Celebrity
Prince Laurent of Belgium denied social security benefits on top of state allowance
The younger brother of Belgium’s King who sought to claim social security benefits on top of his $700,000 royal allowance has had his application rejected.
Prince Laurent, 61, said his work entitles him and his family to social security.
He said he was was making the claim on “principle” and not for the money.
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The prince had argued that he was partly self-employed because of the duties he carries out as a royal, as well as running an animal welfare charity for the past decade.
“When a migrant comes here, he registers, he has a right to [social security],” he told Belgian broadcaster RTBF, the BBC reports.
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“I may be a migrant too, but one whose family established the state in place.”
But a court disagreed and rejected the prince’s application. The judge in Brussels turned down the prince’s request on the grounds that the royal can be considered neither self-employed nor an employee.
The judge is said to have acknowledged that the prince should actually be entitled to a pension, but said due to gaps in legislation, that was impossible and called for the law to be amended.
Prince Laurent is the younger brother of Belgium’s reigning King, Philippe who is 64.
He is 15th in the line of succession and received €388,000 (approx. $707k) in state funds last year.
The prince’s lawyer Olivier Rijckaert told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that Laurent’s request had not been based on a “whim” and insisted on its symbolism, saying that social security is “granted by Belgian law to all residents, from the most deprived to the richest”.
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He also claimed most of the prince’s allowance was spent on his assistant’s salary and various travel expenses.
The prince is left with just €5000 (approx. $9000) a month but no social security benefits, including the right to claim back some medical expenses.
When he dies, the prince’s royal allowance will be cut forcing him to express concerns for the welfare of his wife, British-born Claire Coombs, and their three adult children, when the time comes.
It is not clear if the prince will appeal the court’s decision.
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Prince Laurent is no stranger to controversy and has been called the ‘prince maudit’ – the “cursed prince” – in Belgium.
His monthly allowance was docked for a year in 2018 after the prince attended a Chinese embassy reception without government permission, in full naval uniform.
He has also been criticised for attending meetings in Libya when the late Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.
Prince Laurent’s brother Philippe became King in July, 2013, following the abdication of their father King Albert II.
The Belgian royal family has been in the headlines in recent years because of Princess Delphine, who is the illegitimate child of Albert II.
Now 56, Delphine was 17 when she was told by her mother that the then-Crown Prince, who later took the throne in 1993, was her father.
She had been fighting for seven years to have Albert II officially recognise her as his biological daughter.
In 2013, Delphine launched legal action against the King to try and force his hand.
He chose to abdicate in favour of his son Philippe when he was forced to take a DNA test. At the time he cited health reasons for stepping down from the throne.
Delphine, who is an artist, was finally recognised as Albert’s daughter in October 2020 and later won the right to be known as Princess Delphine of Saxe-Coburg.
They now have a better relationship and Delphine occasionally joins members of the royal family for official events.
But in November, 2024, Princess Delphine lashed out at Belgium’s government and the royal family, claiming she was excluded from a major royal event because of her illegitimate birth.
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