Laurent, the Belgian prince who never wanted to be a prince

In Belgium, Prince Laurent is well known for his outspokenness! On the occasion of his 60th birthday, the brother of the current King Philippe remained true to himself by speaking straight up to the Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

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It is rare to see royals publicly criticizing the monarchy, but Prince Laurent does not hesitate to say what he thinks: "A royal family is based on a structure older than the Middle Ages, but this structure has not been sufficiently adapted until now." His conclusion: "You could say that I live somewhere in the Middle Ages."

Prince Laurent seems to be a bit of an anarchist. He even questioned the role of a king - and any other leader - in society: "What I don't understand is that society must always have such a figure above society: a president, a prime minister, a king."

If he had not been part of the Belgian royal family, Prince Laurent would have embraced an artistic career: "I always loved being a men's clothing designer. I'm also a bit of an artist, I think. I draw my own clothes." The younger brother of the Belgian king says he's always had to fight to do actual work, be an entrepreneur, and have a normal job.

"Politicians prevent me from working," he laments. What the prince refers to, is the law that grants all members of Belgian royalty to receive an annual grant. Because of this stipend, they are not allowed to receive any other income at the same time.

Prince Laurent has often made remarks that put the Belgian royals in an awkward position. You could say he is the 'weird uncle' of the family. "Prince Laurent has always been the maverick of the royal family," commentators say in the Belgian VRT TV documentary about the royal. "He is unpredictable."

Laurent de Saxe-Cobourg was born on October 19, 1963 at Belvédère Castle (Brussels). He is the third child of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger brother of Princess Astrid and the current King, Philippe of Belgium.

Since September 2023 (the birth of his great-niece Alix, the third child of Prince Amedeo), Prince Laurent has been 14th in the order of succession to the Belgian throne.

After academic training at the Royal Military Academy, Prince Laurent served in the Navy, like his father had done before him.

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After his military training, Prince Laurent participated in several environmental programs, notably at the United Nations and the European Commission. He subsequently initiated several projects related to nature protection, including the IRGT (Royal Institute for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and the Promotion of Clean Technologies), which was dissolved in 2009.

The prince is also very concerned about animal welfare and has dedicated much of his life to wildlife protection. In particular, he created the Prince Laurent Foundation in 1995, which offers free care to the pets of disadvantaged people.

On April 12, 2003, Prince Laurent married Claire Coombs in Brussels. This British-Belgian commoner then obtained the title of 'Princess of Belgium'.

Together, Prince Laurent and Princess Claire had three children: Louise, born in 2004, and Nicolas and Aymeric, twins born in 2005.

Frequent stays in Libya in the 2010s, a trip to Congo in 2011 against the advice of the Palace and the Belgian government, a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 2017 without the agreement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs... Prince Laurent has been at the heart of various controversies! But it's been his curious little snarks that also make the royal family cringe.

In December 2016, during a conference on animal welfare in the Senate, Prince Laurent could not help but say into the microphone: "I have been p....d off for years, I am being prevented from working, to run my foundation". He then added: "If certain politicians left me alone, [and] if my family left me alone, I could assure you that my balance sheets are excellent financially."

Prince Laurent of Belgium has never hidden the fact that he does not like the role that had been assigned to him since birth. When he turned 60 in 2023, an age of retirement, he felt it was "time to finally start [his] life". As he told the paper Het Nieuwsblad: "It’s one of my dreams."

"I remain available to people who have good intentions and who ask me, but in reality, I wish to withdraw from public life," he explained. The prince added: "I am not important, but my message is. One day, I will no longer be here... but my message must remain, and I hope that it will help people."

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