alt.hn

8/22/2026 at 5:09:27 PM

Belgian car salesman becomes prince after DNA test proves royal parentage

 https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/22/europe/prince-belgium-secret-son-scli-intl

by MilnerRoute

8/22/2026 at 6:54:31 PM

The Fresh Prince of Bel...gium.

by thomasfl

8/22/2026 at 10:14:37 PM

Bel-heir ?

by dpflan

8/23/2026 at 12:32:34 AM

Was reading that many European countries have "forced heirship" which means that varying amounts - 50% to 75% is typical - have to be left to spouse/children.

I was representative in the US for my aunt and she and her husband specifically disinherited his two daughters from his first marriage. It was interesting that this was simply not allowed in other countries.

Anyway, time to take his dad mountain climbing, caving, scuba diving, ...

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5d80ec56-4c29...

by jdeibele

8/22/2026 at 5:29:50 PM

So no merit, effort or capability-based gains; instead a straight title, prestige, wealth and inheritance gain through DNA, over which no offspring has any control.

by ninjagoo

8/22/2026 at 6:47:16 PM

He got equal inheritance rights as every person gets from his parents. In this case I see it as "You had a kid, you better take charge of that."

Also:

> 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. Vandenkerckhove could take his father’s family name, Saxe-Coburg, but has indicated he may not choose to.

by tecleandor

8/22/2026 at 9:26:02 PM

I mean that's a straight loss of 7 characters, 8 letters if you count it that way. Bad deal!

by bombcar

8/22/2026 at 6:51:16 PM

” 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.”

So it seems nothing will change for him.

by vl

8/22/2026 at 7:12:57 PM

I got curious about this but it seems that this is also the case for all his siblings. His bio dad gets it (EUR 300k/y) because of a transitional compromise but the future princes aside from the presumptive heir to the throne will not get it.

Not that they might be any close to being destitute given the estate size.

As for him, I suppose you can sue for backpay child support.

by guax

8/22/2026 at 6:54:00 PM

he can now borrow against that inheritance

by m3kw9

8/22/2026 at 7:11:59 PM

You know or you merely speculate?

by jstanley

8/22/2026 at 7:16:56 PM

The article states he's due for a share of the inheritance, as to if he could get a prodigal son style advance I dont know

by tyromaniac

8/22/2026 at 7:17:30 PM

Yeah, people leave their things to their children. It's been happening for quite some time now. You should look into it.

by green_wheel

8/22/2026 at 8:13:11 PM

Wait, you mean there's a place in the world where people with merit, effort, and capability thrive?

by afpx

8/22/2026 at 9:41:17 PM

Yes. unfortunately rich people without merit effort and capability are still rich and some of them don't work very hard, so it looks pretty much the same as every other place in the world.

by fragmede

8/23/2026 at 5:26:51 PM

Money can mask merit, effort, and capability. However, merit/effort/capabilities alone don't get one to the super elite class.

by raincom

8/22/2026 at 8:58:06 PM

His ancestors murdered and stole a whole lot for him to gain that priviledge.

by geremiiah

8/24/2026 at 3:09:25 AM

Leopold II had millions and millions murdered in the Congo to make himself rich with rubber, but he wasted it all and in the end the Belgian people had to bail him out. No fortune to get from him.

by isolay

8/22/2026 at 5:31:16 PM

Like the good nepotistic society we are

by michaeljx

8/22/2026 at 5:38:26 PM

I'm struggling to understand what the desirable alternative is here. Children shouldn't be recognized by their patients? Or only lower class parents should have the burden of sharing their income with their children?

by zdragnar

8/22/2026 at 6:25:35 PM

> what the desirable alternative is here

Limits on how much parents can spend other people's resources on their kids. Which goes with civil office being a job rather than a special privilege.

by tbrownaw

8/22/2026 at 8:48:37 PM

Expert nobody is spending anything on the new prince?

by cromka

8/23/2026 at 12:46:02 AM

He gets inheritance rights, so he'll inherit money from the royal estate (built up through his ancestors' royal allowances, or through any other means the throne has used to accumulate wealth), even though he doesn't get a royal allowance.

However, if he didn't inherit, then his share of that money would have gone to any siblings/other relatives instead, anyway. The royal family as a whole doesn't appear to gain or lose any wealth.

Unless, I guess it's possible it could affect inheritance taxes one way or the other, if the state takes inheritance taxes?

It sounds like the inheritance is following the agreed terms of a transition away from monarchy. I don't know anything about the specific situation, but in general, I'd think that maybe a generous but peaceful separation agreement with the royal estate might work out to be cheaper (in multiple ways) for the state and the people than a harsher takeover/repossession of royal wealth would be. It really depends on the political situation.

by Plont

8/22/2026 at 5:42:11 PM

All children should be gestated in womb-bladders in state hatcheries, and raised to maturity by the state. Knowing or wanting to know your parents should be considered a deviancy, a perversion.

