{
  "id": 2593603,
  "title": "Belgian car salesman becomes prince after DNA test proves royal parentage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/belgian-car-salesman-becomes-prince-after-dna-test-proves-royal",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-22T14:16:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "KahawaTungu",
    "slug": "kahawatungu",
    "url": "https://kahawatungu.com/belgian-car-salesman-becomes-prince-after-dna-test-proves-royal-parentage/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A Belgian car salesman, Clement Vandenkerckhove, 26, has been granted the title of prince after a DNA test confirmed his royal parentage. Prince Laurent, the 63-year-old brother of King Philippe, is Vandenkerckhove's father. The revelation came after Vandenkerckhove's mother, a singer, disclosed the information to him when he was 16-years-old. Prince Laurent recently registered his paternity with Belgium's civil registry, granting Vandenkerckhove equal inheritance rights to Laurent's private estate, which also includes his half-sister Princess Louise, and half-brothers Prince Nicolas and Prince Aymeric. Despite the newfound status, Vandenkerckhove will not receive a royal allowance or be expected to perform official duties, nor does he have any claim to the Belgian throne. He was born in August 2000 to Belgian singer Iris Vandenkerckhove, but the identity of his father came as a surprise. Prince Laurent and Vandenkerckhove have had open and honest conversations since confirming paternity, and Vandenkerckhove has chosen to retain his family name Vandenkerckhove instead of adopting his father's name, Saxe-Coburg.",
  "summary": "A Belgian car salesman has become a prince at the age of 26 after being acknowledged as the son of the king’sbrother, 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 [...] The post Belgian car salesman becomes prince after DNA test proves royal parentage…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}