“He was clearly driving too fast,” Palace spokesman Pierre-Emmanuel de Bauw is reported to have said.
The incident occurred in the city centre and police immediately revoked the 47-year-old prince’s driving licence. He faces a suspension from being at the wheel of a car for two weeks, de Bauw added.
This is not the first time, the youngest son of King Albert II and Queen Paola, has been in trouble with the country’s traffic police. The first time he ran foul of Belgium’s speeding laws was in 1987 and 12 years later he was also stopped for a speeding offence in Brussels and as a consequence Prince Laurent had to give up his licence for a short period of time. A year later he was stopped by traffic cops in Bruge for over use of the accelerator pedal.
Twelfth in line to the throne it was hoped that Prince Laurent’s marriage to British born Claire Coombs in 2003 would lead to a rapprochement with his father and curb his rather errant ways. However, there has been speculation unfortunately that all is not well in the marriage, but close friends deny there are any significant problems.
In recent years Laurent, who is a keen lover of dogs since childhood, has become involved in animal welfare and ecological causes.
It is obvious after this incident that the prince likes to still test the limits of his environmentally friendly automobiles.
