Belgium had been part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815, but the majority of the population were Roman Catholic and increasingly felt the rule of King William I favoured the Northern Protestants. The discontentment was heightened by high levels of unemployment in the South.

In August 1830, riots led to a wider uprising and calls for Belgium to secede from the Netherlands. A London Conference of major European powers then recognized Belgian independence.

After Belgium asserted its independence from the Netherlands on October 4th 1830, the Belgian National Congress considered several candidates to become king.

After deliberation, they asked Leopold I of Saxe-Coburg to become king of the newly formed country. Leopold accepted and was proclaimed “King of the Belgians” on June 26th 1831.

Leopold I then sailed from Dover to Calais, in France, after which he was taken to the Belgian border village of De Panne on July 17th 1831.

He travelled through the country, visiting, among others, Bruges and Ghent, and on July 21st 1831, he took the constitutional oath as the first king of the Belgians on the Place Royale in Brussels.