Irene Smets studied history and philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven. She has numerous publications and articles about history and culture to her name. She is the author of a series of guides for Belgian museums and monuments: The Cathedral of Our Lady of Antwerp, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp, The Groeninge Museum and Arent House Bruges, The Memling Museum Bruges, The Royal Palace in Brussels and The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken.