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Belgium's 'cursed prince' backs Prince Harry and Meghan's 'Megxit'

Prince Laurent of Belgium is at war with his family and his government.  - CEN
Prince Laurent of Belgium is at war with his family and his government. - CEN

Belgium’s ‘cursed prince’ has backed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's so-called ‘Megxit’, saying he understands the 'unacceptable' feeling for royals of being an object rather than a real person.

Prince Laurent offered his support to Prince Harry, who he says he knows, and Meghan Markle after their dramatic decision to step back from Royal duties and move to Canada.

The gaffe-prone younger brother of the Belgian king King Philippe has long had a strained relationship with his family and the Belgian government, which pays him a salary.

“Prince Harry’s decision proves one thing [about being royal],” Laurent said.

“You are an object. That is unacceptable.”

He added: “A person should not be the property of his family or a government. Or you should be compensated for it. That's why I never agreed with it myself. And I was punished for that.”

Laurent, 56, had his £270,000 wages docked by £39,000 after Belgian lawmakers voted to punish him for ignoring a ban on meeting foreign dignitaries.

He added: “Hopefully that will change, because I don't want to be the victim of archaic people. I no longer want to be a thing owned by a structure or a government or a state."

Laurent was hit with the 15 per cent pay cut after tweeting a photo of himself in full naval uniform at a Chinese embassy party in Brussels to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Red Army.

Laurent at the Chinese Embassy in a photo that led to his salary being cut.  - Credit: CEN/CEN
Laurent at the Chinese Embassy in a photo that led to his salary being cut. Credit: CEN/CEN

Nicknamed “Le prince maudit”, the cursed prince, Laurent claimed the deduction in his royal endowment was a violation of his human rights and is challenging the decision.

Laurent was previously criticised for an unsanctioned 2011 trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony, and for attending meetings in Libya when Gaddafi was still in power.

The feud is exacerbated by Laurent’s frustration at the government for not supporting him in a dispute with the Libyan government over £42 million he says he was promised by Muammar Gaddafi for a failed forestry scheme.

Relations with the Belgian Royal Family, which he once likened to the Stasi, did not improve after his father Albert, who is embroiled in a long-running paternity scandal, abdicated in favour of Phillipe in 2013.

Laurent has appeared in public with Delphine Boël, his alleged half-sister, in a show of support for the aristocratic artist who has waged a legal battle to force Albert to recognise her.