Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the far (north) end of the park (directly opposite the Royal
Palace, no need to actually walk there) is the Parliament build-
ing. Which parliament? The city hosts several—the European
Parliament, the Belgian Parliament, and several local, city-
council-type parliaments. This is
the Belgian Parliament, often seen
on nightly newscasts as a backdrop
for the country's politicians.
In 1830, Belgian patriots rose
up and converged on the park,
where they attacked the troops of
the Dutch king. This was the first
blow in a short, almost blood-
less revolution that drove out the
foreign-born k ing and gave the
Belgians independence...and a different foreign-born king.
The long building facing the park is the...
E Royal Palace (Palais Royale)
After Belgium struck out twice trying to convince someone to
be their new king, Leopold I (r. 1831-1865), a nobleman from
Germany, agreed. Leopold was a steadying influence as the coun-
try modernized. His son rebuilt this palace—near the site of ear-
lier palaces, dating back to the 10th century—by linking a row of
townhouse mansions with a unifying facade (around 1870).
Leopold's great-great-great-grandnephew, King Albert II,
today uses the palace as an office. (His head is on Belgium's euro
coins.) Albert and his wife, Queen Paola, live in a palace north
of here (near the Atomium)
and on the French Riviera.
If the Belgian f lag (black-
yellow-red) is f lying from
the palace, the king is some-
where in Belgium.
Albert II (born 1932)
is a figurehead king, as in
so many European democ-
racies, but he serves an
important function as a common bond between bickering Flemish
and Walloons. His son, Prince Philippe, is slated to succeed him,
though Philippe—awkward and standoffish—is not as popu-
lar as his wife, Mathilde, also a Belgian native. Their little girl,
Elisabeth, born in 2001, will become the first Belgian queen.
The bulk of the palace is off-limits to tourists except for six
weeks in summer (palace generally open from the last week of July
until the first week of Sept, gardens open April-May), but you can
 
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