List of Belgian monarchs explained

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" rather than "King of Belgium" in order to reflect the monarchy's constitutional and popular function.

Since 1831, there have been seven Kings of the Belgians and two regents.

List

width=15%	Name!	width=105px	Portrait!	width=20%	Birth and death!	width=15%	Reign started!	width=15%	Reign ended!	width=20%	Marriages!	width=15	Succession right
Erasme Louis, Baron Surlet de Chokier Regent		27 November 1769 Liège (Prince-Bishopric of Liège) – 7 August 1839 Gingelom (aged 69)	25 February 1831	21 July 1831		Chosen by the National Congress
Leopold I		16 December 1790 Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Holy Roman Empire) – 10 December 1865 Laeken (aged 74)	21 July 1831	10 December 1865	(1) Charlotte of Wales ∞ 2 May 1816 [1 child (stillborn)] (2) Louise of Orléans ∞ 9 August 1832 [4 children]	Elected by the National Congress
Leopold II		9 April 1835 Brussels – 17 December 1909 Laeken (aged 74)	17 December 1865^[1]	17 December 1909	Marie-Henriette of Austria ∞ 22 August 1853 [4 children]	Son of Leopold I
Albert I		8 April 1875 Brussels – 17 February 1934 Marche-les-Dames (aged 58)	23 December 1909	17 February 1934	Elisabeth of Bavaria ∞ 2 October 1900 [3 children]	Nephew of Leopold II / Grandson of Leopold I
Leopold III		3 November 1901 Brussels – 25 September 1983 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (aged 81)	23 February 1934	16 July 1951^[2]	Liber amicorum Melchior Wathelet. (abdicated)	(1) Astrid of Sweden ∞ 4 November 1926 [3 children] (2) Lilian Baels ∞ 6 December 1941 [3 children]	Son of Albert I
Charles / Karel prince regent for Leopold III		10 October 1903 Brussels – 1 June 1983 Raversijde (aged 79)	21 September 1944	20 July 1950	Unmarried [childless]	Son of Albert I / Brother of Leopold III
Baudouin / Boudewijn		7 September 1930 Laeken – 31 July 1993 Motril (Spain) (aged 62)	17 July 1951	31 July 1993^[3]	Fabiola of Mora and Aragón ∞ 15 December 1960 [childless]	Son of Leopold III
Albert II		6 June 1934 Laeken	9 August 1993	21 July 2013 (abdicated)	Paola of Calabria ∞ 2 July 1959 [3 children]<	-- Delphine Boël recognized-->	Son of Leopold III / Brother of Baudouin
Philippe / Filip		15 April 1960 Laeken	21 July 2013	Incumbent	Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz ∞ 4 December 1999 [4 children]	Son of Albert II

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20AlignBars = late

DateFormat=dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:1830 till:2024TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1830

Colors = id:king value:green legend: king id:regent value:blue legend: regent

Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100

TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Title:"

BarData = barset:PM

PlotData= align:left fontsize:S shift:(3,-4) anchor:from width:15 barset:PM

from: 25/02/1831 till: 20/07/1831 color:regent text:"Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier" fontsize:8 from: 04/06/1831 till: 10/12/1865 color:king text:"Leopold I" fontsize:10 from: 17/12/1865 till: 17/12/1909 color:king text:"Leopold II" fontsize:10 from: 23/12/1909 till: 17/02/1934 color:king text:"Albert I" fontsize:10 from: 23/02/1934 till: 16/07/1951 color:king text:"Leopold III" fontsize:10 from: 20/09/1944 till: 20/07/1950 color:regent text:"Charles" fontsize:8 from: 17/07/1951 till: 31/07/1993 color:king text:"Baudouin" fontsize:10 from: 09/08/1993 till: 21/07/2013 color:king text:"Albert II" fontsize:10 from: 21/07/2013 till: end color:king text:"Philippe" fontsize:10

See also

• Monarchy of Belgium
• Family tree of Belgian monarchs
• List of Belgian consorts
• Line of succession to the Belgian throne
• Crown Council of Belgium

External links

• Vanthemsche, Guy; De Peuter, Roger, eds. (2023), "Appendix: List of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State (1419–Present) and of Governors General (1507–1794) of the Southern Low Countries and Belgium", A Concise History of Belgium, Cambridge Concise Histories, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 357–360.
• Rulers of Belgium
• History of the Belgian Monarchy at Monarchie.be

Notes and References

1. Under Article 90 of the Belgian Constitution, from the death of a monarch until the swearing in of their successor or a regent, the monarch's constitutional powers are in the hands of the Council of Ministers (interregnum); this accounts for the difference of dates between the end of one reign and the beginning of the following one.
2. The constitutional powers of the king were exercised by the Council of Ministers from 28 May 1940 until 21 September 1944, followed by Prince Charles as a regent until 20 July 1950, and then from 11 August 1950 until 17 July 1951 by his successor under the title of Royal Prince. See Christian Behrendt and Martin Vrancken, "L'article 93 de la Constitution belge et l'impossibilité de régner du roi : une disposition dépassée par son histoire", in L'Europe au présent
3. From 3 until 5 April 1990, the constitutional powers of the king were exercised by the Council of Ministers during the constitutional crisis around the Belgian Abortion Act (see the external source in the previous footnote).