Belgium's Prince Laurent's request for social security cover will be decided on by the Brussels Labour Court on 7 April 2025. He took the Belgian State to court on Monday because he wants access to the country's social security system – which he is not entitled to as he receives an endowment of €388,000 every year.
Citing complaints about high hospital bills and worries about his family's financial future, Laurent – who has received the reputation of being the Royal Family's enfant terrible over the years – is demanding access to Belgium's social security.
"I would like to pay social contributions as a self-employed person and claim the rights that come with it," he told VRT. "I am not asking for anything outrageous. When a migrant arrives here, he registers and is entitled to social security. I may be a migrant too, but our family has helped shape the country."
Laurent's lawyers applied to the Labour Court in Brussels for permission for him to register with a social insurance fund to benefit from social and financial aid in the event of incapacity. The Labour Inspectorate confirmed following the hearing that it will issue its opinion by 27 January next year, and the court will hand down its ruling on 7 April.
Prince Laurent and his wife Claire. Credit: Belga/Benoit Doppagne
The Prince considers himself to be partly self-employed and, as such, tried to officially register as self-employed two years ago. However, the National Social Security Office (NSSO), did not allow Laurent to get that status.
According to the most recent amendment of the law (2013), beneficiaries of an endowment "do not fall under the status of employees, nor under the status of the self-employed, nor under the status of civil servants."
However, Laurent feels that his refusal of a statute as a self-employed person was unjustified and now wants to enforce his registration in court. If he were to be officially self-employed, he would gain access to social security like other people in Belgium with that status.
Why does Laurent want access to social security?
Due to his endowment (an amount he receives annually from the Federal government), Laurent has a separate status and does not fall under any of the traditional categories: civil servant, employee or self-employed. Therefore, he does not build a pension and his family is not covered by the traditional health insurance system.
However, Laurent and his wife Claire experienced many health problems in recent years. While they can take out health insurance, they have to do so privately. Another major reason why Laurent is so keen to become officially self-employed is a pension: he gets his endowment until he dies, but he worries about his family.
When he dies, Claire (who does not work) cannot claim a survivor's pension like widows and widowers of self-employed people. Nor does she get an endowment herself. However, nothing is stopping the family from already setting aside or investing part of the endowment to live on after Laurent's death.
"It is not a question of resources, but of right," he said. The annual endowment he receives amounts to €388,000. €90,000 of that sum is his gross salary, on which he pays taxes. The rest are to use "operating and personnel expenses."
From left to right: Jim O'Hare (Delphine Boel's husband), Princess Delphine, Princess Claire of Belgium, Prince Laurent of Belgium, Prince Lorenz of Belgium and Princess Astrid of Belgium on the Belgian National Day, Thursday 21 July 2022. Credit: Belga/Bruno Fahy
The amount of the endowment is indexed like ordinary salaries and is meant to cover all expenses. Additionally, Laurent lives for free in the Clementine villa built for him in Tervuren (just outside of Brussels), owned by the Royal Trust.
In exchange for that endowment, Laurent represents the Royal Family at ceremonies and celebrations. The condition for receiving it is that he cannot have any other income. This means Laurent could refuse the endowment and go to work, which would grant him immediate access to social security.
The same would be the case if Claire went to work. In that case, the family could claim traditional health insurance and Claire would build up her own pension. She worked as a surveyor, but stopped working after her marriage to Laurent in 2003.
Do other members of the Royal family have access to social security?
No. Everyone who receives an endowment is covered by a similar tax scheme. These include King Albert II, Laurent and his sister Princess Astrid.
Although Laurent has repeatedly claimed that he is the only Royal family member in this situation, the endowment scheme that politicians worked out for him and his sister is identical and the amounts are very similar as well.
The big difference is that Princess Astrid's husband Lorenz has a job: he has been working in the banking sector for years. This way, the family has access to social security and Lorenz builds up his own pension.
Belgian Crown Princess Elisabeth has been entitled to an endowment since her 18th birthday, but decided not to claim it as long as she is studying. Princess Delphine is not claiming an endowment either.
This indeed makes Laurent the only one in his situation, but this is the result of his own choices rather than the endowment law.
Experts say that it is hard to predict whether Laurent has a chance of winning this case as there is no precedent, VRT reports. Even among the experts, there is no agreement on whether he is in the right.
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Laurent is not using his regular lawyers for this case, but took on a specialist in labour law with Olivier Rijckaert. "I find it a mystery why he is being denied [a self-employed statute]," he told VRT.
Rijckaert will try to prove that Laurent meets all the conditions to be recognised as self-employed. "After all, part of his endowment is taxed as salary and he does work for it," he said.
