Belgian car salesman discovers he is a descendant of the royal family
Clement Vandenkerckhove was recognized as the son of Prince Laurent. A DNA test confirmed the connection. He will receive inheritance rights but not a royal allowance. He will have no rights to the Belgian throne.
Clement Vandenkerckhove, a 26-year-old Belgian car salesman, became a prince after being officially recognized as the son of Prince Laurent, the younger brother of King Philippe of Belgium.
The family connection was revealed after a DNA test confirmed that Laurent is the father of Vandenkerckhove. The legal recognition took place about six months ago at a modest ceremony at the town hall, and the matter only became public this week.
Laurent, 63, registered his paternity of Vandenkerckhove in the Belgian civil registry. The recognition grants him equal inheritance rights to his father's private estate, alongside his half-sister, Princess Louise, 20, and his half-brothers, Princes Nicolas and Aymeric, 20 and 19. However, the new prince will not receive a royal allowance and will not be required to perform official duties. Furthermore, he has no rights to the Belgian throne.
"Proud of my name"
Vandenkerckhove can adopt his father's surname, Saxe-Coburg, but hinted that he might not do so.
"I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove," he recently told the Flemish newspaper "Het Nieuwsblad". "If I give up this surname, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother did for me."
Vandenkerckhove was born in August 2000 to the Belgian singer Wendy Van Wanten, whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove. His mother and Prince Laurent had a relationship in the 90s after meeting by chance at a fashion show in Paris. Their relationship did not last, and over the years, speculations arose that Laurent's father, the former king, opposed the relationship.
His mother told him his father's identity when he was 16, about a decade ago. In a documentary aired on the Belgian network VTM last September, Vandenkerckhove spoke about the moment his mother revealed to him that Laurent was his father. Four years later, he approached his father to share what his mother had told him. Prince Laurent agreed to take a DNA test.
"We went to the hospital together and I remember he said: 'I will go first so you feel comfortable'," Vandenkerckhove told VTM.
After the paternity was confirmed, he said that he and his father had "open and honest conversations".
Secrets of the Belgian royal family
The affair is not the first time a secret concerning the Belgian royal family has been revealed. Laurent's father, now 92, waged a legal battle over paternity for years before admitting in 2020 that he had fathered a daughter during an extramarital affair.
Delphine Boël, 58, eventually won the legal battle and received the title of princess. Today, she uses the name Delphine de Saxe-Coburg.
