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Belgium’s Prince Laurent and Princess Claire spoke out against a recent television documentary which accused the Prince of domestic violence. The couple did so when Laurent inaugurated a lodging for homeless people with dogs in Brussels.
 See more photos of the couple here “With this project I want to show me the way I really am. I think this is the real picture of me,” said the Prince.
He also refuted the insinuation that he is a violent person. “I would like to speak straight. I’m an animal lover but also a human lover. The most important thing in life is that you can look yourself in the mirror at night.”
With him for this event was wife Princess Claire. As the media pressed on about the documentary claims, she got upset and said, “I think now enough is enough. You will also have three children. Those insinuations are wrong.”
Laurent tried to get the reporters to ask him about his charity work with animals, but it didn’t work.
“Enough is enough, Laurent,” Claire whispered to him. “The project did not interest them.”
The RTBF documentary aired over the weekend. It comes as the Prince is emerging after being suspended from the royal palace after doing very undiplomatic things this year. They included meeting with Libyan officials and going to the Democratic Republic of Congo without the permission of any Belgian politician.
Source: De Standaard, Zita
November 15th marks King’s Day in Belgium and the celebrations include certain members of the Belgian royal family attending the Te Deum mass at the Saint Michael and St Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. As per tradition, King Albert II and Queen Paola did not attend.
 Click here to check out more photos But their youngest child, and the enfant terrible of the Belgian royals, Prince Laurent did. The Prince was at the mass with his wife Princess Claire. It was the first time the couple took part in an official royal event since Laurent was suspended from them back in May. He was banned after traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo – a former Belgian colony – without the permission of government officials earlier this year.
But all seemed well for Laurent and Claire as they mingled with their family and the Belgian people after the service.
Unfortunately, there were some protests against the royals by members of the Flemish right-wing party (N-VA). Several people were arrested after shouting anti-monarchy slogans outside the cathedral.
Source: Daylife
National Day is often meant to be a time to celebrate patriotism, but for Belgians, this year saw it be more somber since the day also marked 400 days without a government.
 Click here for more images Belgium’s monarch, King Albert II, has been demanding recently for the feuding politicians to do something to form a government in order to save the country from splitting into two. His speech on Wednesday night covered that issue.
“On this national day, I would have liked to enjoy with you the swearing in of a new government. Alas, we are not there yet, and I deplore this,” His Majesty lamented.
“Our current situation is a cause for concern among our partners and could damage our position in Europe, and even the momentum towards European integration which has already been undermined by populism and Euroscepticism.
“The actual crisis is showing the population’s ignorance of politics but doesn’t resolve the current problems. The risk is that we are going to have a kind of [populism] which would throw democracy into question,” said the 77-year old King.
King Albert’s efforts as a mediator between the warring political groups have made him popular with the people who want Belgium to remain.
“The King is right to give his point of view and I hope that he will be heard,” said one who was among a crowd waiting to greet him.
“I say thank you to the King as he is the cement for our country. We are proud to be Belgian, its our National Day and I hope the King will live for many more,” opined another.
Despite the dark cloud of politics hanging over Belgium, many people celebrated their country’s National Day along with their royal family.
The day saw the King and Queen Paola attended a Te Deum mass at St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels before doing a walkabout with Belgians outside. That was followed by a military parade watched by the King and Queen, Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde and Queen Fabiola.
One royal noticeably absent from this year’s National Day festivities was Prince Laurent. Having been suspended until further notice for his behavior earlier this year from royal duties, Laurent and his wife and children instead celebrated Belgium’s big day at one of the country’s street parties the previous night.
Sources: Euronews, Telegraph.co.uk, De Standaard
On Thursday, nearly the entire Belgian royal family gathered for the first communion of Princess Louise, the daughter of the controversial Prince Laurent. Although the Prince has been banned from participating in royal activities, he is of course not banned from family events.
 Click here to see more photos of the Belgian royals The Belgian royals went to the small parish of Sainte-Catherine Bonlez, a district of Chaumont-Gistoux in the province of Walloon Brabant for the Catholic ceremony for the seven year old. Princess Louise wore a pink dress with matching shoes and headband. She arrived with the other youngsters making their first communion.