Oh wait that’s Brave New World. Or The Naked Sun, depending on your preferred flavour of SF nightmare.

by madaxe_again

8/22/2026 at 5:48:30 PM

Or Plato's Republic, if one prefers older books.

by alberto-m

8/22/2026 at 7:03:13 PM

Aristocracies should not exist anywhere on earth in 2026, except in ceremonial form. Their ill-gotten gains should be expropriated into the hands of the state.

It's dishonest of you to argue that they should be treated like normal citizens while they cling desperately to their distinct and superior position. If they want to be treated as normal people all they have to do is renounce their titles.

by jackb4040

8/22/2026 at 7:16:38 PM

So what's stopping the Belgian people from grabbing torches and pitchforks, marching to the castle, and demanding that this injustice be immediately reconciled?

by waterheater

8/22/2026 at 8:42:06 PM

The king is already mostly ceremonial. He seems mainly a stabilization factor for the country when both halves get a bout of separatism once more: He is the ultimate person every major politician talks to when nobody wants to talk to each other. The king does have some extra rights, but not too much, and the alternative seems worse.

King Albert 2 didn't want to become king but nobody else with enough capability was available. So it's not just a fun job.

But yes, the discussion to king or not pops up once in a while, and the general response seems to be we got much bigger problems.

by hyperman1

8/22/2026 at 10:33:54 PM

European constitutional monarchies seem much less autocratic than the current US presidency, so I don't see what the big deal is.

by senderista

8/23/2026 at 6:56:12 AM

Those are not our only alternatives.

by Gud

8/22/2026 at 10:25:36 PM

Organized companies of men with guns, drones, tear gas, and access to the browser history of every person in the country

by jackb4040

8/23/2026 at 12:49:31 AM

I mean, he's not getting a royal allowance, even though his father does. It sounds like they already have peaceful transition away from monarchy worked out, in which case, threatening or committing violence is senseless and potentially counterproductive.

by Plont

8/23/2026 at 11:00:35 AM

There was only one Prince. One does not become Prince.

by Fnoord

8/22/2026 at 6:58:03 PM

Sounds like the definition of monarchy?

by terabytest

8/22/2026 at 6:58:33 PM

If you view this life as a simulation and that this is the only possible one you will inhibit, it all looks absurd for the very thing you mentioned, the snapshot of it alone suggests chaos stochastic properties with seemingly no order but this isn't your fault as much of Western perspective has judeo-christian roots reject the Eastern philosophy that have preceded it for several milllenias thus I'd argue would be more grounded and accurate seeing that geographically isolated and separated cultures who have never come into contact with other have discovered the same conclusions.

The new wave movement in the West frame it as a simulation hypothesis perspective, your DNA is the passport through many simulations you've experienced and it carries the merit, effort and capabilities gained over time.

We just call it Buddhism outside san francisco.

by zuzululu

8/22/2026 at 5:49:41 PM

Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?

by bell-cot

8/23/2026 at 12:08:09 PM

> Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?

I'm advocating for all children to be given a fair shot at life. How do you suggest we achieve that as a society? Or is that too much to ask, in your view?

by ninjagoo

8/22/2026 at 5:55:38 PM

100% inheritance tax would be ideal, but it's never going to happen in practice.

by short_sells_poo

8/22/2026 at 8:17:09 PM

My father has a wonderful collection of model trains. It’s rather valuable in money. I have been playing with his trains since I was a young boy. Good memories.

Are you telling me that if I can’t afford to pay the state the full value of that train set, the trains will go to a government auction?

by artisinal

8/22/2026 at 9:09:05 PM

Yes? Why would you deserve free money?

by Rumple22Stilk

8/22/2026 at 9:29:14 PM

So if his father gives him the trains before death, it's fine, but at or after is not? Fun times ahead!

Also the value of model trains and the selling price are highly different numbers.

by bombcar

8/24/2026 at 7:33:24 PM

This is already law. If you gift someone your $100M mansion, they pay income taxes instead of inheritance taxes. And income taxes are higher (in that bracket).

