Secret Love Child: Belgian Car Salesman Becomes a Prince
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A Belgian car salesman has become a prince at the age of 26 after being acknowledged as the son of the king’s brother, Prince Laurent.
Prince Laurent of Belgium's secret love child has spoken of his "relief" as he made his first public comments after being officially recognised. Clément Vandenkerckhove is Laurent's son from his relationship with Flemish model Wendy van Wanten before his marriage to Princess Claire in 2003. Wendy van Wanten only told him who his father was when he turned 16 a decade ago.
After DNA tests confirmed his paternity, he has now been officially recognised as a Prince by the Saxe-Coburg court and recently took to Instagram to share a picture of himself with his father, announcing his new royal status. "Getting used to the relief of no longer having to keep my origins a secret is still very much a work in progress."
The formality affords the new prince equal inheritance rights to Laurent’s private estate with his siblings. But he will not receive a royal allowance, nor will he be expected to take on official duties, and he has no rights to the Belgian throne.
Vandenkerckhove could take his father’s family name, Saxe-Coburg, but has indicated he probably will choose not to. “I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove,” he told Flemish daily newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. “If I were to sacrifice that family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”
Vandenkerckhove was born in August 2000 to Wendy Van Wanten, whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove. She and Prince Laurent dated in the 1990s after a chance encounter at a fashion show in Paris but the relationship did not last.
