SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

Belgium

Prince Laurent’s Twitter account deleted

It was discovered yesterday that Prince Laurent of Belgium’s Twitter account (@Laurent_of_B) had been deleted. Members of the Belgian media made the discovery yesterday morning.

Many had wondered if King Philippe had pressured his younger brother to delete his account, but the Belgian Royal Court issued a denial saying to Belgian news Belga, “We also found that Prince Laurent’s personal Twitter account is not accessible.

“The palace did not ask the Prince at all, and we had no information about this.”

This comes after Laurent caused controversy earlier in the week when he met with foreign dignitaries without first notifying and gaining authorisation from the Belgian government – something he had been warned against previously. The government had warned the Prince that meeting with foreign governments without their permission could lead to Laurent losing his annual stipend (currently 308,000 euro per year).

Prince Laurent attended the 90th-anniversary celebration of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at the embassy in Brussels. He later tweeted photos from his attendance at the event which drew attention to his unauthorised meeting.

His Royal Highness defended his actions saying he was there as a result of a “personal invitation” and not official business. He also added that his attendance was “nobody’s business.”

Prime Minister Charles Michel said that Prince Laurent would be facing “proportionate punishment.” A spokesman for the Prime Minister said, “It was in consultation with the King that the Prime Minister made the decision to apply for a sanction.” He will plead his case in September before Prime Minister Michel, but for now, Michel has asked that 10% be taken from his stipend.

Prince Laurent created a Twitter account, which was never verified by Twitter, a year ago where he regularly tweeted about his official events. His wife, Princess Claire’s Twitter account is still up on the social networking site, but she has not tweeted since July 2016.

About author

Brittani is from Tennessee, USA. She is a political scientist and historian after graduating with a degree in the topics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December 2014. She also holds a master's degree from Northeastern University. She enjoys reading and researching all things regarding the royals of the world. She's been researching, reading, and writing on royalty for over a decade. She became Europe Editor in October 2016, and then Deputy Editor in January 2019, and has been featured on several podcasts, radio shows, news broadcasts and websites including Global News Canada, ABC News Australia, WION India and BBC World News.

1 Comment

Comments are closed.