Belgian car salesman Clément Vandenkerckhove, 26, has been legally recognized as Prince Laurent’s son and heir, granting him prince status and equal inheritance rights.
The quiet town hall ceremony formalizing the recognition took place roughly six months ago, with details only emerging this week. Prince Laurent, 63, the younger brother of King Philippe, now counts Vandenkerckhove among his four children with equal claim to the prince’s private estate alongside Princess Louise, 20, and Princes Nicolas and Aymeric, both 19.
Despite his new title, Vandenkerckhove will not receive a royal allowance, undertake official duties, or gain any position in the Belgian line of succession. The distinction between biological acknowledgment and full legal recognition carries significant weight in Belgian royal protocol.
Vandenkerckhove remains undecided about adopting the Saxe-Coburg family name. “I might want to do that, but I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove,” he told Het Nieuwsblad recently. “If I were to sacrifice that family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”
The path to recognition began publicly last September when Vandenkerckhove appeared in a VTM documentary and confirmed Laurent was his biological father. Born in August 2000 to Belgian singer and socialite Wendy Van Wanten, whose birth name is Iris Vandenkerckhove, the new prince grew up entirely outside royal circles.
Van Wanten and Laurent had a high-profile romance in the 1990s after meeting at a Paris fashion show, before Laurent married Princess Claire in 2003. In the documentary, Vandenkerckhove recalled his mother revealing the truth when he was 16. “She said, ‘Your daddy is a prince. Your daddy is that man’,” he told VTM.
At age 20, Vandenkerckhove worked up the courage to contact Laurent directly. The two proceeded to a DNA test that showed a 99.5 percent match. “We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying ‘I’ll go first so you’re feeling at ease,'” Vandenkerckhove shared in the documentary.
Laurent later confirmed the biological connection, stating through a September 2024 release that they had been having “open and honest conversations” privately. “With this announcement, I acknowledge that I am the biological father of Clément Vandenkerckhove,” the statement read. “This announcement is based on a sense of understanding and respect for those involved. It is the result of joint consultation.”
Before his royal transformation, Vandenkerckhove worked at an Opel dealership in Deinze and studied graphic design. He developed reputations for passion about fast cars and horses, building a life the Het Nieuwsblad described as far removed from palace affairs. He had actually crossed paths with Laurent at a shopping center in 2013, entirely unaware of their connection.
The revelation carries particular resonance given Laurent’s own family history. His father, former King Albert II, 92, fought a prolonged paternity battle before admitting in 2020 that he had fathered a daughter during an affair. Delphine Boël, 58, eventually won her legal fight and was granted the title of princess, now using the name Delphine de Saxe-Coburg.
In the viral moment that set everything in motion, Vandenkerckhove’s September 2024 documentary appearance on Belgian network VTM transformed decades of rumor into confirmed fact. The program included on-screen text stating that “Clément’s father is aware of this documentary. They see each other regularly and are taking concrete steps toward official recognition.” That prediction has now been fulfilled, with the legal process completed quietly months ago and only now entering public awareness.
The Belgian royal family has not announced any public ceremonies or appearances to mark the recognition, and Laurent’s initial statement requested discretion for what he termed an “intimate matter.”