A new picture of Prince Laurent of Belgium with his 25-year-old son, whom he recently “publicly acknowledged,” has been circulating online after it appeared in a new documentary. Earlier this week, King Philippe’s younger brother announced that he fathered Clement Vandenkerckhove, 25, when he was in a relationship with Flemish model and singer Wendy van Wanten before his marriage to Princess Claire in 2003.
According to local media, rumours about his relationship with the Flemish model, whom he met sometime in the 1990s, have been circulating for years, but there has been no confirmation until now. Belgian journalist Wim Dehanschutter shared lines from the new documentary by VTM on X, alongside new pictures of the royal pair.
In one of the pictures, the father and son are seen posing for a selfie, and their resemblance is striking.
In the documentary, Clement said he met his father for the first time when he was 13 at a shopping mall.
His mother was heard saying: “I was standing with Clement in the store and suddenly Laurent walked in.”
The 25-year-old added: “I looked at the man and heard, ‘Clement, this is your daddy.'”
He also said that he first spoke to the prince on the phone in 2020, aged 20.
He said: “I heard a deep voice say, ‘Hello, who am I speaking to?’ I said, ‘It’s Clement’. The first thing he said was, ‘And how are you?’ My heart was pounding. We talked for 40 minutes.”
The 25-year-old went on to claim that it was his father who suggested a DNA test.
He explained: “We went to the hospital together. He told me: ‘I’ll go first, so you feel comfortable.’ A few weeks later we had the results. I received an email from the lab saying the DNA was a 99.5% match.”
Earlier this week, the 61-year-old prince, who is the third and youngest child of King Albert II, said in a statement to Belga News Agency: “With this announcement, I acknowledge that I am the biological father of Clement Vandenkerckhove. We have spoken openly and honestly about this in recent years.
“This announcement is based on a sense of understanding and respect for those involved. It is the result of joint consultation.
“I kindly request that you receive this information with the discretion that the nature of this intimate matter requires. I will not make any further statements or provide any further explanation on this matter.”
The Belgian royal palace declined to comment on the announcement.
Laurent shares another three children with Princess Claire, whom he is still married to: Princess Louise, born in 2003 and twin Princes Nicholas and Aymeric, born in 2005.
