Belgian car salesman becomes prince after DNA test proves royal parentage | CNN

A Belgian car salesman has become a prince at the age of 26 after being acknowledged as the son of the king’s brother, Prince Laurent. Clément Vandenkerckhove’s mother, a Belgian singer who had a relationship with Prince Laurent in the 1990s, only told him who his father was when he turned 16 a decade ago. It emerged this week that he was legally recognized as the son and heir of the 63-year-old younger brother of King Philippe, at a low-key town hall ceremony about six months ago after a DNA test proved his link to the royal family. Prince Laurent has registered his paternity of Vandenkerckhove with Belgium’s civil registry, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday. The formality affords the new prince equal inheritance rights to Laurent’s private estate with his half-sister Princess Louise, 20, and half-brothers Prince Nicolas, 20, and Prince Aymeric, 19, children Laurent shares with Princess Claire whom he married in 2003. But he will not receive a royal allowance, nor will he be expected to take on official duties, and he has no rights to the Belgian throne. The secret daughter of former Belgian king wins the right to call herself a princess Vandenkerckhove could take his f