His godparents were his paternal grandfather, King Leopold III, and his maternal grandmother, Donna Luisa, Princess Ruffo di Calabria.

He was also the fifth cousin of the late Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom since they share a common ancestor, Francis (he was the grandfather of Queen Victoria and one of his sons, Leopold I would become the first King of the Belgians).

[5] Philippe married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, daughter of a Walloon count of a Belgian noble family and female line descendant of Polish noble families such as the princes Sapieha and counts Komorowski, on 4 December 1999 in Brussels, in a civil ceremony at the Brussels Town Hall and a religious ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudule in Brussels.

They have four children who were all born at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels: On 6 August 1993, the government named Philippe as honorary chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board (BFTB).

[10] His eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, became his heir apparent and is expected to become Belgium's first queen regnant.

[11] In May 2019, Philippe met with Vlaams Belang President Tom Van Grieken, the first time the party had received a royal audience.

[11][12] In 2020, Philippe announced regret for the "acts of violence and cruelty" committed in the Congo Free State under the rule of his great-great-granduncle King Leopold II.

[11] In September 2024, Philippe, along with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo publicly criticised Pope Francis during their welcome addresses for him over sexual abuses committed by the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium.