Was reading that many European countries have "forced heirship" which means that varying amounts - 50% to 75% is typical - have to be left to spouse/children.
I was representative in the US for my aunt and she and her husband specifically disinherited his two daughters from his first marriage. It was interesting that this was simply not allowed in other countries.
Anyway, time to take his dad mountain climbing, caving, scuba diving, ...
So no merit, effort or capability-based gains; instead a straight title, prestige, wealth and inheritance gain through DNA, over which no offspring has any control.
tecleandor 1 days ago [-]
He got equal inheritance rights as every person gets from his parents. In this case I see it as "You had a kid, you better take charge of that."
Also:
> But he will not receive a royal allowance, nor will he be expected to take on official duties, and he has no rights to the Belgian throne. Vandenkerckhove could take his father’s family name, Saxe-Coburg, but has indicated he may not choose to.
bombcar 1 days ago [-]
I mean that's a straight loss of 7 characters, 8 letters if you count it that way. Bad deal!
vl 1 days ago [-]
” But he will not receive a royal allowance, nor will he be expected to take on official duties, and he has no rights to the Belgian throne.”
So it seems nothing will change for him.
guax 1 days ago [-]
I got curious about this but it seems that this is also the case for all his siblings. His bio dad gets it (EUR 300k/y) because of a transitional compromise but the future princes aside from the presumptive heir to the throne will not get it.
Not that they might be any close to being destitute given the estate size.
As for him, I suppose you can sue for backpay child support.
m3kw9 1 days ago [-]
he can now borrow against that inheritance
jstanley 1 days ago [-]
You know or you merely speculate?
tyromaniac 1 days ago [-]
The article states he's due for a share of the inheritance, as to if he could get a prodigal son style advance I dont know
green_wheel 1 days ago [-]
Yeah, people leave their things to their children. It's been happening for quite some time now. You should look into it.
afpx 1 days ago [-]
Wait, you mean there's a place in the world where people with merit, effort, and capability thrive?
raincom 6 hours ago [-]
Money can mask merit, effort, and capability. However, merit/effort/capabilities alone don't get one to the super elite class.
fragmede 1 days ago [-]
Yes. unfortunately rich people without merit effort and capability are still rich and some of them don't work very hard, so it looks pretty much the same as every other place in the world.
michaeljx 1 days ago [-]
Like the good nepotistic society we are
zdragnar 1 days ago [-]
I'm struggling to understand what the desirable alternative is here. Children shouldn't be recognized by their patients? Or only lower class parents should have the burden of sharing their income with their children?
tbrownaw 1 days ago [-]
> what the desirable alternative is here
Limits on how much parents can spend other people's resources on their kids. Which goes with civil office being a job rather than a special privilege.
cromka 1 days ago [-]
Expert nobody is spending anything on the new prince?
Plont 23 hours ago [-]
He gets inheritance rights, so he'll inherit money from the royal estate (built up through his ancestors' royal allowances, or through any other means the throne has used to accumulate wealth), even though he doesn't get a royal allowance.
However, if he didn't inherit, then his share of that money would have gone to any siblings/other relatives instead, anyway. The royal family as a whole doesn't appear to gain or lose any wealth.
Unless, I guess it's possible it could affect inheritance taxes one way or the other, if the state takes inheritance taxes?
It sounds like the inheritance is following the agreed terms of a transition away from monarchy. I don't know anything about the specific situation, but in general, I'd think that maybe a generous but peaceful separation agreement with the royal estate might work out to be cheaper (in multiple ways) for the state and the people than a harsher takeover/repossession of royal wealth would be. It really depends on the political situation.
jackb4040 1 days ago [-]
Aristocracies should not exist anywhere on earth in 2026, except in ceremonial form. Their ill-gotten gains should be expropriated into the hands of the state.
It's dishonest of you to argue that they should be treated like normal citizens while they cling desperately to their distinct and superior position. If they want to be treated as normal people all they have to do is renounce their titles.
waterheater 1 days ago [-]
So what's stopping the Belgian people from grabbing torches and pitchforks, marching to the castle, and demanding that this injustice be immediately reconciled?
hyperman1 1 days ago [-]
The king is already mostly ceremonial. He seems mainly a stabilization factor for the country when both halves get a bout of separatism once more: He is the ultimate person every major politician talks to when nobody wants to talk to each other. The king does have some extra rights, but not too much, and the alternative seems worse.
King Albert 2 didn't want to become king but nobody else with enough capability was available. So it's not just a fun job.
But yes, the discussion to king or not pops up once in a while, and the general response seems to be we got much bigger problems.
senderista 1 days ago [-]
European constitutional monarchies seem much less autocratic than the current US presidency, so I don't see what the big deal is.
