| Prince Laurent | |||||
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.jpg) Prince Laurent in 2021 | |||||
| Born | 19 October 1963 Belvédère Château, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium | ||||
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| House | Belgium | ||||
| Father | Albert II of Belgium | ||||
| Mother | Paola Ruffo di Calabria | ||||
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Prince Laurent of Belgium (Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie de Saxe-Cobourg; born 19 October 1963) is the second son and youngest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and younger brother of King Philippe. Currently, he is 14th in the Belgian line of succession. He had been as high as third in line, but the constitution was amended in 1991 to extend an equal right of succession to women, putting him behind his sister, Princess Astrid, and her descendants.
Laurent's involvement with animal welfare and the environment, together with a relative lack of interest in protocol, has caused him to be dubbed by elements of the popular Belgian press as écolo-gaffeur (the eco-blunderer).
- ^ a b "Les membres de la famille royale belge priés de changer de nom de famille sur leurs documents officiels" [Belgian royals asked to change surnames on official documents]. La Libre Belgique (in French). 6 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
Le prince Laurent par exemple est lui aussi désormais identifié comme Laurent Van Saksen-Coburg sur les documents officiels, ou "Laurent de Saxe-Cobourg, prince de Belgique" sur certains papiers. Son titre - de prince de Belgique - n'est donc plus utilisé comme nom de famille. Il en va de même pour les autres membres de la famille royale qui faisaient usage du patronyme "de Belgique" jusqu'à présent.
[Prince Laurent, for example, is now also identified as Laurent Van Saksen-Coburg on official documents, or "Laurent de Saxe-Cobourg, prince de Belgique" on some papers. His title - Prince of Belgium - is therefore no longer used as a surname. The same applies to the other members of the royal family who used the surname "de Belgique" until now.] - ^ "Prins Laurent en zijn gezin hebben nieuwe achternaam, en daar is hij niet zo blij mee" [Prince Laurent and his family have a new last name, and he is not very happy about it]. HLN (in Dutch). 7 January 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "Biographies of Members of the Belgian Senate" (PDF). Belgian Senate. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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