Princess Claire of Belgium

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Claire of Belgium, born Claire Louise Coombs ( born January 18, 1974 in Bath, England ) is Princess of Belgium and wife of Prince Laurent of Belgium.

Life

Claire Louise Coombs was born in 1974 in England. Her family moved to Wavre, when she was four years old. Her father Nicholas John Coombs ( born 1938 in Wimbledon ) manager of the family. Her mother Nicole Eva Gabrielle Thérèse Mertens ( * 1951 in Ixelles ) was a secretary and later was also employed in the family business. The parents live in Chaumont -Gistoux. Princess Claire has an older sister Joanna (* 1972) and a younger brother Matthew (born 1976 ). The paternal grandparents live in England, the mother's family comes from Belgium.

Claire went to the Institut de la Providence in Wavre to school. As a child she was interested in drawing, painting and music. She was a member of a scout group, sang in a choir and had riding lessons. After high school she trained as a Landvermesserin. Since 1999, she has the title " Landvermesserin real estate experts ". Later she became a partner in the survey Sachverständigenbüro Brone & Oldenhove.

Claire Coombs has both the Belgian and British citizenship.

She speaks her native French, English and Dutch. There has been criticism that her Dutch is not error-free, although Belgium is trilingual.

The princess assumes representative tasks. She is always present at events of the royal family and participates in state visits. In 2007 she opened the Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies.

Family

On April 12, 2003, she married Prince Laurent Benoît Baudouin in Brussels Marie of Belgium. By Royal Decree of 1 April 2003 Claire Coombs was awarded on the day of her marriage the title "Princess of Belgium ".

The couple has three children:

  • Princess Louise Sophie Mary (born 6 February 2004 in Brussels)
  • Prince Nicolas Casimir Marie ( born December 13, 2005 in Brussels )
  • Prince Aymeric Auguste Marie ( born December 13, 2005 in Brussels )
Line of succession to the Belgian throne Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant Albert II of Belgium Queen Paola of Belgium Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este Wimbledon (London)
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