I think we all know a black sheep, whether deserved or not. My own family has several black sheep cousins that are kept at arm’s length for various reasons. And while my one cousin might be a flat earther (no, I’m not joking), he has definitely never been so outspoken about any bitterness he may feel (too busy yelling about solar eclipses and ice walls, I think).
But that’s not the case for Prince Laurent of Belgium, who is the brother of King Philippe and son of King Albert II. He also enjoys listening to himself talk. So he talks, A LOT. And I’m sick of hearing him complain, so here is a piece dedicated to nothing more than to calling Laurent out on his nonsense.
This morning, an interview with the Prince was released with HLN.be, and it’s chock full of classic Laurent-isms.
First of all, the magazine hoped to speak with Laurent’s wife, Princess Claire, as she turns 50 tomorrow and wanted to take stock of her life. She is a private person though (and definitely more media savvy than Laurent), and declined. Don’t worry Claire, your husband took the opportunity to speak for you- or himself, rather.
Money Troubles:
Embed from Getty ImagesPrince Laurent receives an allowance of 366,000 euros with 105,000 euros as an annual salary with the rest (261,000 euros) meant for expenses that he needs to supply documentation for. The amount he received used to be much higher, by the way, more on that later. He wishes to work, and indeed has a global nonprofit called Global Sustainable Development Trust. However, in 2010, their contract with Libya to work on a reforestation project was terminated by Libya and the funds (about 50 million euros after damages and interest), have not been paid out, despite courts ruling in Laurent’s favour.
Laurent though, says in the HLN interview: But in order for this tool [the nonprofit] to function again, the government must implement decisions of the courts. But that doesn’t happen. We are not recognized. I am baffled by this situation. But I will continue to fight for the rights of my wife and our children.”
Now, I think anyone of a semi-rational mind might pause here and go, ‘hmm, perhaps there’s a lot more going on here behind the scenes geopolitically and within Libya itself that might be the root cause of this’. Instead, Laurent seems to be taking this as a personal slight to himself.
Adding insult to injury, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), filed a lawsuit against Laurent for alleged fraud and extortion. We’ll get into another claim of fraud against Laurent in a minute.
He also grumbles about the documentation he must provide for the 261,000 euros meant for expenses. This, is an impossibility he says:
“I have to live my life as an administration, which is almost impossible. Those who made this endowment law are not subject to the same rigor. I find this quite sickening. I don’t want to tar all politicians with the same brush, because I know some nice ones too. But overall I’m in a pretty gloomy mood.”
Please let this sink in. Prince Laurent is complaining that he must document his expenses in order to receive money (that he says he does not want) from the government which is given to him for the sole reason of being born to the right people. He is annoyed that he, the person receiving the money/having his expenses paid for, needs to… show what the money is going to? Am I reading that right? Yes, yes I am.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe interview with HLN brings up the fact that Laurent’s children, Princess Louise, Prince Aymeric, and Prince Nicolas are now legal adults and therefore, if Princess Claire wanted to go back into the work force, she was more than able. In fact, they even bring up how Claire worked as a land surveyor before her marriage to Laurent. This is still not acceptable for Laurent, because he argues that she should be able to work for his organization, which is like I said, currently tied up in lawsuits and frozen assets. This seems like a good time to reiterate that the contract ended in 2010, 14 years ago. I should also mention that a lot of, in fact I’ll argue that most royals, actually do work. As in, they have real jobs. He can ask several family members about this!
Laurent starts the interview off with a gem, which is fitting here: I seem like someone who is never satisfied and always has problems. A real pain in the ass. But I’m not. I fight for basic values. My wife should be able to benefit from social security, like everyone else.”
He’s right when he says he seems like someone who is never satisfied. He’s not: he doesn’t want the allowance, he wants the millions from the nonprofit and is angry that the Belgian government isn’t wading into international politics with the Libyan government for him. He also doesn’t want his wife to find a job elsewhere because she should be able to work for the Trust, duh. Yeah you do sound like a real pain in the ass Laurent.
He also follows it up with this, when the interviewer asks about his sister Princess Astrid, who is in the same boat as him in terms of not being a major part of the line of succession:
“Yes, but she married someone of good descent (Prince Lorenz belongs to the highest nobility in Europe and is a private banker in Switzerland, ed.) . I should have married a billionaire. Then I wouldn’t have had any trouble with the regulations. But I don’t like money and I married a woman I loved.”
I’m not entirely sure you don’t like money Laurent. In fact I’m getting the impression that you actually love it and want more of it. Hmm.
