Last year, Belgian Prince Laurent received €388,000 ($376,000) from state funds, but he has now officially been denied the social security benefits to which he claimed he was entitled.

Laurent, 61, first sued the Belgian state after his social security application was refused; the first hearing was held in November 2024.

The Belgian prince claimed that he and his family were eligible to receive cash welfare in addition to his annual handout and palatial, rent-free accommodation—supposedly out of “principle” rather than for money. He declared that his royal duties equated him to being partly self-employed, in addition to running an animal welfare charity for the last decade.

His lawyer, Olivier Rijckaert, also argued that a portion of Laurent’s allowance is spent on his assistant’s salary and various travel expenses. With the deductions, Laurent only receives an estimated €5000  ($5,500) a month.

The average full-time employee in Belgium earns €4,076 ($4,474) a month.

Laurent emphasized that he wants to ensure security measures are in place for his wife, Claire Coombs, and their three adult children when he dies.

A court in Brussels turned Laurent’s request down on Monday, saying that Laurent could not be classified as self-employed or an employee. However, the judge admitted that Laurent should probably be entitled to a pension, but due to gaps in legislation, that would have been impossible. 

Laurent is the 15th in the Belgian line of succession and has a controversial reputation. He is nicknamed “the cursed prince.” In 2018, his monthly allowance was docked for a year when he attended a Chinese embassy reception without the government’s permission, clad in a full Belgian Navy uniform. He was also condemned for attending meetings in Libya when the late Muammar Gaddafi was in power.

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Article by Baila Eve Zisman

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