Gud 17 hours ago [-]
Those are not our only alternatives.
jackb4040 1 days ago [-]
Organized companies of men with guns, drones, tear gas, and access to the browser history of every person in the country
Plont 23 hours ago [-]
I mean, he's not getting a royal allowance, even though his father does. It sounds like they already have peaceful transition away from monarchy worked out, in which case, threatening or committing violence is senseless and potentially counterproductive.
madaxe_again 1 days ago [-]
All children should be gestated in womb-bladders in state hatcheries, and raised to maturity by the state. Knowing or wanting to know your parents should be considered a deviancy, a perversion.
Oh wait that’s Brave New World. Or The Naked Sun, depending on your preferred flavour of SF nightmare.
I like this complaint about a guy not using his merit, effort, or capability and taking the shortcut of inheritance to become a… prince
skrebbel 1 days ago [-]
Wealth gain? How?
Retric 1 days ago [-]
Inheritance, or more quickly the ability to borrow against that inheritance.
skrebbel 16 hours ago [-]
Gah, damn I read over that, I'd only seen the "But he will not receive a royal allowance" part. Sorry & thanks.
bell-cot 1 days ago [-]
Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?
ninjagoo 12 hours ago [-]
> Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?
I'm advocating for all children to be given a fair shot at life. How do you suggest we achieve that as a society? Or is that too much to ask, in your view?
short_sells_poo 1 days ago [-]
100% inheritance tax would be ideal, but it's never going to happen in practice.
artisinal 1 days ago [-]
My father has a wonderful collection of model trains. It’s rather valuable in money. I have been playing with his trains since I was a young boy. Good memories.
Are you telling me that if I can’t afford to pay the state the full value of that train set, the trains will go to a government auction?
Rumple22Stilk 1 days ago [-]
Yes? Why would you deserve free money?
bombcar 1 days ago [-]
So if his father gives him the trains before death, it's fine, but at or after is not? Fun times ahead!
Also the value of model trains and the selling price are highly different numbers.
98532468997522 1 days ago [-]
You should be expropriated.
Why would you deserve property?
bigstrat2003 1 days ago [-]
That's incredibly fucked up and heartless.
AnimalMuppet 1 days ago [-]
Turn that around, though: Why would the state deserve 100% of my stuff, just because I died? Why can't I dispose of it as I see fit?
bji9jhff 1 days ago [-]
I think real estate and capital shouldn't be in the same category personal items are in. As a society we often conflate them but we shouldn't.
afh1 1 days ago [-]
Remove the greatest incentive for long term investment, what could go wrong?
analog31 1 days ago [-]
What are some of our greatest long term investments? I can think of a few: The national parks, university system, Federal Reserve, NIH...
jackb4040 1 days ago [-]
"you can't just abolish nepotism, that's tantamount to abolishing capitalism!"
yes
98532468997522 1 days ago [-]
"People bequeathing their own property is literally nepotism"
- Tankies and their idols Stalin, Mao, and Kim Jong Un
noduerme 16 hours ago [-]
I think Kim might have benefited from a little himself
jackb4040 1 days ago [-]
RNG green username has -1 total karma as I post this
omgwtfbyobbq 1 days ago [-]
Depending on what motivations are, separate controlling interest from personal wealth, at least above some reasonable limit.
Obviously easier said than done, but unless the predominant incentive for everyone is just to generate more wealth for themselves/relatives/etc, other existing incentives should be sufficient to invest.
xyzelement 21 hours ago [-]
This is such a tell.
If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
The fact that this is so foreign to you means you that an idea of "inheritance" is something that happens to other - bad - people, not a gift that you could be making.
ninjagoo 11 hours ago [-]
> If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
As a father, a large part of my mental space is filled with making sure my kids grow up to be good human beings, a credit to themselves, and are capable of making their own way through life independently.
I have personally seen how expectations of, and inheritances, hollow out people and families, morally bankrupt otherwise good people, and would not wish that scourge upon my own kids.
xyzelement 8 hours ago [-]
Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important? I feel they are. Eg if I can leave a house or a business to my kids, that's better than not. Agree raising great humans is primary.
bigstrat2003 1 days ago [-]
There's absolutely nothing ideal about being unable to give the things you worked for to your loved ones when you die. It's incredibly callous and devoid of compassion to do that to people.
ck2 1 days ago [-]
could be worse, there are people all over the world that look startling a lot like Musk including in Africa but he won't do DNA tests
(not making this up, google it)
zuzululu 1 days ago [-]
If you view this life as a simulation and that this is the only possible one you will inhibit, it all looks absurd for the very thing you mentioned, the snapshot of it alone suggests chaos stochastic properties with seemingly no order but this isn't your fault as much of Western perspective has judeo-christian roots reject the Eastern philosophy that have preceded it for several milllenias thus I'd argue would be more grounded and accurate seeing that geographically isolated and separated cultures who have never come into contact with other have discovered the same conclusions.
