The Belgian Prince Laurent is still considering his intention to apply for Italian citizenship, he said to local media on 15 November after attending the traditional Fête du Roi or King’s Celebration. November 15th is Saint Leopold’s Day, named after Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians. Prince Laurent is the younger brother of King Philippe.
In September of this year, Prince Laurent explained to the press that he wished to leave Belgium and move to Italy, his mother’s country of origin. In Italy, he said, he would work and take Italian nationality, but he has not yet officially notified the government of his intentions.
If his application were to be submitted and later granted, the process would not automatically affect his State allowance. There has been a lot of controversy regarding a legal dispute between Prince Laurent and the Belgian State over social security. Neither he nor his family are entitled to it due to the State allowance Laurent receives for being part of the Belgian Royal Family.
According to local media, his endowment amounts to 388,000 euros this year. His wife, Princess Claire, and their three children, however, have no social security cover (healthcare, health insurance, pension). He therefore decided to take legal action, taking the Union of the Middle Classes (UCM) and the National Institute of Social Insurance for the Workers d’Assurances Sociales (Inasti) to the French-speaking Labor Court in Brussels last year.
“What I’m asking is that elementary rights be respected”, he declared. “I’m not making it a question of financial means, but of respect,” he said. “When a migrant comes here, he registers and has rights. I may be a migrant too but my family set up the state. I’m asking for the right to social recognition. Is that asking a lot?”
A prince’s change of nationality has no direct impact on the endowment he receives from the state, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told the House’s Interior Committee on Wednesday, 20 November, after receiving a question from Vlaams Belang MP Barbara Pas.
“The Prince has given a number of interviews about his future but has not formally informed the government of his plans,” explained De Croo. “The Prince is always free to renounce his endowment and privileges as a member of the Royal Family. In this case, the obligations defined in the law also come to an end. This is a view that has been expressed in the past by my predecessors, but the Prince has never taken the initiative to do so. The government is aware of Prince Laurent’s plans to combine Belgian and Italian nationality, and of his wish to move to Italy. A change of nationality in itself has no automatic consequence on the endowment.”
The pleadings are scheduled for today before the 11th chamber of the Brussels Labor Court.
