I am pretty sure that way back in the mists of time I was taught that wedding registry entries had to be signed in permanent ink - which effectively meant using a fountain pen. I was always advised to have two pens filled and set up for the signing in case one dried out or failed. This related to how we handle weddings in Scotland. Other legal documents might also have to be signed indelibly.

[Paul80]

Also in the UK death certificates also have to be signed in permanent black.

 

paul

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I don't look to royalty (or any portion of upper crust society) to validate my tastes. Maybe, however, the use of a ballpoint is appropriate to an abdication, another way of saying "the heck with all this". Anyway, presumably Ex-King Al knows what he likes.

[Ernst Bitterman]

While I was watching the news this evening I caught this image of King Albert of Belgium signing his abdication today in Brussels.

 

I've always believed that even when the use of fountain pens has declined so much that hardly any other than FPN freaks currently use them, they were still displayed in solemn occasions. But if I am not mistaken the writing instrument used by King Albert today IS NOT a fountain pen, is it?

 

Well... he stepped down due to illness. This may merely be a symptom of his larger problems.