Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was a member of the House of Wettin; he had the titles of: Prince of Saxe-Coburg, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 26 June 1831 to 10 December 1865. It was the maternal uncle of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of which he was director and which the British sovereign was always very close and paternal uncle of the same grade also her husband Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as his father's brother.
The youngest son of Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, still a child, he moved to Russia under the protection of the paternal aunt, wife of the brother of Tsar Alexander I. Leopold refused the rank of assistant offered to him by the Emperor of the French, to join the Russia of Alexander I, the Tsar with participating in the battles against the troops of Bonaparte.
After the Greek War of Independence (1821-32), Leopold was offered the position of King of Greece but turned it down, believing it to be too precarious. Instead, Leopold accepted the kingship of the newly-established Kingdom of Belgium in 1831. The Belgian government offered the position to Leopold because of his diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe. In additions, because he was seen as a british-backed candidates, he was not affiliated to other powers, such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium which might threaten the European balance of power created by the 1815 congress of Vienna .
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