Below, you can see Laurent, Claire, and Astrid and Lorenz:
Embed from Getty ImagesReaping What You Sow:
This is not the first time Laurent has complained about his money or lack thereof.
As I mentioned earlier, the allowance meant for Prince Laurent used to be much higher, at 370, 000 euros total. When this was cut a few years ago, Laurent’s lawyer had this to say:
“It goes without saying that the court of human rights would make short work of such violations of the right to a fair trial,” he writes, before going on to claim that the penalty also goes “against the most fundamental human rights in a developed society”.
I mean…what?
This comes after a visit to the Chinese embassy in full naval regalia which was deemed as unauthorized diplomacy. This is also not the first time he’s done this:
Previous to the termination of the contract with Libya and the Global Sustainable Development Trust, he visited Libya while the dictator Muammar Gaddafi was still in power. In fact, the falling out of the contract took place one year before the Arab Spring in 2011.
He also made a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011 in order to study deforestation. This may sound innocuous until you learn about the history between Belgium and the former African colony. Belgium’s King Leopold II was the founder and owner of the Congo Free State, and ran an absolutely brutal regime with a death toll in the millions. Laurent then went on to defend Leopold by arguing that the King never went to the country itself.
He stated: “I do not see how he could have made people there suffer,” … “You must know that there were many people that worked for Leopold II, and they were really abusive — but that does not mean that Leopold II was abusive.”
He’s right about one thing here: they were ‘really’ abusive, and so was Leopold. Also, if you would like to learn more about this tragedy and how/why it happened, there are a lot of resources out there but I personally recommend the book ‘King Leopold’s Ghost’ by Adam Hochschild. It’s detailed, graphic, and doesn’t shy away at all from the truth of what happened.
If Laurent wants to cry about human rights violations, I beg him to pick up that book and actually read it.
More Fraud Allegations:
I mentioned earlier that there have been previous allegations of fraud relating to Prince Laurent. In 2006, renovations were made on Laurent’s home, Villa Clémentine, using funds that were skimmed from the Belgian navy.
Laurent stated: “When my confidant, whom I fully trusted, assured me that he would take care of my furnishings via the navy, I thought that was done legitimately,”
He was called as a witness and stated in court that he was unaware that the renovations of his home could have come from illegally gained funds. He was never charged with anything, to be clear. That being said, I’m not entirely sure how funding from the navy going towards a home renovation could be above board, but I digress.
Embed from Getty ImagesMore Complaints:
Laurent has also taken digs at his own family and institution of the royal family, which, is the exact reason why Laurent lives the way he does, receives the money he complains about, and lives in a mansion that may or may not have been spruced up by illegal money. Anyway.
He has stated that the monarchy is a “medieval institution“. He fashions himself a philosopher as he wonders why society needs figureheads (aka, his father, uncle, and brother), and includes politicians such as prime ministers and presidents in his musings.
He goes on to state that: “A royal family is based on a structure older than the Middle Ages, but that structure has not been adjusted enough so far, you could say I am living somewhere in the Middle Ages.”
How he thinks the structure needs to be adjusted is not entirely clear and frankly I’m not sure he’s thought that far ahead.
Laurent doesn’t need to go on record to espouse the outdated and medieval nature of the monarchy. It’s quite obvious that he does not respect the institution into which he was born and benefits from as he has a history of playing on his phone during the past few national day celebrations:
In 2023:
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 2022:
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 2021:
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 2019:
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 2018:
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd one more just for good measure, in 2017:
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat is so important on your phone there Laurent? One has to wonder.
In Conclusion…Shut Up Laurent:
There are a few royals out there that feel a bit jilted by their place in their royal family; in fact Laurent isn’t even the only one in Belgium that feels this way, but that’s an article for another day.
The constraints of royal life are surely hard to manage at times, however, I also feel like the benefits outweigh the negatives here and while Laurent may have issues with the way things are run bureaucratically, complaining endlessly in magazines isn’t helping anyone. Laurent may feel starved by the hand that feeds him, but is publicly biting that hand the best way to go?
For a start, Laurent may wish to try thinking before he speaks, or perhaps learning about the world around him before he whines about his budget being cut after a history of unauthorized diplomacy, allegations of fraud, crapping all over his family’s role in Belgium, and making awful, uneducated remarks. Or perhaps Claire should be taking over the interview duties; whatever she has to say can’t be worse than Laurent, hopefully.
The Royalty Nerd 
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