Prince Laurent of Belgium has legally recognized 26-year-old Clément Vandenkerckhove as his son. The legal recognition occurred six months ago during a town hall ceremony, though details of the event were not made public until recently. While Vandenkerckhove now formally holds the title of prince, he will not receive a royal allowance or be included in the Belgian royal line of succession.
The recognition follows a multi-year process of establishing a relationship between the two men. Vandenkerckhove is the son of Belgian singer Wendy Van Wanten, whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove, and Prince Laurent, who were in a relationship prior to the prince's 2003 marriage to Princess Claire. Vandenkerckhove stated that he learned of his father's identity at the age of 16 and later initiated contact, leading to a DNA test that confirmed a 99.5% match.
Vandenkerckhove told the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that he has not yet decided if he will adopt his father’s surname, Saxe-Coburg. He noted that he is proud of his current surname and expressed concern that changing it would feel like a betrayal of his mother’s efforts in raising him. Unlike his half-siblings, Princess Louise and Princes Aymeric and Nicolas, Vandenkerckhove will not participate in public royal activities.
The case sets a precedent for how the Belgian monarchy handles children born outside of royal marriages following the high-profile paternity case of former King Albert II. In 2020, King Albert II admitted to fathering Delphine Boël after a legal battle and a DNA test. While Boël, now Princess Delphine de Saxe-Coburg, won the right to her title in court, Vandenkerckhove’s recognition appears to have been settled through a voluntary legal process at a town hall rather than through a protracted court dispute.
For the Belgian public, this marks a continuation of a shift toward transparency regarding the royal family's private history. The scale of this change is limited to the internal hierarchy of the House of Saxe-Coburg and does not alter the line of succession for the Belgian throne. Vandenkerckhove, who previously worked as a car salesman and was the subject of a Flemish TV documentary in September, will remain outside the official governing and ceremonial duties of the state. No further legal proceedings or changes to his status are currently scheduled.