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Belgium

Woman refuses to give hand to Prince Laurent of Belgium

Prince Laurent has made many headlines with his controversial statements and actions these last few months. On Belgium’s National Day, he and his wife Princess Claire stepped out for a Te Deum mass. They took the time to greet the public, but one woman refused to give a hand to Prince Laurent. Here’s why.

Earlier this week, Prince Laurent continued his series of controversial statements and actions. On the 20th of July, the day before Belgium’s National Day, he announced that he is going to contest the reduction of his endowment. Prince Laurent had received this punishment following a series of inappropriate actions with the last one being his visit to the Chinese Embassy where he attended an official reception without asking permission of the government.

After receiving the punishment, he talked about how he feels his human rights are being violated. He also published a letter in which he stated that he felt attacked by the Belgian government and his own family.

Ever since, Prince Laurent and his wife Princess Claire have not made many public outings. However, they did make an exception for the National Day celebrations. Prince Laurent and Princess Claire attended the Te Deum mass in Ghent. After the ceremony, they traditionally greeted the members of the public who had gathered to see them.

One woman refused to give a hand to the Prince. When he asked her why she didn’t want to greet him, she said:

“I find it very annoying that you have a very generous income and that you still want to contest a small reduction of your endowment. You can’t imagine how many people have to live with a lot less than you do. I work in a recycle shop and we have to live from a wage lower than the minimum wage.”

It is unknown what Prince Laurent’s reaction was on the answer to the woman.

For a full overview of Prince Laurent’s controversial actions throughout the years, click here.

About author

Laura is from Belgium and has a passion for all things royal. She is Europe Correspondent for Royal Central since October 2016 and has contributed to other news websites. In her daily life she is a fulltime student in EU-politics and political communication.