ROYAL TREATMENT

Car Salesman, 26, Becomes Prince After Shocking Discovery

The prince lived for 26 years without royal status before being discovered.

A car salesman has been declared a Belgian prince after the king’s brother identified him as his secret son. King Philippe’s younger brother, 63-year-old Prince Laurent, identified the 26-year-old Clément Vandenkerckhove as his son about six months ago, with details reported Wednesday. The new prince has equal rights to his father’s private estate alongside his three siblings: half-sister Princess Louise, 20, half-brothers Prince Nicolas, 20, and Prince Aymeric, 19. Vandenkerckhove has embraced the new title but will not receive a royal allowance, take on royal duties, or join the line of succession to the Belgian throne. He remains undecided on whether he will take on Laurent’s Saxe-Coburg family name. “I am proud of the name Vandenkerckhove,” the young prince said. “If I were to sacrifice that family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.” Vandenkerckhove, raised by his Belgian singer and socialite mother, Wendy Van Wanten, confirmed his royal status in a TV documentary on Belgian network VTM last September.