One thing I wonder about is why so many of the English names for Belgian cities don't coincide perfectly with either the French or the Flemish name. Is it just that the English name dates from before the native names of the cities were standardized? It's not like Brussel and Antwerpen are harder to say. I also learned not that long ago that Bruxelles is actually pronounced like Brussel (with a French accent), so I guess if that pronunciation is old enough it could account for Brussels, but then what's with the X?