That won't change.

by IAmBroom

8/22/2026 at 9:41:59 PM

Turn that around, though: Why would the state deserve 100% of my stuff, just because I died? Why can't I dispose of it as I see fit?

by AnimalMuppet

8/22/2026 at 11:22:42 PM

That's incredibly fucked up and heartless.

by bigstrat2003

8/22/2026 at 9:22:07 PM

You should be expropriated. Why would you deserve property?

by 98532468997522

8/22/2026 at 10:39:33 PM

I think real estate and capital shouldn't be in the same category personal items are in. As a society we often conflate them but we shouldn't.

by bji9jhff

8/22/2026 at 6:03:07 PM

Remove the greatest incentive for long term investment, what could go wrong?

by afh1

8/22/2026 at 8:59:50 PM

What are some of our greatest long term investments? I can think of a few: The national parks, university system, Federal Reserve, NIH...

by analog31

8/22/2026 at 7:06:02 PM

"you can't just abolish nepotism, that's tantamount to abolishing capitalism!"

yes

by jackb4040

8/22/2026 at 9:26:33 PM

"People bequeathing their own property is literally nepotism" - Tankies and their idols Stalin, Mao, and Kim Jong Un

by 98532468997522

8/23/2026 at 7:26:35 AM

I think Kim might have benefited from a little himself

by noduerme

8/22/2026 at 10:36:39 PM

RNG green username has -1 total karma as I post this

by jackb4040

8/22/2026 at 6:53:38 PM

Depending on what motivations are, separate controlling interest from personal wealth, at least above some reasonable limit.

Obviously easier said than done, but unless the predominant incentive for everyone is just to generate more wealth for themselves/relatives/etc, other existing incentives should be sufficient to invest.

by omgwtfbyobbq

8/23/2026 at 2:25:08 AM

This is such a tell.

If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.

The fact that this is so foreign to you means you that an idea of "inheritance" is something that happens to other - bad - people, not a gift that you could be making.

by xyzelement

8/23/2026 at 12:18:06 PM

> If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.

As a father, a large part of my mental space is filled with making sure my kids grow up to be good human beings, a credit to themselves, and are capable of making their own way through life independently.

I have personally seen how expectations of, and inheritances, hollow out people and families, morally bankrupt otherwise good people, and would not wish that scourge upon my own kids.

by ninjagoo

8/23/2026 at 3:14:51 PM

Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important? I feel they are. Eg if I can leave a house or a business to my kids, that's better than not. Agree raising great humans is primary.

by xyzelement

8/24/2026 at 4:04:08 AM

> Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important?

"passing something on to them" is only needed if they fail at life. If they are successful in life why would they need anything beyond keepsakes/memories?

by ninjagoo

8/24/2026 at 11:15:57 AM

Leaving something to someone you love is a common human motivation, from a father in building a business that he hopes the son continues to run, to a poor woman who punched pennies her whole life only to leave millions to her grandkids.

Answering a "why would" here is a little tough, like conveying to someone "why would you want to make love to a woman" or "why would you bother to have a family" to someone who doesn't get it.

The question is why wouldn't you? I love my kids I want to do maximally for them.

by xyzelement

8/22/2026 at 11:26:14 PM

There's absolutely nothing ideal about being unable to give the things you worked for to your loved ones when you die. It's incredibly callous and devoid of compassion to do that to people.

by bigstrat2003

8/22/2026 at 9:09:49 PM

That’s what royalty is

by dgellow

8/22/2026 at 9:37:35 PM

could be worse, there are people all over the world that look startling a lot like Musk including in Africa but he won't do DNA tests

(not making this up, google it)

by ck2

8/22/2026 at 9:29:27 PM

Sounds like any rich kid ever TBH.

by mrtksn

8/23/2026 at 4:37:46 AM

I like this complaint about a guy not using his merit, effort, or capability and taking the shortcut of inheritance to become a… prince

by jrflowers

8/22/2026 at 5:41:17 PM

Wealth gain? How?

by skrebbel

8/22/2026 at 6:57:42 PM

Inheritance, or more quickly the ability to borrow against that inheritance.

by Retric

8/23/2026 at 7:25:47 AM

Gah, damn I read over that, I'd only seen the "But he will not receive a royal allowance" part. Sorry & thanks.

by skrebbel

8/22/2026 at 9:59:49 PM

This is reality, meritocracy is the exception, not the rule.

by toomuchtodo

8/22/2026 at 6:03:58 PM

Damn! All those Hallmark movies just became documentaries!

by grubbs

8/22/2026 at 7:50:02 PM

As TFA pointed out, it's not the first time in the belgian royal family (which has no power btw and they're not anywhere near as rich as, say, the royal british family). A few years ago it was revealed that Delphine Boel was the daughter of the then belgian king.

And contrarily to his son, prince Laurent, who's been classy and accepted immediately the DNA test, the king refused and went to court but lost his case and had to submit to a DNA test. He later on abdicated IIRC.

It's interesting to think of the number of kids from kings and princes that, through the ages, never got recognized because DNA tests didn't exist and they could just deny it, even if the offspring was a near identical copy (in the case of the son of prince Laurent: he looks just like his father).

But yup in Belgium we've got a monarchy and king/queen/princes/princesses (princes and princesses either from the royal family or not), counts/countesses, dukes, many barons, a lot of knights and some esquires (I think we have esquires). And even more "Madame/Monsieur": people from the nobility but without any title.

The title appears on the identity card but that's basically it: it's more of an historical thing than anything else really.

