Prince Laurent: ‘Belgium’s Prince Harry’ set to quit royal family for dream life abroad

Prince Harry’s departure from the royal family changed the face of the British monarchy forever – but he is not the only royal black sheep to turn his back on palace life.

In Belgium, 60-year-old former playboy Prince Laurent has similarly established himself as an outsider in his own clan – much in the way that a young Harry did during his own turbulent formative years.

Laurent was affectionally known in the corridors of The Palace of Laeken as the “Playboy prince” before his marriage to Claire Coombs in 2003, while he courted further controversy with his spending and alleged entreprenurial work.

Now the royal, who is respected for his enviornmental work, has revealed he is leaving his life of privilege behind in search of a more independent existence.

“I am preparing a new life,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “I would like to change my current position. I want to be less involved in public activities. It is no secret that one day I want to live abroad, in Italy.”

At the time of his birth in October 1963, Laurent was third in line to the Belgian throne as the King Albert and Queen Paola’s second son and youngest child.

However, following subsequent additions to his family and a change in the Belgian constitution to allow equal succession rights to women, he is now 13th in line to the throne.

The Harry effect?

The trajectory of Prince Laurent’s life has not been entirely dissimilar to that of Prince Harry’s, although he has always insisted that he is first and foremost an entrepreneur despite a stint in the military.

“I don’t compare myself to Prince Harry. I have always been an entrepreneur. But it is true that I would like to start a new life,” he said.

But Laurent’s allegedly entrepreneurial activities have landed the Prince, who trained in the army and navy before becoming a pilot, in hot water.

This most notably took place in 2011, when he attempted to do business with a son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi on an unauthorised visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In hot water

His love of the finer things in life is also well known for the wrong reasons and he hit the headlines in the UK in 2016 after being forced to repay €16,000 (£12,300) to the Belgian state after making wrongful expense claims for luxuries including a ski trip.

“My family has never supported me,” he once declared, despite receiving a €307,000 (£236,000) annual allowance thanks to his royal status.

But while Laurent has established a reputation for going against the grain, not all of it has resulted in negative press coverage.

He was awarded the Emile Noël Prize for his role in an environmental think tank at the European Comission and is Chairman of the European Research Group for Alternatives in Toxicity Testing (ERGATT).

He also set up the Prince Laurent Foundation in 1995 to help improve the lives of domestic and wild animals.

As a result, he is known as the écolo-gaffeur (the eco-blunderer) in the Belgian press beause of his apparent disregard for royal protocol and passion for the environment.

Game of thrones

While Laurent has benefited from his position as royalty, it didn’t stop him from accusing the British monarchy of treating Harry like “property” like “a thing owned by a structure or a government or a state.”

This accusation was made back in 2020 and could have well played into the Prince’s apparent decision to leave royal life behind for similar reasons.

He has recently hit out at the limitations placed on him as a taxpayer-funded royal, claiming that they are in breach of his human rights.

“I have a cousin who is head of state [Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg]. If I want to see him, I have to ask the government for permission,” he said.

“Isn’t it illegal to ban human contact?”

Now, the royal believes that he can only truly fulfil his life is he steps away from the role he has occupied for most of his life.

However, as he expressed a desire to be “less involved in public activities”, it’s not known if he intends to be fully financially independent like Prince Harry.

“I am convinced that I will be able to develop better in that new life than in the life I am experiencing now,” he said.

“I think I can do more for society and make myself more useful if I can live that new life. I’m not proclaiming this because I’m angry.”