Which uncle of Queen Victoria became the first King of the Belgians?

Leopold I was the uncle of Queen Victoria who became the first King of the Belgians.

Born Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1790, he was the younger brother of Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. That made him Victoria’s maternal uncle. He also became closely connected to Britain by marrying Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1816, though she died the following year.

After Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830, its National Congress offered Leopold the crown. He accepted and took the constitutional oath in Brussels on 21 July 1831, the date now celebrated as Belgium’s National Day. He reigned until his death in 1865.

A common mix-up is Leopold II, his son and successor, who ruled Belgium from 1865. Albert I was Leopold II’s nephew and became king only in 1909.