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Prince Lorenz of Belgium

Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (born 16 December 1955) is a member of the Belgian royal family as the husband of Princess Astrid of Belgium. He is the head of the House of Austria-Este, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine; he has held this position since 1996.

Early life

Prince Lorenz was born at Belvedere Clinic in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France as the second child and eldest son of Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este, and his wife, Archduchess Margaret (née Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta). He is the grandson of Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria.

He and his uncle, Carl Ludwig, complained about the constitutional provision that prohibited members of the former ruling dynasty from running in the Austrian presidential elections, and the terms under which their family was banished from the country. Their subsequent appeal to the European Commission for Human Rights was ruled inadmissible by the court. Further, in June 2011, the Habsburg Law was repealed by the Austrian Parliament.

Marriage

On 22 September 1984, at Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon in Brussels, Prince Lorenz married Princess Astrid of Belgium, the only daughter of the then-Prince and Princess of Liège, later King Albert II and Queen Paola. The couple has five children: Prince Amedeo, Princess Maria Laura, Prince Joachim, Princess Luisa Maria, and Princess Laetitia Maria. Prince Lorenz is the godfather to Prince Carl-Johan of Nassau, youngest child of Prince Jean of Luxembourg, and Count Costantino Secco di Aragona, the oldest son of his cousin, Archduchess Catharina-Maria of Austria.

Patronages

Since 2004, Lorenz has served as the honorary president of the Council of the Koninklijke Vereniging der Historische Woonsteden van België/Association Royale des Demeures Historiques de Belgique. Since 2005, he has also served as the Patron of Europae Thesauri, an association of European cathedral and church treasuries.

Lorenz also served as deputy chairman of the Société des Amis of the Almanach de Gotha. In 2015, he was named a member of the Royal Crown Council of Romania.

Title

The title Prince of Belgium was granted to him by royal decree on 10 November 1995 by his father-in-law, King Albert II of Belgium. The Belgian monarchy refers to him as the Archduke of Austria-Este.

Ancestry

Honours

National

House of Habsburg-Este: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Eagle of Este
House of Habsburg: 1,285th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold

Foreign

Germany: Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
Montenegrin Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I
Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
Romanian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown
Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit
Sweden: Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star