The royal family attends the Te Deum in Brussels for King’s Day

After the Te Deum ceremony, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent went to meet the crowd waiting for them in front of the cathedral. It was an opportunity for certain journalists to question Laurent from Belgium about the hearing which will take place on November 25 at the French-speaking Labor Court in Brussels. The prince sues the Union of Middle Classes (UCM) and the National Institute of Social Insurance for Workers (Inasti) because he is not entitled to benefit from social coverage.

“I am the only one in Belgium. It is not a question of means, but a question of rights, period.” Laurent receives an annual grant of 388,000 euros, but neither he nor his wife Claire and their three children are entitled to social security, which covers health care, pension and health insurance. “I am not asking for anything bad,” the prince clarified.

“When a migrant arrives in Belgium, he registers and is entitled to social security coverage. I may be a migrant, but my family helped form this country,” said Laurent to underline the injustice he feels he is facing. It weighs all the more heavily on him since his wife Claire recently went through a long illness.

He himself, aged 61, was hospitalized recently and claims to have had to leave the hospital early because his insurance could no longer cover the costs. “But I am not a judge,” concluded Laurent. “It’s justice that will decide.”