Car salesman becomes prince after paternity test, but won't inherit Belgian throne

Clement Vandenkerckhove has officially been granted the title of prince after his father, Prince Laurent of Belgium, recognized him as his son. The young man, who previously worked as a car salesman, had known about his paternity for years, a fact confirmed by a DNA test.

The ceremony marking his entry into the prince's family took place discreetly at the town hall about six months ago, but the information has only recently become public. Despite his royal lineage, the title does not grant him all the rights reserved for members of the royal family. Clement Vandenkerckhove will not receive a state allowance, is not in the line of succession, and will not participate in public activities of the royal family, unlike his half-siblings Princess Louise and Princes Aymeric and Nicolas.

“

I might want to do that, but I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove. If I were to give up this surname, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.

Regarding his surname, the young prince has not yet decided whether to adopt his father's name, Saxe-Coburg. In an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, he stated his pride in the name Vandenkerckhove. "I might want to do that, but I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove. If I were to give up this surname, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me," he declared.

Vandenkerckhove recounted how he met his father in a documentary aired last year by the Flemish television channel VTM. His relationship with Prince Laurent and his mother, singer Wendy Van Wanten (real name Iris Vandenkerckhove), began before the prince married Princess Claire in 2003. Clement was 16 when his mother revealed his father's identity. He had met the prince by chance in a shopping center years earlier, without knowing who he was, and only contacted him by phone in 2017. After several discussions, Laurent proposed a DNA test. "We went to the hospital together, and I remember him telling me: 'I'll go first, so you feel comfortable,'" Clement recalled in the documentary. The subsequent lab results indicated a 99.5% probability of paternity, leading Prince Laurent to officially recognize him as his son.

“

I'll go first, so you feel comfortable.