The new wave movement in the West frame it as a simulation hypothesis perspective, your DNA is the passport through many simulations you've experienced and it carries the merit, effort and capabilities gained over time.
We just call it Buddhism outside san francisco.
toomuchtodo 1 days ago [-]
This is reality, meritocracy is the exception, not the rule.
grubbs 1 days ago [-]
Damn! All those Hallmark movies just became documentaries!
hmokiguess 1 days ago [-]
So he knew when he turned 16 but only got recognized 10 years later. I hope when he was a teenager he got into some friendly brawl and said "Shut up my Dad is the King." and got laughed on and now the other person is seeing the news.
layman51 1 days ago [-]
But it’s funny because this is a common childhood fantasy. Like maybe as a five year old, you get into a conflict with your parents and you imagine that your dad is actually not really your dad, but is actually some other outstanding member of the community. There was a similar plot point in the Joker (2019) movie too.
trollbridge 1 days ago [-]
Or the plot to The Princess Diaries. Like, every adolescent in a certain era experienced that.
TRiG_Ireland 1 days ago [-]
His dad is the king's brother, isn't he?
tsoukase 4 hours ago [-]
The closest I know, a friend unexpectedly inherited a house from a distant relative.
artisinal 1 days ago [-]
Prince Laurent is likely very happy that his son is a completely normal guy. Illegitimate children of royalty typically end up a bit eccentric.
xz18r 1 days ago [-]
I'm Belgian, this has been public knowledge since the guy was born. At least it was dealt with a lot more amicably than the other case (Delphine Boël being the child of King (then Prince) Albert II), which was decades of bad lying and denial.
octaane 15 hours ago [-]
> Four years after that, he contacted his father to share what he’d been told and Prince Laurent agreed to a DNA test.
“We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying, ‘I’ll go first so you’re feeling at ease,’” Vandenkerckhove told VTM.
Good on the dad for not trying to weasel out on this and stepping up.
throw21x 1 days ago [-]
weird people are still treating some like kings/gods in this day and age
AnimalMuppet 1 days ago [-]
Well, you know, some actually are kings in this day and age.
NDlurker 1 days ago [-]
Saxe-Coburg? Are these guys cousins to the British royal family? Time to do some googling
hyperman1 1 days ago [-]
It's German, not British. When Belgium was founded, the fear was it would immediately try to join France. So when a French noble was offered the throne, he actually said no, quite a blemish for the young nation. A surplus German noble was crowned, which was palatable to the English as it balanced things out a bit.
NDlurker 1 days ago [-]
"The British branch was officially renamed to House of Windsor by British king George V in 1917, during the First World War, amid anti-German sentiment."
> “If I were to sacrifice [my] family name, it would be a betrayal of everything my mother has done for me.”
Only a man could entertain this thought.
pezezin 1 days ago [-]
I don't understand what you mean, but then again, I am Spanish and we carry both family names, and nobody changes their family name upon marriage. Anything less than that seems backwards to me xD
stephbook 6 hours ago [-]
It's obvious that women don't betray their families when they marry and take the husband's name (as was and is custom across much of the Western world.)
TacticalCoder 1 days ago [-]
As TFA pointed out, it's not the first time in the belgian royal family (which has no power btw and they're not anywhere near as rich as, say, the royal british family). A few years ago it was revealed that Delphine Boel was the daughter of the then belgian king.
And contrarily to his son, prince Laurent, who's been classy and accepted immediately the DNA test, the king refused and went to court but lost his case and had to submit to a DNA test. He later on abdicated IIRC.
It's interesting to think of the number of kids from kings and princes that, through the ages, never got recognized because DNA tests didn't exist and they could just deny it, even if the offspring was a near identical copy (in the case of the son of prince Laurent: he looks just like his father).
But yup in Belgium we've got a monarchy and king/queen/princes/princesses (princes and princesses either from the royal family or not), counts/countesses, dukes, many barons, a lot of knights and some esquires (I think we have esquires). And even more "Madame/Monsieur": people from the nobility but without any title.
The title appears on the identity card but that's basically it: it's more of an historical thing than anything else really.
