Belgian car salesman becomes prince after being recognised as royal’s son

A Belgian car salesman has become a prince at the age of 26 after being formally recognised as the son of Prince Laurent, the brother of King Philippe, the Telegraph reported.

According to the report, Prince Laurent has registered his paternity of Clément Vandenkerckhove with the civil registry, formally acknowledging him as his son.

Vandenkerckhove was born to Iris Vandenkerckhove, better known as socialite Wendy Van Wanten, a singer and actress, before Prince Laurent married Princess Claire in 2003. The couple has three children, the report added.

While the civil recognition makes Vandenkerckhove a prince and gives him equal inheritance rights to Prince Laurent’s private estate alongside his half-siblings, the royal benefits end there, according to the report.

Owing to Belgium’s 2013 royal endowment reforms, public funding is limited to the reigning monarch and the direct heir. Vandenkerckhove will therefore not receive a state stipend, undertake official duties or have any rights to the throne, the report said.

According to the report, Prince Laurent met Ms Vandenkerckhove at a fashion show in Paris in the mid-1990s, and the two subsequently began a high-profile relationship.

Their son was born in August 2000, three years before Prince Laurent’s marriage to Princess Claire. The Belgian press immediately began speculating about his paternity, the report said.

The name “Clément” was widely interpreted as a reference to Villa Clémentine, Prince Laurent’s official residence in Tervuren, a Flemish town outside Brussels, according to the report.

Ms Vandenkerckhove also repeatedly hinted at secret relationships in several of her pop songs, it added.

Last year, Vandenkerckhove appeared in a Belgian television documentary in which he discussed his parentage and acknowledged that Prince Laurent was his biological father.

Prince Laurent subsequently issued an official statement confirming the relationship, saying he and his son had held “open and honest conversations” privately in recent years to address the issue of his paternity.

Prince Laurent, the brother of King Philippe, has long been described as the “cursed prince” of the Saxe-Coburg house, according to the report.

Vandenkerckhove is not the first Belgian royal to gain a title following recognition of his parentage. In 2020, Belgian artist Princess Delphine secured a royal title after a seven-year legal battle against King Albert II, who abdicated in 2013.