A Constitutional Change Made in 1991 Is Why Belgium Expects a Queen Regnant

Belgium amended its constitution in 1991 to make succession to the throne gender neutral, applying the new rule to the descendants of Albert II. It was a modest piece of drafting with a long reach: it decided, a decade before she was born, that the eldest child of the future King Philippe would be heir regardless of sex.

That child is Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, born in October 2001 and heir apparent since her father acceded to the throne in July 2013 following the abdication of Albert II. If the constitutional order holds she will be Belgium's first queen regnant, in a monarchy that has had seven kings since 1831.

The timing of the amendment matters more than the text. Several European monarchies changed their succession rules across the same period, and most did so with a reigning generation already in place, which meant the change either skipped over people or was written to avoid disturbing them. Belgium legislated before the question was live, which is the cleanest way to do it and the least likely to produce a grievance.

The title carried by the heir is worth a note of its own. Duke or Duchess of Brabant is a historical title revived for the heir to the Belgian throne, and it is deliberately territorial rather than dynastic. In a state built on a linguistic settlement, a title attached to a historic duchy that spans the language boundary is not an accident of heraldry.

The preparation has followed the pattern of modern European heirs: general education, a period at a military academy, university abroad, and a gradually increasing programme of official engagements. What she will inherit is a role with almost no independent power and a single genuine constitutional function, which makes the training less about ceremony than about the politics she will one day have to navigate without appearing to.