Expatica news

Princess Claire pregnant with twins

28 June 2005

BRUSSELS — Prince Laurent and Princess Claire have revealed they are expecting twins, due to be born in January 2006.

The announcement comes just two weeks after Belgian media speculated the royal couple’s marriage was on the ropes.

The rumours surfaced after Prince Laurent, the youngest son of King Albert, appeared alone at several official functions.

But Prince Laurent pounced on the allegations and warned he might take legal action against the media.

“I don’t know of any family which does not have normal problems, but this report is really sensational,” he said.

Both Laurent and Claire were then seen together at the opening of the Edith Cavel Hospital in Brussels on 15 June.

And during an official photo session on 23 June in the gardens of Laeken Palace, situated on the outskirts of Brussels, the prince was a doting father and husband.

Belgian royals generally announce a pregnancy two months after conception, which means Claire is thought to be due in January 2006.

Neither of the twins is likely to take the Belgian throne.

In the hereditary line of succession, the twins follow Crown Prince Filip and his children and Princess Astrid and her children.

Dubbed the royal ‘enfant terrible’ by the Belgian press, Prince Laurent married the British-born Princess Claire in Brussels on 12 April 2003.

They already have a daughter, Louise, who was born in February 2004.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news