Several of my friends hold such titles: it is not uncommon and it brings you exactly jack fucking shit advantage in life (unless you're really from the royal family).

by TacticalCoder

8/22/2026 at 8:11:17 PM

It's not just Belgium, Practically every major monarchy has had some kind of controversy that could have easily been resolved through DNA testing, if it existed at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretender

by dlcarrier

8/22/2026 at 6:04:53 PM

So he knew when he turned 16 but only got recognized 10 years later. I hope when he was a teenager he got into some friendly brawl and said "Shut up my Dad is the King." and got laughed on and now the other person is seeing the news.

by hmokiguess

8/22/2026 at 6:17:13 PM

But it’s funny because this is a common childhood fantasy. Like maybe as a five year old, you get into a conflict with your parents and you imagine that your dad is actually not really your dad, but is actually some other outstanding member of the community. There was a similar plot point in the Joker (2019) movie too.

by layman51

8/22/2026 at 6:25:13 PM

Or the plot to The Princess Diaries. Like, every adolescent in a certain era experienced that.

by trollbridge

8/22/2026 at 10:20:15 PM

His dad is the king's brother, isn't he?

by TRiG_Ireland

8/23/2026 at 8:37:03 AM

> Four years after that, he contacted his father to share what he’d been told and Prince Laurent agreed to a DNA test.

“We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying, ‘I’ll go first so you’re feeling at ease,’” Vandenkerckhove told VTM.

Good on the dad for not trying to weasel out on this and stepping up.

by octaane

8/22/2026 at 8:28:23 PM

Prince Laurent is likely very happy that his son is a completely normal guy. Illegitimate children of royalty typically end up a bit eccentric.

by artisinal

8/22/2026 at 5:38:02 PM

I'm Belgian, this has been public knowledge since the guy was born. At least it was dealt with a lot more amicably than the other case (Delphine Boël being the child of King (then Prince) Albert II), which was decades of bad lying and denial.

by xz18r

8/22/2026 at 5:55:40 PM

I love Hereditary Dentists....

by johnbarron

8/22/2026 at 6:35:49 PM

weird people are still treating some like kings/gods in this day and age

by throw21x

8/22/2026 at 9:39:40 PM

Well, you know, some actually are kings in this day and age.

by AnimalMuppet

8/23/2026 at 7:14:47 PM

The closest I know, a friend unexpectedly inherited a house from a distant relative.

by tsoukase

8/22/2026 at 6:15:51 PM

Saxe-Coburg? Are these guys cousins to the British royal family? Time to do some googling

by NDlurker

8/22/2026 at 8:33:45 PM

It's German, not British. When Belgium was founded, the fear was it would immediately try to join France. So when a French noble was offered the throne, he actually said no, quite a blemish for the young nation. A surplus German noble was crowned, which was palatable to the English as it balanced things out a bit.

by hyperman1

8/22/2026 at 9:50:16 PM

"The British branch was officially renamed to House of Windsor by British king George V in 1917, during the First World War, amid anti-German sentiment."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha

by NDlurker

8/23/2026 at 7:11:56 AM

Cool. Didn't know that. Maybe, after all the intermarriaging of royal lines, we should just call them european royal houses.

by hyperman1

8/22/2026 at 7:16:00 PM

Finally those emails from Nigeria were right after all!

by shevy-java

8/22/2026 at 5:48:56 PM

I'm king of the world. DM me if you want a title.

by hrdwdmrbl

8/22/2026 at 5:59:44 PM

I am also Sovereign. Will do it for half the price this one is asking for.

by johnbarron

8/22/2026 at 9:11:55 PM

Sent you a DM

by dgellow

8/22/2026 at 6:07:48 PM

which world though

by hmokiguess

8/22/2026 at 9:49:25 PM

His mom's basement.

by ptdorf

8/22/2026 at 5:58:07 PM

> “If I were to sacrifice [my] family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”

Only a man could entertain this thought.

by stephbook

8/22/2026 at 9:59:03 PM

I don't understand what you mean, but then again, I am Spanish and we carry both family names, and nobody changes their family name upon marriage. Anything less than that seems backwards to me xD

by pezezin

8/23/2026 at 5:24:20 PM

It's obvious that women don't betray their families when they marry and take the husband's name (as was and is custom across much of the Western world.)

by stephbook

8/23/2026 at 11:58:50 PM

It would be considered a betrayal in my culture, and as far as I know Spanish-speaking countries represent a sizable chunk of the Western hemisphere ;)

Case in point, my GF is Japanese and I told her in very clear terms that I would NOT marry her if she ever thinks about taking my family name. Although I also heard that marriage numbers are going down significantly in Japan because young women don't want to change their name and the stubborn government refuses to change the law, which is funny because they copied it from the Americans; Chinese and Korean women don't change their names because doing so would be a dishonor to their ancestors...

by pezezin