Clément Vandenkerckhove, a 26-year-old former car salesman, has been officially recognized as the secret son of Prince Laurent of Belgium, the younger brother of King Philippe. The acknowledgment, which occurred at a town hall ceremony approximately six months ago, grants Vandenkerckhove equal inheritance rights to Prince Laurent's private estate alongside his three half-siblings: Princess Louise, Prince Nicolas, and Prince Aymeric.
Despite his new princely title, Vandenkerckhove will not receive a royal allowance, undertake official duties, or gain any claim to the Belgian throne. He is currently undecided about adopting the Saxe-Coburg family name, expressing pride in his current surname, Vandenkerckhove, and noting that changing it would feel like a betrayal of his mother's support.
Vandenkerckhove's parentage remained a secret for years until he appeared in a September documentary on Belgian network VTM, publicly confirming Prince Laurent as his biological father. Born in August 2000 to Belgian singer and socialite Wendy Van Wanten (Iris Vandenkerckhove), he is the product of a relationship Laurent had in the 1990s before his marriage to Princess Claire in 2003.
Vandenkerckhove stated in the documentary that his mother revealed Laurent's paternity when he was 16. Four years later, he contacted the prince, leading to a DNA test that showed a 99.5 percent match. Prince Laurent later confirmed the paternity, describing their recent years as filled with "open and honest conversations."
Before this public acknowledgment, Vandenkerckhove worked as a car salesman at an Opel dealership in Deinze, living a life separate from the royal family. He studied graphic design and has an interest in fast cars and horses. This situation echoes Prince Laurent's own family history, as his father, former King Albert II, spent years disputing paternity before acknowledging his daughter, Delphine Boël, in 2020, who then gained the title of princess.