During the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the future Belgium was also a part of the same monarchy. Anna and William preferred Brussels to The Netherlands and live there until the Belgian revolution forced them to leave in 1830. They lived in the Hof van Brabant until the fire of 1820, after which they were given a new residence in Brussels. William preferred Brussels partially because of his bad relationship to his father the king. Anna liked Brussels much more than the North, as the French aristocratic society in the less egalitarian Brussels reminded her much more of the court life in her native Saint Petersburg than the egalitarian and more simple and Spartan court life of the Hague. She was also popular among the Belgian nobility and high society, who was to remain loyal to the House of Orange the first years after the declaration of Belgian independence.