For almost seven hundred years the Château de Beloeil has been in the possession of the aristocratic de Ligne family. The most brilliant member of this noble line was Charles-Joseph Lamoral, Prince de Ligne (1735-1814), diplomat, officer in the Austrian army, writer, and friend of many of the great figures of his time including Marie-Antoinette and Catherine the Great.
Such was his character he earned himself the sobriquet "Prince Charming".
In the 16th C., and in the 17th and 18th centuries in particular, the small 12th C. castle which originally stood on the site was progressively altered to the taste of successive generations of the de Ligne family until finally completely transformed. The main house burnt down in 1900, being rebuilt in its present 18th C. style in 1920. Only the two free standing wings and the entrance pavilions survive substantially unchanged from 1682. The latest in the long and distinguished line of the princes of Ligne lives with his family in the left-hand wing.
Acting as a central feature of Beloeil is a large water basin, which is part of the large French-style garden of the Château.
Each year in Spring, Beloeil castle hosts a flower show with 2,000 amaryllis and 600 orchids exhibited in the various rooms of the castle that are open to the public.
The rooms of the château are superbly furnished with a wealth of period furniture, Gobelin tapestries, glass and porcelain etc. belonging to the de Ligne family. Especially noteworthy is Prince Charles-Joseph's apartment with its series of paintings depicting episodes in his life, the Salle des Médailles with its valuable coin collection, the library which has over 20,000 volumes (including an hour-book dated 1532 and said to have belonged to Charles V), the dining-room hung with superb Gobelins, the Salon des Ambassadeurs with its magnificent painting by Canaletto ("Canale Grande in Venice") and the Tour Maria-Antoinette where some locks of hair from the head of the French queen, executed in 1793, are preserved in a pouch knitted from gold yarn.
With English-style gardens very much in fashion at the end of the 18th C., Prince Charles-Joseph had one laid out to the side and rear of the left-hand wing. This part of the park remains private and is not open to the public.
Some years ago various attractions were added, utilizing land on the west side of the estate (orangery and kitchen garden). They include a restaurant, a childrens' playground, and "Park Minibel", a 1:25 scale reconstruction of some of Belgium's most famous sights and buildings - the Huy Collégiale, Liége railroad station, Brussels Town Hall, the Bruges Belfry, Zeebrugge harbor, and much more. A miniature train ferries tourists between château and amusement area.
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