A Belgian car salesman became a prince at the age of 26 after being recognized as the son of the king’s younger brother, Prince Laurent.
Belgian singer Clement van den Kerkhove’s mother, who was in a relationship with Prince Laurent in the 1990s, did not reveal the identity of his father until 10 years ago, when Prince Laurent turned 16.
This week, it was revealed that he was legally recognized as the son and heir of King Philip’s 63-year-old brother in a low-key City Hall ceremony about six months ago, after DNA tests proved his links to the royal family.
Prince Laurent has registered Van den Kerkhove’s father in the Belgian population register, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
The formalities will give the new prince equal inheritance rights to Laurent’s private estate with his children, his half-sister Princess Louise, 20, and half-brothers Prince Nicolas, 20, and Prince Aymeric, 19, whom Laurent shares with Princess Claire, whom he married in 2003.
However, he is not paid a royal allowance, is not expected to hold any official duties, and has no right to sit on the Belgian throne.
Van den Kerkhof may take his father’s surname, Saxe-Coburg, but has suggested he may not choose to do so.
“I am proud of the name Van den Kerkhove,” he recently told Flemish daily Het Nieuwsblad. “If I were to sacrifice the family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”
Vandenkerkhof was born in August 2000 to Belgian singer Wendy Van Oneten (real name Iris Vandenkerkhof).
She and Laurent began dating in the 1990s after a chance encounter at a Paris fashion show, but their relationship was short-lived and there was speculation that Laurent’s father, the former king, was against the idea.
In a documentary aired on Belgian network VTM last September, Van den Kerkhove told how his mother admitted Laurent was her father.
Four years later, he contacted his father to share what he had been told, and Prince Laurent agreed to a DNA test.
“We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll go first,'” van den Kerkhove told VTM.
Once the parentage was confirmed, Van den Kerkhove said he had a “frank and honest conversation” with the father.
This isn’t the first time secrets surrounding the Belgian royal family have come to light.
Laurent’s father, now 92, has been in a paternity battle for years, before admitting in 2020 that his daughter was born during an affair.
Delphine Boel, 58, ultimately won her legal battle and was given the title of princess.
She currently uses the name Delphine de Saxe-Coburg.
