Prince’s Court (Palace of Coudenberg)

I believe that when Evelyn is referring to the “Prince’s Court … an ancient, confused building, not much unlike the Hof, at the Hague” he is referring to the Palace of Coudenberg.

Coudenberg or Koudenberg (Dutch for “cold hill”) is a small hill in Brussels where the Palace of Coudenberg was built. For nearly 700 years, the Castle and then the Palace of Coudenberg were the seat of government of the counts, dukes, archdukes, kings, emperors and governors from the 11th century until its destruction in 1731.

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• Wikipedia entry on Coudenberg

• Image, background from Wikimedia commons