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Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has threatened to take away the prince’s allowance. Prince Laurent’s allowance is worth 300,000 euros each and every year.
It was in the spring of 2011 that the enfant terrible of the Belgian royal house last caused a stir. Without informing the government Prince Laurent met with rebels fighting the regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The prince also supported projects in Congo and signed business deals with President Kabila’s regime.
In response the Belgian Government insisted that the prince should inform it about any foreign trips and if he failed to do so the government would table legislation intended to withdraw his allowance.
Reports have now surfaced about renewable energy projects that the prince hopes to set up in Angola. The prince has met with Angolan diplomats in Brussels without informing the government.
PM Elio Di Rupo told Parliament on Thursday that if the prince hadn’t complied with the 2011 agreement, the government would draw its conclusions. The government now intends to examine the matter closely. This latest controversy to affect Belgium’s royal house comes barely a week after it emerged that the Dowager Queen Fabiola had set up a foundation to avoid paying inheritance tax.
[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]