The monument is located in Laeken Park, on the Place de la Dynastie/Vorstenhuisplein, on top of a 50-metre-high (160 ft) hill.

[1] The monument was designed by the Ghent architect Louis De Curte [nl] in a neo-Gothic style.

[3] The monument was inaugurated in July 1880, during the opening of Laeken Park, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence.

[5] The statue of the king is protected by a canopy in the shape of a perfect enneagon resting on a stepped plinth.

[9] It was originally topped by a standing statue in chased copper and bronze, The Genius of Grateful Belgium waving the national flag, by the sculptor Guillaume De Groot [fr].