Belgian Nobility

The Belgian nobility is known to be mostly Roman Catholic, conservative, and royalist. Living in a bilingual (Dutch/French) country with a majority of Dutch-speaking people, their mother tongue is mostly French although many are also fluent in Dutch and other languages.

In the Kingdom of Belgium there are at the moment approximately 1,300 noble families. Some 20,000 individuals are titled. The noble lineage of only ca. 400 families dates back to the 17th century. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a noble title or to being a member of the aristocracy. Most noble surnames have the particle 'de' (French for of/from) or the Dutch 'van' as a prefix. Most noble people in Belgium still clearly belong to the elite. They sometimes own and manage companies, or have leading positions in business, banking, diplomacy, NGOs etc. Many of the older families still own (and reside in) important castles or country houses (see: Castles in Belgium).

Belgium is one of the few monarchies in the world where noble titles are still (annually) granted - by the King of the Belgians (Grant of Nobility). Many Belgian citizens meritorious in business, politics, science, arts, sport etc. received a title. Amongst others are the entrepreneur Baron Paul Janssen, the astronauts Viscount Dirk Frimout and Viscount Frank De Winne, the chemist Viscount Ilya Prigogine and the cyclist Baron Eddy Merckx.