Several of my friends hold such titles: it is not uncommon and it brings you exactly jack fucking shit advantage in life (unless you're really from the royal family).
dlcarrier 1 days ago [-]
It's not just Belgium, Practically every major monarchy has had some kind of controversy that could have easily been resolved through DNA testing, if it existed at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretender
hrdwdmrbl 1 days ago [-]
I'm king of the world. DM me if you want a title.
johnbarron 1 days ago [-]
I am also Sovereign. Will do it for half the price this one is asking for.
dgellow 1 days ago [-]
Sent you a DM
hmokiguess 1 days ago [-]
which world though
ptdorf 1 days ago [-]
His mom's basement.
1 days ago [-]
shevy-java 1 days ago [-]
Finally those emails from Nigeria were right after all!
I was representative in the US for my aunt and she and her husband specifically disinherited his two daughters from his first marriage. It was interesting that this was simply not allowed in other countries.
Anyway, time to take his dad mountain climbing, caving, scuba diving, ...
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5d80ec56-4c29...
Also:
> But he will not receive a royal allowance, nor will he be expected to take on official duties, and he has no rights to the Belgian throne. Vandenkerckhove could take his father’s family name, Saxe-Coburg, but has indicated he may not choose to.
So it seems nothing will change for him.
Not that they might be any close to being destitute given the estate size.
As for him, I suppose you can sue for backpay child support.
Limits on how much parents can spend other people's resources on their kids. Which goes with civil office being a job rather than a special privilege.
However, if he didn't inherit, then his share of that money would have gone to any siblings/other relatives instead, anyway. The royal family as a whole doesn't appear to gain or lose any wealth.
Unless, I guess it's possible it could affect inheritance taxes one way or the other, if the state takes inheritance taxes?
It sounds like the inheritance is following the agreed terms of a transition away from monarchy. I don't know anything about the specific situation, but in general, I'd think that maybe a generous but peaceful separation agreement with the royal estate might work out to be cheaper (in multiple ways) for the state and the people than a harsher takeover/repossession of royal wealth would be. It really depends on the political situation.
It's dishonest of you to argue that they should be treated like normal citizens while they cling desperately to their distinct and superior position. If they want to be treated as normal people all they have to do is renounce their titles.
King Albert 2 didn't want to become king but nobody else with enough capability was available. So it's not just a fun job.
But yes, the discussion to king or not pops up once in a while, and the general response seems to be we got much bigger problems.
Oh wait that’s Brave New World. Or The Naked Sun, depending on your preferred flavour of SF nightmare.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium
I'm advocating for all children to be given a fair shot at life. How do you suggest we achieve that as a society? Or is that too much to ask, in your view?
Are you telling me that if I can’t afford to pay the state the full value of that train set, the trains will go to a government auction?
Also the value of model trains and the selling price are highly different numbers.
yes
Obviously easier said than done, but unless the predominant incentive for everyone is just to generate more wealth for themselves/relatives/etc, other existing incentives should be sufficient to invest.
If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
The fact that this is so foreign to you means you that an idea of "inheritance" is something that happens to other - bad - people, not a gift that you could be making.
As a father, a large part of my mental space is filled with making sure my kids grow up to be good human beings, a credit to themselves, and are capable of making their own way through life independently.
I have personally seen how expectations of, and inheritances, hollow out people and families, morally bankrupt otherwise good people, and would not wish that scourge upon my own kids.
(not making this up, google it)
The new wave movement in the West frame it as a simulation hypothesis perspective, your DNA is the passport through many simulations you've experienced and it carries the merit, effort and capabilities gained over time.
We just call it Buddhism outside san francisco.
“We went to the hospital together and I remember him saying, ‘I’ll go first so you’re feeling at ease,’” Vandenkerckhove told VTM.
Good on the dad for not trying to weasel out on this and stepping up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha
https://royalconstellations.visualcinnamon.com/
Only a man could entertain this thought.
And contrarily to his son, prince Laurent, who's been classy and accepted immediately the DNA test, the king refused and went to court but lost his case and had to submit to a DNA test. He later on abdicated IIRC.
It's interesting to think of the number of kids from kings and princes that, through the ages, never got recognized because DNA tests didn't exist and they could just deny it, even if the offspring was a near identical copy (in the case of the son of prince Laurent: he looks just like his father).
But yup in Belgium we've got a monarchy and king/queen/princes/princesses (princes and princesses either from the royal family or not), counts/countesses, dukes, many barons, a lot of knights and some esquires (I think we have esquires). And even more "Madame/Monsieur": people from the nobility but without any title.
The title appears on the identity card but that's basically it: it's more of an historical thing than anything else really.
Several of my friends hold such titles: it is not uncommon and it brings you exactly jack fucking shit advantage in life (unless you're really from the royal family).