A quiet, low-key ceremony held six months ago at a Belgian town hall has pulled back the curtain on a decades-old royal secret, bringing a new member into the country’s royal family: 26-year-old Clément Vandenkerckhove, a working car salesman who has now been legally acknowledged as the biological son of Prince Laurent, younger brother of Belgium’s reigning King Philippe.
Vandenkerckhove’s journey to this formal recognition began long before the DNA test that confirmed his royal lineage. His mother, former Belgian singer Wendy Van Wanten (real name Iris Vandenkerckhove), first met Prince Laurent by chance at a 1990s Paris fashion show, and the pair dated for a period before ultimately splitting. Longstanding public speculation suggests that the former Belgian king, Laurent’s father, opposed the relationship, leading to its end. Clément, born in August 2000, was not told the identity of his biological father until his 16th birthday, a reveal that came 10 years before this formal legal step.
Four years after learning his father’s identity, Vandenkerckhove reached out directly to Prince Laurent to share what his mother had disclosed. The prince agreed immediately to take a DNA test alongside Vandenkerckhove. In recounting the experience to Belgian broadcaster VTM in a September documentary, Vandenkerckhove recalled a small gesture that shaped their early connection: “We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying, ‘I’ll go first so you’re feeling at ease.’” Once the test confirmed paternity beyond dispute, the pair held a series of “open and honest conversations” that laid the groundwork for formal recognition. Earlier this year, Prince Laurent officially registered Vandenkerckhove as his son with Belgium’s national civil registry, a step that granted Vandenkerckhove the official title of prince, The Telegraph first reported Wednesday.
The legal recognition brings Vandenkerckhove equal inheritance rights to Prince Laurent’s private estate, alongside the three children Laurent shares with his wife Princess Claire: 20-year-old Princess Louise, 20-year-old Prince Nicolas, and 19-year-old Prince Aymeric. However, the new prince will not hold any claim to the Belgian throne, will not receive an annual public royal allowance, and will not be required to carry out any official royal duties on behalf of the monarchy. Though he is eligible to adopt the royal family name Saxe-Coburg, Vandenkerckhove has made clear he has no plans to abandon the surname he has carried his whole life. “I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove,” he told Flemish daily newspaper Het Nieuwsblad recently. “If I were to sacrifice that family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”
This revelation marks the second high-profile secret paternity case to emerge from the Belgian royal family in recent years. Prince Laurent’s father, 92-year-old former King Albert II, fought a years-long paternity dispute before formally acknowledging in 2020 that he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Delphine Boël, during an extramarital affair. Boël, now 58, won her legal battle for recognition and was granted the official title of princess, and she now uses the name Delphine de Saxe-Coburg.