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The magnificent Heilige Geit Palace lies just north of Ghent, the city which was founded by the Neyrinck family. The first Archduke of Ghent, Hendelberg the Oppressor, was given the title by the Holy Roman Emporer Charles V for the pivotal role he played in pacifying what is now the Netherlands and incoroporating the territory with the Low Counties (modern-day Belgium). The Ghent estates have remained in the hands of the Nerinck family ever since with only a short break during the Spanish rule of the Netherlands in the early 17th century which the family helped bring to an end. The independence of Belgium in 1830 is widely attributed to the political prowess of Archduke Herman Neyrinck IV, a popular political figure of the time whose many public relationships with minor European royals earned him a reputation as a bit of a playboy. Following the end of the First World War, Archduke Zeus II, the grandfather of the current Archduke, Dries III, declared an independent kingdom of Ghent but was largely ignored and eventually gave up his attempt after only Tibet recognised its independence. Archduke Dries is rumoured to be the illegitimate son of King Leopold III, a rumour which, if proved true, would mean that Archduke Dries was the true King of the Belgians. Archduke Dries gave up his military career in the Belgian Royal Navy as a Rear Admiral aboard the Lollipop to take up a post as Comissioner of UNCOOL, the United Nations Commission for Opticians, Ornithologists and Lederhosen. Since taking the job as head of UNCOOL, Archduke Dries has successfully campaigned for the adoption of Lederhosen as part of the ceremonial uniform for the new Afghan Police Force and spearheaded a campaign for the the reintroduction of the Lesser Spotted Kneeling Gobbler to it's native Venezuela where it was wiped out 30 years ago by the Peruvian Dodo. Archduke Dries is currently engaged to Princess Fatima of Lesotho, the mother of 4 of his 9 children.
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