It is truly a fairy tale come to life. A 26-year-old car salesman is now a Belgian prince. The younger brother of King Philippe, Prince Laurent, legally recognized Clément Vandenkerckhove as his son.
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The News Was Kept Quiet Until Now
As reported by the New York Post, Clément worked at an Opel dealership in Deinze, a city in the Belgian province of East Flanders, before becoming a prince. He also studied graphic design.
His mother is Belgian singer and socialite Wendy Van Wanten. Her real name is Vandenkerckhove. Before Prince Laurent married Princess Claire in 2003, he and Van Wanten were in a high-profile relationship in the 1990s.
According to a documentary that aired on the Belgian network VTM last year, it was around a decade ago, when Clément was 16, that Van Wanten told him who her father was. Four years later, Clément called the prince. The two eventually took a DNA test, which revealed they were 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,'" Clément said.
The New Prince Might Not Take the Family Name
In the documentary, Clément publicly confirmed that Prince Laurent was his biological father, though the two had "open and honest conversations about it privately over the years." The two had actually crossed paths at a shopping center in 2013. However, Clément had no idea that the prince was his father.
Around six months ago, Clément officially became a prince at a quiet town hall ceremony. He now has equal inheritance rights to Prince Laurent's private estate with his half-siblings.
However, Clément won't receive a royal allowance. He also has no official duties and gains no rights to the Belgian throne, though he has yet to decide if he will take Prince Laurent's Saxe-Coburg family name.
"I might want to do that, but I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove," he said. "If I were to sacrifice that family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me."