Her parents, Laurent and Princess Claire came with their twin boys, Prince Aymeric and Prince Nicholas. Also there were King Albert II, Queen Paola and Queen Fabiola, who is still holding strong in her late age.
Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde came with their son Prince Emmanuel. Princess Astrid attended with her husband and youngest daughter.
It is not exactly known how the King or the rest of the Belgian royals treated Prince Laurent, but according to RTBF TV, King Albert supposedly did not salute his son. One wonders if the King is still angry over his youngest son’s careless behavior this year or was simply making a public statement as a monarch.
Source: De Standaard
The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws is reporting that the enfant terrible of the Belgian royal family, Prince Laurent, is no longer welcome at the royal palace. It is also being reported that Laurent has been removed from all future engagements. This is because of his controversial visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a former Belgian colony back in March.
 Click here for more pics of Laurent and Claire Laurent went to the DR Congo supposedly to investigate deforestation. But because of the strained ties between the two countries, his visit was not authorized by the government, and it earned him the wrath of Prime Minister Yves Leterme and his father, King Albert II.
This is not the first time the Prince has been suspended from royal activities. A few years ago, Laurent used money from the Navy to fund his holiday villa and received similar treatment.
It is unknown how long Laurent will be banned from the Palace.
However, his wife, Princess Claire and their three young children are not part of the suspension. Insiders say it is because no one thought it was right for them to suffer from the Prince’s behavior.
Source: De Gelderlander
The enfant terrible of the Belgian royal family continues to stir controversy. This week, there has been talk of Prince Laurent being relieved of his royal dotations after his controversial trip to the Congo. Now, there are reports that the Prince set up a meeting between two Libyan diplomats who are against Muammar Gadhafi.
According to the newspaper La Libre Belgique, 47 year old Prince Laurent tried to launch desertification projects in Libya with the help of one of Gadhafi’s sons in recent years. The plan eventually flew apart and Laurent lost his investments.
La Libre Belgique says he then arranged a meeting between a diplomat from the Libyan Embassy and the Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations regarding overthrowing Gadhafi. Supposedly, no one in the Belgian government or the royal family were ever aware of this.
But Prince Laurent vehemently denies this. He released a statement through his lawyer, Pierre Legros, saying “the false information about his relationship with the Libyan rebels is invalid.”
Despite that, Prime Minister Yves Leterme wants to meet with Laurent Friday so that the Prince could explain his ties to Libya. Leterme also blasted the Prince to Parliament.
“A number of his activities and the way they are organised are not compatible with the status of a prince in Belgium,” Leterme said.
“I will tell him about the new rules he must strictly follow and I will repeat to him that his activities are carried out in an unacceptable manner,” he said.
Because of this recent revelation, there are now more talks of removing Laurent’s royal dotations, or grants from the government. Already, he earns €300,000, or $428,000 a year from the Belgian government.
There were reports that the Prince was considering losing his dotations, according to his lawyer. But in an interview with the Dutch newspaper, De Standaard, he says that is untrue.
“I would be surprised if he (Legros) said that. I’ve never said anything like that. You know how it goes. Journalists write anything they like. I don’t need to explain to you how journalists work!”
Mark Van den Wijngaert, a royal expert, says that Laurent giving up his grant would not solve all the royals’ problems: “Without the grant Laurent gains greater freedom, but this too could weigh on the royal house as Laurent remains a Prince of Belgium.”
The problems Prince Laurent has been doing has been causing a rift between him and his father, King Albert II. This week, Laeken Palace distanced itself from the King’s youngest child by admitting that the monarch was angry at him.
Sources: De Standaard, FlandersNews, AFP
Belgium’s Prince Laurent is stirring trouble again, and this is time its over a very sensitive issue. The Prince recently did a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo), a central African country once colonized by Belgium. Tensions between the two countries have been around for decades, and for Laurent to go DRCongo on his own initiative is creating a major controversy.
 Click here to see more pics Prime Minister Yves Leterme sent a not to Prince Laurent, telling him not to go. When asked to comment, Leterme said “Despite the demands of the federal government and the palace, the prince decided not to adjourn his impending departure.”
