Royal Palace of Laeken

Royal Castle of Laeken
Kasteel van Laken (Dutch) Château de Laeken (French) Schloss Laken (German)
Royal Castle of Laeken and park from the air
General information
Town or city	Laeken (Brussels)
Country	Belgium
Construction started	1782
Client	Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen
Owner	Monarchy of Belgium
Design and construction
Architect	Charles de Wailly
Engineer	Louis Montoyer

The Royal Castle of Laeken (Dutch: Kasteel van Laken, French: Château de Laeken) is the official residence of the King of the Belgians and the royal family. It lies in the Brussels region, 5 km (3 mi) north of the city centre in the Laeken neighbourhood. It sits in a large park called the Royal Domain of Laeken, which is off-limits to the public.

The Castle at Laeken should not be confused with the Royal Palace of Brussels, in central Brussels, which is the official palace (not residence) of the King of the Belgians and from which affairs of state are handled.

The Castle was built at Laeken, then outside of Brussels, between 1782-1784 after the plans of the French architect Charles de Wailly under supervision of Louis Montoyer as a summer residence for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Jean-Joseph Chapuis provided the royal furnitures.

On 21 July 1803, Nicolas-Jean Rouppe, as commissioner of the department of the Dijle, received Napoleon at the Castle of Laeken. Napoleon stayed at Laeken with the Empress Josephine in August 1804 on his way from awarding the first Légion d'honneur to his invasion troops at Boulogne to his progress along the Rhine, and later during the Hundred Days in 1815 dated this proclamation prematurely from the palace: