LAEKEN - LE PALAIS ROYAL

Laeken is just 3 miles (5 km) north of the centre of Brussels. It is an area within the Royal Domain parklands that are off limit to the general public. This is one of a series of palaces there that house the Belgian Royals and their extended family. Fabiola is still alive! Since 1998 Queen Fabiola (née Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón) lives at Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken

The palace pictured on this postcard is no longer called the Palais Royal: the title on the post card is a bit misleading. These days it is called the 'Kasteel van Laken' (Dutch) or the 'Château de Laeken' (French).

The reason for the confusion goes back to 1904 when the new Palais Royal or Koninklijk Paleis van Brussel was opened in the centre of Brussels. It is the "official" palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians - a place where official ceremonies are held - royal and otherwise.

The King and Queen actually live in the "Château" in Laeken.

It was originally built between 1782-1784 in the Louis XVI style after the plans of the French architect Charles de Wailly as a summer residence for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen.

When control of the Habsburg Netherlands passed into French hands in 1794 the chateau fell into disrepair and it was sold off as scrap to be demolished.

Napoleon Bonaparte bought it!

Napoleon lived there in 1804 and later in 1815 too during the "Cent-Jours". He had a plan to give it to Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1812 in exchange for the "Élysée" where she encamped. It was decorated in her taste but she failed to take up residence.

It has been the royal residence since the accession to the throne of King Leopold I in 1831. Fire caused some damage in 1890, rebuilding was completed but it was renovated again in 1902 by the French architect Charles Girault. Part of the grand design legacy of Leopold II.

In 2009 it was nominated third in a list of ugliest buildings of Belgium. Groep Jan Stallaert, a building/demolishing company, organised the contest in which people could nominate the ugliest buildings in Belgium. The group would then offer to demolish the winner for free. A Belgian sense of humour!

It has not happened!

A postcard published by Th. Van Den Heuvel in Brussels around 1900. Remember that Septimus & Clara Miller collected these postcards in 1907.