Belgium's Queen Fabiola poses with jury members of the Queen Elisabeth music competition at the Laeken castle in Brussels May 28, 2013. 
 
 BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's royal family will start paying taxes for the first time and will lose some state allowances, the government said, bringing them into line with some other monarchies at a time of belt-tightening around Europe. 
 
 The Belgian government has been under pressure to reform the system of royal allowances after national media said Queen Fabiola, the widow of King Baudouin, had planned to pass on an estate in Spain by using a trust to avoid paying tax. The plan drew criticism from Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. 
 
 Under the new system, approved by the Belgian government late on Wednesday, only the monarch, the heir and his or her spouse and also the widow or widower of a deceased monarch will continue to receive money from the state. 
 
 A monarch who abdicated would also receive an allowance. 
 
 The royal family will also lose its exemptions from paying income and value-added tax. 
 
 In the Netherlands, Belgium's northern neighbor, only King Willem-Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima and former queen Beatrix receive a state allowance and also enjoy some tax exemptions. 
 
 In Britain, several members of the royal household receive annual allowances but these are paid by Queen Elizabeth herself, who in turn receives an income approved by parliament. She pays tax on the income. 
 
 Under the Belgian reform, Queen Fabiola, 84, will see her annual allowance cut sharply to about 450,000 euros ($588,900) from 1.3 million euros. Her husband Baodouin died in 1993 and his brother Albert is Belgium's current king. 
 
 Crown Prince Philippe's siblings, Laurent and Astrid, will continue to receive allowances set at a level of about half the amount received by their older brother. 
 
 Future siblings of the next in line to the throne will not receive any state support under the changes. ($1 = 0.7642 euros) 
 
 (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, additional reporting by Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam,; Editing by Gareth Jones) ||||| Belgium's royals set to begin paying taxes, a 1st since 1830 
 
 BRUSSELS -- It's set to be a royal moment: for the first time since Belgium declared independence in 1830, members of the royal household will now have to pay taxes. 
 
 Backed up by two parties in the opposition, the ruling coalition on Wednesday approved the reform. 
 
 King Albert II, who turns 79 on Thursday and who enjoys an annual tax-free allowance of 11.5 million euros (US$15 million), will be exempt however, because the constitution does not allow changing rules for the reigning royal. 
 
 Instead, it is the king's children and the widow of king Baudouin, Queen Fabiola, who will be affected by the new rules. 
 
 Under the current system, 53-year-old throne-heir Prince Philippe receives around 923,000 euros a year, but from now on he will instead receive a gross salary of 180,000 euros, subject to taxes. 
 
 Money earmarked for staff and expenses related to carrying out his job will be taken from the initial stipend and will not be taxed, but those costs will be closely scrutinized. 
 
 His siblings, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent, will receive gross wages of 90,000 euros. 
 
 Queen Fabiola, whose annual allowance was this year slashed from 1.4 million euros to 923,000 euros, recently faced an unprecedented attack from the media, the public and politicians after deciding at the age of 84 to set up a private foundation to provide funds for her nephews and for Catholic charities on her death. 
 
 Critics accused the Baudouin's widow of planning to funnel the funds to Spanish relatives via the foundation, thus avoiding Belgium's 70 percent death duties. 
 
 From now on, the surviving spouse of a sovereign will have funds cut to two-thirds of that of an heir for 10 years, and to just half of it beyond that period. 
 
 In the future, only the heir of the throne will receive an allowance.
– Belgium is taking after the monarchies of Britain and the Netherlands and trimming the royal purse strings. Reigning King Albert II is exempt, but other royals are going to pay income taxes for the first time and get smaller allowances, reports Reuters. For instance, in the case of Queen Fabiola—she is the widow of the previous king—her annual allowance is shrinking to $600,000 from $1.7 million. The king's kids are taking similar cuts, reports AFP. Much of this stems from an outrage that ensued earlier this year when Fabiola was accused of trying to skirt the system by setting up a trust to shield her fortune from estate taxes.