The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces.
There have been seven Belgian monarchs since independence in 1830. The incumbent, Philippe, ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following the abdication of his father Albert II.
Joséphine Bonaparte (French: [ʒozefin bɔnapaʁt], born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais (French: [ʒozefin də boaʁnɛ]) or Empress Joséphine.
Joséphine's marriage to Napoleon was her second. Her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes prison until five days after his execution. Through her children by Beauharnais, she was the grandmother of Emperor Napoleon III of France and Empress Amélie of Brazil. Members of the current royal families of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway and the grand ducal family of Luxembourg also descend from her. Because she did not bear Napoleon any children, he had their marriage annulled and married Marie Louise of Austria. Joséphine was the recipient of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist.
The Belgian Armed Forces (Dutch: Defensie; French: La Défense, German: Die Streitkräfte) are the combined national military forces of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independent in October 1830. Since then, the Belgian armed forces have fought in World War I, World War II, the Cold War (Korean War and the Belgian occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany), Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia and Afghanistan. The Armed Forces comprise five branches: the Belgian Army, the Belgian Air Force, the Belgian Navy, the Belgian Medical Service and the Belgian Cyber Force.
The Federal Government of Belgium (Dutch: Federale regering [feːdəˈraːlə rəˈɣeːrɪŋ]; French: Gouvernement fédéral [ɡuvɛʁnəmɑ̃ fedeʁal]; German: Föderalregierung [fødeˈʁaːlʁeˌɡiːʁʊŋ]) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. The federal government is led by the prime minister of Belgium, and ministers lead ministries of the government. Ministers together form the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive organ of the government (equivalent to a cabinet).
Formally, executive power is vested in the king, who formally appoints the ministers. However, under the Constitution of Belgium, the king is not politically responsible for exercising his powers, but must exercise it through the ministers. The king's acts are not valid unless countersigned by a minister, and the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the act. Thus, in practice, the ministers do the actual day-to-day work of governing.
This is a list of Belgian monarchs from 1831 when the first Belgian king, Leopold I, ascended the throne, after Belgium seceded from the Kingdom of the Netherlands during the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
Under the Belgian Constitution, the Belgian monarch is styled "King of the Belgians" (French: Roi des Belges, Dutch: Koning der Belgen, German: König der Belgier) rather than "King of Belgium" in order to reflect the monarchy's constitutional and popular function.
There are eighteen people in the line of succession to the Belgian throne.
The monarch is considered to have acceded to the throne upon her/his taking of the oath as required by article 91 of the constitution.
The Royal Palace of Brussels (French: Palais royal de Bruxelles [palɛ ʁwajal də bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis van Brussel [ˈkoːnɪŋklək paːˈlɛis fɑm ˈbrʏsəl]; German: Königlicher Palast von Brüssel [ˈkøːnɪklɪçɐ paˈlast fɔn ˈbʁʏsl̩]) is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital, Brussels. However, it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken in northern Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the Royal Palace as follows:
The first nucleus of the present-day building dates from the end of the 18th century. However, the grounds on which the Royal Palace stands were once part of the Palace of Coudenberg, a very old palatial complex that dated back to the Middle Ages. The existing façade was only built after 1900 on the initiative of King Leopold II.