Prince Laurent of Belgium formally recognises his son — and a new prince is named
Prince Laurent of Belgium has formally recognised Clément Vandenkerckhove as his natural son through signed legal paperwork, making the 26-year-old a prince of Belgium.
The recognition was reported on 19 August 2026 by Belgian outlets Le Soir, RTBF and DH Net, all confirming that Vandenkerckhove had officially become part of the Belgian royal family (Le Soir; RTBF). Rumours that Laurent was Vandenkerckhove's father had circulated for years before the formal step.
Vandenkerckhove was born in August 2000, the product of a relationship between Prince Laurent and Belgian singer Wendy Van Wanten, whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove (Royal Central). Laurent married Claire Coombs — now Princess Claire — in 2003. They have three children together: Princess Louise and twins Prince Nicholas and Prince Aymeric, all of whom are in the Belgian line of succession.
A DNA test conducted several years ago confirmed Laurent's paternity. Vandenkerckhove learned his father's identity as a teenager and began speaking with Laurent about six years ago. In 2025, he appeared in a Belgian television programme about his links to the royal family and his parentage (Royal Central).
Under current Belgian royal rules, descendants of King Albert II — Laurent's father — are entitled to the style HRH and the title Prince or Princess, whether born in or out of wedlock. The recognition also gives Vandenkerckhove the legal right to change his surname to Saxe-Coburg, the family name of Belgium's reigning dynasty. He has said publicly that doing so would be a "betrayal" of everything his mother has done for him (Royal Central).
What the recognition does not do is place him in the line of succession. Belgium's succession is limited to those born within marriage, so Prince Clement — as he is now styled — has no place in the order of inheritance. Nor will he have any royal role or entitlement to public money. In Belgium, royal allowances and public funding are strictly limited to the reigning monarch and the direct heir to the throne (Town & Country).
The case echoes a earlier chapter in the same family. King Albert II, Laurent's father, eventually acknowledged paternity of a daughter, Princess Delphine, born of a relationship he had several years into his marriage. After a long legal battle, Delphine was granted the right to use the title HRH Princess of Belgium.
Laurent, 62, is the younger brother of King Philippe, who ascended the Belgian throne in 2013. He has held the title Prince of Belgium from birth but, as the second son, has never been in the direct line of succession himself.
For Clément Vandenkerckhove, the paperwork settles a question that has followed him since adolescence. The title is now his. The name, he says, is not changing.