It is believed Laurent went to the country to explore its deforestation issue. It is also not known if the DRCongo welcomed him.
But what is clear is that some Belgian politicians are calling for a review of his dotation, or payment from the state, and maybe removing the Prince as an official member of the royal family
“If he wants to be rid of the official side of his life, then we should still look at that. The debate is in any case on the table,” said vice Prime Minister Steven Vanackere, a Christian Democrat, during a morning radio talk show.
Relations between Belgium and DRCongo are very sensitive. During colonization, millions of Congolese died or were mutilated by the Belgians.
Last year, when DRCongo celebrated its 50th year of independence, King Albert II and Queen Paola were present, but only after careful planning and consideration of the DRCongo.
Prince Laurent, the youngest of the King and Queen’s three children, has long been a troublemaker in the family. He stirred controversy recently for sending his daughter to a French school despite linguistic tensions in Belgium, and also lost his driver’s license this year for speeding.
Source: De Morgen
Just weeks after losing his driver’s license, Belgium’s Prince Laurent has come under fire by Prime Minister Yves Leterme after Flemish newspapers ran stories about the Prince’s behavior on airplanes in recent weeks.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images/FILE According to one, De Morgen, when Laurent was flying Belgian Airlines to Sweden for Crown Princess Victoria’s June 2010 wedding, he and his wife, Princess Claire, sat in first class although they originally paid for economy.
When told to sit where they were supposed to, Laurent called the flight attendants “unprofessional”.
Later, he refused to pay for his drinks, leading Swedish passengers to do the same.
In another incident, Laurent, Claire and their three children and a nanny, pulled the same stunt: sit in first class although having paid for economy. This time the staff kept silent in order to avoid making a scene.
When asked about the 47 year old Prince’s behavior by parliament, Prime Minister Leterme said it was “incorrect” and said he was “distancing myself” from the royal.
Belgian Airlines said it had not been informed of the two incidents, and the royal palace had no comment.
The newspapers are published in a Dutch speaking area in Belgium, where the royal family are not very popular.
Prince Laurent is 12th in line to the Belgian throne.
Source: AFP
He may royalty, but Prince Laurent was treated like any other Belgian citizen Wednesday when he was stripped of his driver’s license for two weeks due to speeding.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images/FILE Laurent, age 47, was caught driving 30 km (19 miles) above the speed limit in downtown Brussels Monday afternoon. A speed camera captured his Fiat Punto Abarth speeding by at 82 km (51 miles) per hour on a 50 kph (31 mph) street.
“He was clearly driving too fast,” palace spokesman Pierre Emmanuel de Bauw said.
This is the third time the Prince had his license suspended. The first time came in 1987, and in 2001, it happened again when he went 137 kph (85mph) in Bruges.
He also caused controversy once by saying that there should be “a special license for those driving a fast car”.
Source: AFP, The Telegraph
Belgium’s Prince Laurent was seen at the Brussels-Central railway station this Tuesday to oversee the vaccination of local homeless people’s pets. Laurent, an ardent animal lover, does this yearly and it is all part of his eponymous foundation aimed at helping animals.
 BELGA PHOTO/JOHANNA GERON According his foundation’s website, the Prince Laurent Foundation is “for the welfare of domestic and wild animals seeks to do everything possible to assure the recognition of and respect for the dignity of all animals,whatever the role man assigns to them.
“[A]n animal will become a companion, a friend one can trust, and which will incite a feeling of responsibility. An animal embodies those virtues that man has so often neglected : loyalty, honesty, unselfishness. Robinson Crusoe, before meeting Friday on his island, had already tamed a goat, which followed him everywhere, and later a parrot, which had the advantage of being able to mimic the human language.
“For my part, I would like to devote, to the best of my abilities, part of my life’s activities to the improvement of animal welfare. I hope that, in achieving this goal, I can also bring greater happiness to the people, by, on the one hand, suppressing animal abuse, and, on the other hand, by encouraging and strengthening the bonds of respect, admiration and love which must exist between man and animal.”
Source: Belga, Fondation Prince Laurent
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