Prince Laurent of Belgium (Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie de Saxe-Cobourg; born 19 October 1963) is the second son and youngest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and younger brother of King Philippe. Currently, he is 14th in the Belgian line of succession. He had been as high as third in line, but the constitution was amended in 1991 to extend an equal right of succession to women, putting him behind his sister, Princess Astrid, and her descendants.
| Prince Laurent | |||||
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 Prince Laurent in 2021 | |||||
| Born | 19 October 1963 Belvédère Château, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium | ||||
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| House | Belgium | ||||
| Father | Albert II of Belgium | ||||
| Mother | Paola Ruffo di Calabria | ||||
Laurent's 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 (the eco-blunderer).
Early life and education
editPrince Laurent was born on 19 October 1963 at the Belvédère Château in Laeken, northern Brussels. He was educated at the Royal Cadet High School and at the Royal Military Academy.
Marriage and children
editPrince Laurent and Claire Louise Coombs were married in Brussels on 12 April 2003. Coombs was also given the title of Princess of Belgium upon her marriage. The couple have three children, who are fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth line of succession to the throne respectively:
- Princess Louise (born 6 February 2004)
- Prince Nicolas (born 13 December 2005, twin with Aymeric)
- Prince Aymeric (born 13 December 2005, twin with Nicolas)
The family live in Villa Clementine, in Tervuren.
Prince Laurent is also a godfather to Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the daughter of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, a current pretender to the former throne of Two Sicilies and his wife, Princess Camilla, Duchess of Castro.
Alleged corruption scandal
editIn December 2006, Prince Laurent's name surfaced in a corruption scandal in which funds of the Belgian Navy were spent on his residence (Villa Clémentine) in Tervuren. Although the investigating magistrates denied that Laurent was personally implicated, some of the accused have implicated the prince in the press.
On 5 January 2007, it became known that King Albert II had signed a royal decree, making it possible for Laurent to be called up as a witness in the corruption trial which was to start 8 January. One of the defendants immediately used this to subpoena the prince.[citation needed] During the evening of 8 January, Prince Laurent was interrogated by federal police, appearing in court the following day where he testified at the trial that he had no reason to believe the funding of his renovations could be illegal.[4]
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.[5]
In March 2011, the prince visited the former Belgian colony of the Congo without receiving the required permission; the reported purpose of the visit was to promote awareness of deforestation. As a result, on 9 April he accepted conditions laid down by Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme regarding his future activities; had he not done so, the matter of his annual appanage would have been in question.[citation needed]
Health
editIn March 2014, Prince Laurent was hospitalised with pneumonia and depression.[6] He was voluntarily placed in a medically-induced coma on March 25, and was awakened on 27 March.[7] On 4 April, Queen Paola stated in a letter that Laurent's condition was improving, and that she felt he was 'the most vulnerable' of her three children.[8]
Titles, styles and honours
edit| Styles of Prince Laurent of Belgium | |
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
- His Royal Highness Prince Laurent of Belgium
Prince Laurent does not hold a personal title as younger princes were previously accustomed to receive in the past (such as Count of Flanders or Prince of Liège).
Honours
editNational
editBelgium:
Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold[9]
Foreign
editGermany:
Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Hungary:
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Sovereign Military Order of Malta:
Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Luxembourg:
Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
Netherlands:
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
Norway:
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
Portugal:
Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
Spain:
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit[10]
Sweden:
Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
Dynastic orders
editTwo Sicilian Royal Family:
Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Two Sicilian Royal Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George[11]
Military ranks
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Source : www.monarchie.be, Prince Laurent
Arms
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Footnotes
edit- ^ For almost a hundred years, official documents of the Belgian royal family members indicate "de Belgique/van België" as their surname. In January 2023, La Libre Belgique reported that members of the Belgian royal family were asked to go to the municipal administration to change their identity papers and write "de Saxe-Cobourg/van Saksen-Coburg" as their surname instead of the name "de Belgique/van België".[1] He use the Dutch version of his surname in his official papers as a resident of Tervuren, a Flemish municipality.[2] He use the French version of his surname on some papers.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Les membres de la famille royale belge priés de changer de nom de famille sur leurs documents officiels" [Belgian royals asked to change surnames on official documents]. La Libre Belgique (in French). 6 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
Le prince Laurent par exemple est lui aussi désormais identifié comme Laurent Van Saksen-Coburg sur les documents officiels, ou "Laurent de Saxe-Cobourg, prince de Belgique" sur certains papiers. Son titre - de prince de Belgique - n'est donc plus utilisé comme nom de famille. Il en va de même pour les autres membres de la famille royale qui faisaient usage du patronyme "de Belgique" jusqu'à présent.
[Prince Laurent, for example, is now also identified as Laurent Van Saksen-Coburg on official documents, or "Laurent de Saxe-Cobourg, prince de Belgique" on some papers. His title - Prince of Belgium - is therefore no longer used as a surname. The same applies to the other members of the royal family who used the surname "de Belgique" until now.] - ^ "Prins Laurent en zijn gezin hebben nieuwe achternaam, en daar is hij niet zo blij mee" [Prince Laurent and his family have a new last name, and he is not very happy about it]. HLN (in Dutch). 7 January 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "Biographies of Members of the Belgian Senate" (PDF). Belgian Senate. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ "Belgium turns critical eye to monarchy - CNN.com". CNN. 12 January 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2007.
- ^ "No longer welcome". flandersnews.be. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-03-28. [dead link]
- ^ "Le prince Laurent a été placé en coma artificiel [French]". Le Soir.
- ^ "Le Prince Laurent a reçu la visite du père Gilbert et est réveillé". 27 March 2014.
- ^ "News report". www.wort.lu. Archived from the original on 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
- ^ Bremner, Charles. "Belgium's 'Duke of York': buffoon or man out of control?".
- ^ Royal Decree 783/2000. BOE no. 115, 13 May 2000, p. 17722
- ^ "Senior Constantinian knight, HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium, marries British-born Claire Coombs - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 26 April 2003.
- ^ Philippe, Koning der Belgen (12 July 2019). "Koninklijk besluit houdende vaststelling van het wapen van het Koninklijk Huis en van zijn leden" (PDF). Belgisch Staatsblad. Retrieved 24 July 2019.