Sunday, August 23, 2026 - A 26-year-old Belgian car salesman, Clément Vandenkerckhove, has officially become a prince of Belgium after a paternity test confirmed that his biological father is Prince Laurent, the younger brother of King Philippe.
The legal recognition took place during a low-key town hall
ceremony six months ago following a DNA test, confirming Vandenkerckhove as the
son and heir of the 63-year-old royal. His mother, Belgian singer Wendy Van
Wanten (whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove), had a relationship with
Prince Laurent during the 1990s after meeting at a Paris fashion show, but she
only revealed the identity of his father to him when he turned 16.
The legal process affords the new prince equal rights to
Prince Laurent's private estate alongside his three half-siblings, Princess
Louise, Prince Nicolas, and Prince Aymeric. However, Vandenkerckhove will not
receive a royal allowance, will not carry out official duties, and holds no
place in the line of succession to the Belgian throne.
Vandenkerckhove was born in August 2000, several years
before Prince Laurent married Princess Claire in 2003. In a television
documentary, Vandenkerckhove shared that he reconnected with Prince Laurent
four years after learning about his lineage, after which both went to a
hospital together to complete the DNA test that led to open and honest
conversations between father and son.
Although eligible to take his father's house name of
Saxe-Coburg, Vandenkerckhove indicated he plans to keep his current last name
out of respect for his mother. He stated that sacrificing the family name
Vandenkerckhove would feel like a betrayal of everything she had done for him
growing up.
This marks another notable paternity acknowledgment within
the Belgian royal family in recent years, following a high-profile legal battle
that concluded in 2020 when former King Albert II formally recognized Princess
Delphine as his daughter.
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