Prince Laurent of Belgium

Prince Laurent
Born	(1963-10-19) 19 October 1963 Belvédère Castle, Laeken, Belgium
Spouse	Claire Coombs ​ (m. 2003)​
Issue	Princess Louise Prince Nicolas Prince Aymeric
Names French: Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie de Belgique Dutch: Laurens Benedikt Boudewijn Maria van België
House	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father	King Albert II of Belgium
Mother	Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria

Styles of Prince Laurent of Belgium
Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Monseigneur

Prince Laurent of Belgium (French: Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie de Belgique, Dutch: Laurens Benedikt Boudewijn Maria van België; born 19 October 1963) is the second son of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and younger brother of King Philippe.

Born in the Château de Belvédère near Laeken, Belgium, 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' (the eco-blunderer).

Line of succession

Currently, he is 12th in the Belgian line of succession, following Princess Laetitia, youngest daughter of his older sister, Princess Astrid.

Prince Laurent has been as high as third in line. The constitution was amended in 1991 to extend an equal right of succession to women who descend from the dynasty's founder King Leopold I and were born in a marriage which obtained royal assent (as that of Princess Astrid was deemed to have done pursuant to Title IX Article 1 of the constitution). Henceforth Princess Astrid preceded her younger brother in the line of succession, as do her dynastic descendants. Since then, Philippe married and has dynastic descendants who precede both Astrid and Laurent in the order of succession.

Marriage and children

Prince Laurent and Claire Louise 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. The couple have three children:

• Princess Louise (born 6 February 2004 at St Luc University Clinic )
• Prince Nicolas (born 13 December 2005)
• Prince Aymeric (born 13 December 2005)

Prince Laurent is also a godfather to Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Siclies, 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

In 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.[1] 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.[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.

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, King Philippe has been pursued for what may be no more than lack of dexterity among some of his advisers; and Lilian, Princess of Réthy (1916–2002) had in her younger days been pursued by some deputies who turned parliamentary sessions into debates about her necklines.[3]

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.

Health

In March 2014, Prince Laurent was hospitalised with pneumonia and depression. He was voluntarily placed in a medically-induced coma on March 25, although he was awakened on 27 March. 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.

Titles, styles and honours

• His Royal Highness Prince Laurent of Belgium (1963–present)

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

See also: List of honours of the Belgian Royal Family by country

National honours

• Belgium: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I

Foreign honours

• Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st Class
• Hungary: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
• Two Sicilian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Two Sicilian Royal Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
• Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 3rd First Class
• Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
• Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
• Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
• Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Henry
• Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit
• Sweden: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

Military ranks

1983-1986 : Royal Military Academy, 123rd promotion TAW ("All Weapons" Faculty) September 1985  – September 1989 : Belgian Navy, ensign 2nd class (Enseigne de vaisseau de 2ème classe/ Vaandrig-ter-zee 2de klasse) Officer oath on 30 October 1985 Specialization: combat diver and helicopter pilot Combat diver badge: 20 July 1989 in Brugge handed by his father, divisional admiral September 1989  – 15 November 1994  : Belgian Navy, ship-of-the-line lieutenant (Lieutenant de vaisseau) helicopter pilot badge handed in 1990 by his uncle King Baudouin 15 November 1994 – 26 June 2004 : Belgian Navy, frigate captain (Capitaine de frégate) 26 June 2004 –  : Belgian Navy, ship-of-the-line captain (Capitaine de vaisseau)

1985 1989 1994 2004

Source : www.monarchie.be, Prince Laurent

Arms

Coat of arms of Prince Laurent of Belgium

Notes Dr. Gustaaf Janssens, archivist of the Royal Palace, confirms that Prince Laurent's coat of arms as a prince of Belgium consists of King Albert's coat of arms differenced with a gold label of three points, minus the sceptres, the grand collar of the Order of Leopold and the helm dexter. Escutcheon Sable a lion rampant Or armed and langued Gules, differenced with a label of three points Or. French : De sable au lion d'or, armé et lampassé de gueules, chargé d'un lambel d'or

Ancestry

Family of Prince Laurent of Belgium

16. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders 8. Albert I of Belgium 17. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 4. Leopold III of Belgium 18. Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria 9. Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria 19. Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal 2. Albert II of Belgium 20. Oscar II of Sweden 10. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland 21. Princess Sofia of Nassau 5. Princess Astrid of Sweden 22. Frederick VIII of Denmark 11. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark 23. Princess Lovisa of Sweden 1. Prince Laurent of Belgium 24. Fulco VI, Prince Ruffo di Calabria 12. Fulco VII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria 25. Donna Eleonora Galletti dei Marchesi di San Cataldo 6. Fulco VIII Prince Ruffo di Calabria 26. Theodore Mosselman du Chenoy 13. Laura Mosselman du Chenoy 27. Isabelle Coghen 3. Donna Paola dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria 28. Calisto Gazelli, Conte di Rossana e di Sebastiano 14. Augusto Gazelli, Conte di Rossana e di Sebastiano 29. Donna Francesca Cotti dei Conti di Ceres 7. Donna Luisa Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana e di Sebastiano 30. Félix, Conte Rignon 15. Donna Maria Cristina dei Conti Rignon 31. Donna Luisa Perrone dei Conti di San Martino

External links

• Official biography from the Belgian Royal Family website