page_title: Royal Palace of Brussels
section_title: Extensions by Leopold II
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Palace of Brussels / History / Extensions by Leopold II
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Koninklijk Paleis 1960, lakeien tijdens voorbereiding van een banket voor het HofNederlands: Royal court of Belgium, Brussels
context_page_description: The Royal Palace of Brussels is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital Brussels. However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the palace as follows:
  The Palace is where His Majesty the King exercises his prerogatives as Head of State, grants audiences and deals with affairs of state. Apart from the offices of the King and the Queen, the Royal Palace houses the services of the Grand Marshal of the Court, the King's Head of Cabinet, the Head of the King's Military Household and the Intendant of the King's Civil List. The Palace also includes the State Rooms where large receptions are held, as well as the apartments provided for foreign Heads of State during official visits.
  The palace is situated in front of Brussels Park. A long square called the Paleizenplein/Place des Palais separates the palace from the park.
context_section_description: After the Belgian revolution the palace was offered to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg when he ascended the throne as the first King of the Belgians. Just like his predecessor William II he used the palace mainly for official receptions and other representational purposes and lived in the Royal Palace of Laeken. During his reign (until 1865) little was changed to the palace. It was his son and successor Leopold II who judged the building to be too modest for a king of his stature, and who kept on enlarging and embellishing the palace until his death in 1909. During his reign the palace nearly doubled in surface. After the designs of his architect Alphonse Balat, imposing rooms like the 'Grand Staircase', 'Throne Room' and the 'Grande Gallerie' were added. Balat also planned a new façade but died before the plans could be executed.
  It was only after 1904 that the new façade was executed after new plans by Henri Maquet.  The pediment sculpture shows an allegorical figure of Belgium flanked by groups representing Industry and Agriculture, by Belgian sculptor Thomas Vinçotte.  The new design included a formal front garden separating the building from the 'Place des Palais'.
caption: The palace is used for state occasions at court.
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