Title "King of the. . ."

I know there have been posts wherein someone writes "King of Belgium"
(usually Belgium) and then receives quick notice that it is "King of
the Belgians." I did some searching in the archives but didn't find
much explanation of the difference and why the difference.

Anyway, I was just glancing through a book by John Gunther ("Twelve
Cities," 1967) in which he says that the title was chosen by the
superpowers (chiefly Britain) to denote that there was no intimation of
a divine right, and that it was a political position of sorts.
Similarly, he says, Napoleon fashioned himself "Emperor of the French"
rather than "of France."

Tom Wilding / Stephen Stillwell...

Any number of monarchs styled themselves "of the people" rather than "of a
nation." In each case there was a different reason.

Of the People styles include:
Of the English until the reign of John;
Of Scots - not the Scots;
Of the French under Louis XVI after 1791 & Louis Philippe & the Napoleons;
Of the Belgians;
In Denmark - they were additionally Kings of the Wends & of the Goths - In
Sweden it was of the Goths & of the Wends;
The Prussian Hohenzollerns were Germany Emperors not Emperors of Germany;
Of the Hellenes (Greeks);
Of the Bulgarians;
From 1918 until 1929 it was of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes instead of
Yugoslavia;

In Greece - the people was used rather than the country because the original
territory of the state was only half what it is today and the framers of the
state wanted to highlight their ambitions for bringing all Greeks into the
country.

Matt Lavengood...

I think that is just a style that some monarchs chose when they became
the monarch... I think the "of the " style means to indicate
that the monarch is thought of as the King/Queen of the people of the
country, not of the land. When you think about Napoleon, Emperor of the
French, it is easy to see why he would identify himself with the people
rather than the land.

Don Aitken...

In fact, the "people" style is much older and was the form originally
used in all of the older European monarchies. It was gradually
displaced by the "land" form over a period of centuries (with
Scotland, I think, the last to hold out, staying with "of Scots" until
the Union). It then made a comeback after the events of 1789; the
first change from "of France" to "of the French" was in 1791 or 1792.

michael james...

The King of the 'land' is political, whereas King of the People is a
deeper more mystical relationship that goes beyond political borders.
For example Elizabeth, if she were to take the title Queen of the
'Brits' would signify a relationship that would extend beyond borders,
for the descendants of the British peoples are everywhere around the
globe, and in some cases in republics. Such a title would symbolize a
link that goes beyond political differences and remains with us no
matter where we live, be it in Canada USA Australie or New zEaland.