Prince Laurent of Belgium

Prince Laurent Prince Laurent of Belgium Spouse Princess Claire Issue Princess Louise Prince Nicholas and Prince Aymeric Full name Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie House House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Father Albert II of Belgium Mother Queen Paola of Belgium Born 19 October 1963 (1963-10-19) (age 46) Château de Belvédère, Laeken, Belgium

Belgian Royal Family HM The King HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Brabant HRH The Duchess of Brabant HRH Princess Elisabeth HRH Prince Gabriel HRH Prince Emmanuel HRH Princess Eléonore HI&RH The Archduchess of Austria-Este HI&RH The Archduke of Austria-Este HI&RH Prince Amedeo HI&RH Princess Maria Laura HI&RH Prince Joachim HI&RH Princess Luisa Maria HI&RH Princess Laetitia Maria HRH Prince Laurent HRH Princess Claire HRH Princess Louise HRH Prince Nicolas HRH Prince Aymeric HM Queen Fabiola HRH Princess Léa HRH Princess Marie-Christine HRH Princess Marie-Esméralda This box: view • talk • edit

Prince Laurent of Belgium (Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie) was born on 19 October 1963, in Château de Belvédère, near Laeken, Belgium, to King Albert II and Queen Paola of the Belgians (the then Prince and Princess of Liège). His godparents are Don Bettino Ricasoli and Duchess Sophie von Arenberg.

He was educated at the Royal Cadet High School and at the Royal Military Academy. He was promoted to the rank of Ship-of-the-Line Captain on 26 June 2004.

Prince Laurent is president of the Royal Institute for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and the Promotion of Clean Technologies and president of the Prince Laurent Foundation for the Welfare of Domestic and Wild Animals. As of 2008, Prince Laurent is an ambassador for Future Harvest, a Washington, D.C., based agricultural research association. His involvement with animal welfare and the environment, together with a relative lack of interest in protocol, has caused him to be dubbed by elements of the popular Belgian press as 'écolo-gaffeur'^{[translation?]}.

Place in succession

Prince Laurent used to be third-in-line to the throne, but this changed when the constitution was altered so that women would enjoy the same succession rights as men. A rumour has it that this was done at the instigation of King Baudouin I, who is said to have disliked Laurent because he did not share the King's strict religious views. He is now twelfth-in-line to the Belgian throne.

Marriage and children

Prince Laurent and Miss Claire Coombs, born in Bath, England, but living in Belgium since childhood, were married in Brussels on 12 April 2003. Miss Coombs was also given the title of Princess of Belgium upon her marriage.

Laurent and Claire have three children:

• Louise Sophie Mary, b. 6 February 2004.
• Nicolas Casimir Marie and Aymeric Auguste Marie, b. 13 December 2005.

Involvement in corruption scandal

In December 2006, Laurent's name surfaced in a corruption scandal in which funds of the Belgian Navy were spent on the Prince's villa (Villa Clémentine) in Tervuren. Although the investigating magistrates deny that Laurent was personally implicated, some of the accused have implicated the Prince in the press.

On 5 January 2007, it became known that the King had signed a special Royal Decree, making it possible for Laurent to be called up as a witness in the corruption trial which was to start January 8. One of the defendants immediately used this to subpoena the Prince.[1] During the evening of 8 January, the Prince was interrogated by the federal police. On 9 January, Laurent appeared in court, where he testified at the corruption trial that he had no reason to suspect the funding of his renovations could be illegal.[2]

Media reports in March 2007 suggested that Laurent was no longer welcome at the Royal Palace, possibly due to his role in the corruption scandal.^[1]

Against this, defenders claim that there is some tradition in the Belgian press and among politicians to focus on shortcomings among members of the Belgian Royal Family. For example, Laurent's elder brother, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant has been pursued for what may be no more than lack of dexterity among some of his advisers; and the Princess de Rethy (d. 2002) had in her younger days been pursued by some deputies who turned parliamentary sessions into debates about her necklines. [3]

Ancestry

Styles of Prince Laurent of Belgium Reference style His Royal Highness Spoken style Your Royal Highness Alternative style Sir

References

1. ^ "No longer welcome". flandersnews.be. 2007-03-27. http://www.flandersnews.be/cm/flandersnews.be/News/070327_lolo_and_bert. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 

External links

• Royal House of Belgium