The year had one last happy surprise in store for the Belgian Royal Family. Princess Maria Laura is getting married to William Isvy.
Her parents, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, announced the engagement earlier today with a picture portraying the couple hugging and smiling. The bride-to-be received a ring with a round sapphire surrounded by a twist of diamonds, a modern play on the traditional halo format of engagement rings.
The couple has not yet announced a wedding date, but the wedding is to take place in the second half of 2022.
The groom is an asset manager in a London firm, while the Princess works as an analyst in the climate change sector, also in the British capital. The couple has lived there for a few years.
Princess Maria Laura was born in Brussels, at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, on the 26th of August 1988, the second child and first daughter of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz. She has an older brother, Prince Amedeo, and three younger siblings, Prince Joachim, Princess Luisa Maria and Princess Laetitia Maria.
Princess Astrid is the second child and first daughter of former King Albert II and Queen Paola, making her a sister to current King Philippe. She serves as a support to the monarchy and undertakes engagements at the request of His Majesty. She was supposed to travel to the United States at the beginning of September on an economic mission, but a fractured vertebra prevented her agenda from being carried out for several months.
Prince Lorenz was born a titular Archduke of Austria-Este, and since 1996 is the head of the Austria-Este family, a cadet branch to the Habsburg-Lorraine House. He was born in 1955, and in 1984 he married Princess Astrid, assuming subsequently the title of Prince of Belgium. He has an economics degree from university, but his passion is the preservation of ancient homes and Palaces, and, over the years, he has acquired many patronages in this area.
