Belgium Vs. The Belgians – Toggle

Background

In Belgium, the Monarch’s official title is “King/Queen of the Belgians,” not “King/Queen of Belgium.” This wording denotes a popular monarchy, where the monarch rules over a people, not necessarily a territory. There have been a handful of Monarchies throughout history that have been styled in the same way (E.g., King of the Albanians, King of the Bulgarians, King of the Franks).

In 1830, Belgium declared it’s independence from The Netherlands. The new country opted to use “of the Belgians” to avoid any ambiguity. And clearly separate itself from the Netherlands.

In Latin, at the time, the word Belgica (Latin for Belgium) was used more broadly for the Low Countries (the region that includes today’s Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). It did not necessarily denote the area we think of as modern Belgium. The territorial title “King of Belgium” would be unclear in Latin or French, while “King of the Belgians” clearly meant the ruler of a specific people who had formed their own independent state.

In modern times, in the English Language, there is not the same ambiguity. There is no difference in meaning between “of the Belgians” and “of Belgium.”

Is “of Belgium” acceptable in English?

If you trying to be formal and absolutely correct, you should be use “of the Belgians.” However, “of Belgium” is also fine to use. We see the Belgium Monarchy use “of Belgium” from time to time, in English. And other monarchies will sometime use it in English as well.

(This can be very language dependent. For example in Queen Margrethe of Denmark’s 2016 condolence message, “of Belgium” is used in English, while “des Belges” (of the Belgians) was used in French. )

The reason why some people use “of Belgium” is likely because it matches what is done with other countries. And, it also, straightforward and familiar.

We have a list of examples where “of Belgium” is used in official contexts at the bottom of the page.

Belgium Vs. The Belgians toggle

This toggle can be found in the “Setting” panel. The toggle allows you to choose the formal “of the Belgians” or informal “of Belgium.”

While “of the Belgians” is more formal and correct, both are acceptable and widely used.

The toggle works via Javascript code. When Gert’s Royals writes a post, we use a codeword, in this case “Belgium” with either an asterisk* at the end. The Javascript see the codeword and will then display the appropriate term depending on the toggle position.

Because the Javascript is looking for a specific codeword, we have to specially insert it everywhere we want the toggle to have an effect. This also allows us to only have this affect Kings and Queen of Belgium. Other members of the Belgium Royal Family are always “of Belgium.”

Codeword

Examples of King/Queen “of Belgium” being used in English

Below lists various examples of “of Belgium” being used in English.

Belgium Monarchy

Royal Website
- Queen Paola’s Bio
  - Refers to her marring “King Baudouin of Belgium.”
- For Children/ History
  - Uses “of the Belgians” 5 times, “Of Belgium” 1 time
- 2017 – Speech by King Philippe
- 2017 – Speech by King Philippe

Denmark Monarchy

2017 – Announcement of State Visit
2016 – Message from Queen Margrethe following Terror Attack
- The English text said “Of Belgium”, the french message says, “The Belgians”

Jordan Monarchy

2020 – Tweets about King Abdullah II of Jordan and King Philippe:
- Phone call about COVID
- In-person meeting
2018 – Tweet about meeting during WEF
2017 – Tweet about phone call
2016 – Tweet about:
- Condolence phone call
- State Visit (multiple tweets during visit used “of Belgium”)