by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014
Prince Laurent of Belgium (Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie) was born on October 16, 1963, at the Château de Belvédère in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium. He is the youngest of the three children of King Albert II of the Belgians, who abdicated in favor of his son Philippe in 2013, and his wife Queen Paola (born Paola Ruffo di Calabria).
Laurent has an older brother and an older sister:
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- Philippe, King of the Belgians (born 1960), married Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz, had four children
- Princess Astrid (born 1962), married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, had five children
Laurent has a half-sister from his father’s affair with Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps. After years of legal battles, on October 1, 2020, the Belgian Court of Appeal ruled that Delphine and her children are entitled to the style and title of HRH Prince/Princess of Belgium, and can use the former King’s surname of Saxe-Coburg.
- Princess Delphine of Belgium (born 1968), married James O’Hare, an American, had two children, now styled Princess Joséphine of Belgium and Prince Oscar of Belgium
Prince Laurent began his education at (link translated from French) in Brussels where he was educated in French and then attended school in Loppem where he was educated in Dutch. In 1977, he began his studies at the (link translated from Dutch) in Antwerp and completed his studies there in 1980. Laurent then studied at the Royal Cadet School in Laeken, Brussels. He then proceeded to the Royal Military Academy where he was educated as an officer of the armed forces. Upon completion, Laurent joined the Belgian Navy as a naval trainee on a minehunter. He trained to become a diver and helicopter pilot and his highest naval rank was Captain.
In 1996, Prince Laurent founded The Prince Laurent Foundation, a Belgian non-profit organization for the welfare of domestic and wild animals. The foundation focuses on veterinary dispensaries, alternative methods to animal experimentation, equine research, and welfare, and scientific prizes and awards.
On December 19, 2002, the engagement of Prince Laurent and British-born, but Belgian-raised Claire Coombs was announced. The couple met at a mutual friend’s dinner party in 2000. Laurent was helping wash the dishes when Claire came in to lend a hand. The two barely talked and did not see each other again for two months. After their second meeting, Claire was impressed with Laurent’s generosity and sensitivity and Laurent knew Claire was right for him because of her honesty, spontaneity, and love for children. Laurent and Claire married on April 12, 2003, at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels, Belgium.
photo: The Exiled Belgian Royalist
The couple had three children:
- Princess Louise of Belgium (born 2004)
- Prince Nicolas of Belgium (born 2005) – twin of Aymeric
- Prince Aymeric of Belgium (born 2005) – twin of Nicolas
Prince Laurent and his family in 2022; Credit-https://www.facebook.com/fondation.prince.stichting.prins.laurent/photos
In 2018, the Belgian parliament cut Prince Laurent’s annual allowance by 15% for a year. The sanction was imposed after Prince Laurent, in full naval uniform, attended a Chinese embassy reception in 2017 without government permission. The government had warned Laurent to ask permission from the foreign ministry before conducting any diplomatic activity. Despite that, he went to the embassy event and tweeted a photo of himself there.
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