The Benelux Royals Message Board: Re: Another generation of Belgian Royals with an extra-marital child

I used to have issues with illegitimate children having titles: but by now, I'm resigned to the situation. At the very least, the said children don't have SUCCESSION RIGHTS. That would be the last straw ...

The fact is that titles are largely meaningless: in the past, there was a correlation between them and succession rights. But under the Salic law, princesses have titles without succession rights. The issue of King Leopold III and his morganatic second wife, Lilian Baels, were all born with full royal titles -- but have never been acknowledged as dynasts.

Great Britain has long had dynasts without titles -- even commoners. So why can't the opposite be possible? Indeed, we have seen neighboring Luxembourg, with its own share of persons born out of wedlock (e.g. the first son of Prince Louis and Tessy Anthony), eventually granted titles of some sort. If not HRH Prince(ss) of Luxembourg, then at least of Nassau.

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After Leopold I, Leopold II, Charles count of Flanders and Albert II now prince Laurent has finally admitted he is the biological father of the son of Flemish celebrity Wendy van Wanten (real name Iris Vandenkerckhove). The young man was born in 2000 years before Laurent married Claire.
Iris/Wendy was by that time a divorcee with a rather racy career so unsuitable to ever be considered as the bride of a Belgian Prince.
The son is called Clement and as Laurent already lived in Villa Clementine speculation about his fatherhood has been ongoing since the birth of Clement.

So Belgium might get another HRH prince of Belgium without succession-rights.