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| Belgian king's brother likens kin to the Stasi | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Prince Laurent, brother to Belgium’s King Philippe, has attacked the royal family and their entourage, saying they are like the Stasi secret police and that they have sabotaged his career for years. | Prince Laurent, brother to Belgium’s King Philippe, has attacked the royal family and their entourage, saying they are like the Stasi secret police and that they have sabotaged his career for years. |
| “My family has never supported me,” Laurent told RTBF public television on Thursday, complaining bitterly that he had been hard done by despite the rich external trappings of royalty. | “My family has never supported me,” Laurent told RTBF public television on Thursday, complaining bitterly that he had been hard done by despite the rich external trappings of royalty. |
| Referring to the dreaded secret police of communist East Germany, he said: “It started with my uncle King Baudouin. Then with my father, Albert II. With them it was like the Stasi. Today, I have the impression it continues with my brother, King Philippe. Their mistake [was] to have taken on an entourage which wished me harm and wanted to prevent me working.” | |
| The royal family has been a key unifying factor since Belgium gained independence in 1830, helping to hold together its sharply divided French and Dutch speaking communities, but it has not always been popular. | The royal family has been a key unifying factor since Belgium gained independence in 1830, helping to hold together its sharply divided French and Dutch speaking communities, but it has not always been popular. |
| Laurent, 51, has a reputation as the black sheep of the Belgian royal family after run-ins with the law for speeding and his outspokenness. He now stands 11th in the line of succession to the throne after Belgium changed the law in 1991 to end primogeniture. | Laurent, 51, has a reputation as the black sheep of the Belgian royal family after run-ins with the law for speeding and his outspokenness. He now stands 11th in the line of succession to the throne after Belgium changed the law in 1991 to end primogeniture. |
| Married with three children, Laurent has tried to build a career in environmental and animal protection, but his choice of partners has turned out badly. Ventures with a son of the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, without government approval, raised more than eyebrows, leading to a cut in his royal grant and a temporary suspension of official duties in 2011. | Married with three children, Laurent has tried to build a career in environmental and animal protection, but his choice of partners has turned out badly. Ventures with a son of the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, without government approval, raised more than eyebrows, leading to a cut in his royal grant and a temporary suspension of official duties in 2011. |
| Laurent told the Libre Belgique daily on Thursday that his family had continued to “put a spoke in his wheels” after sabotaging his work for years. “All my life, I have been blocked ... it is really complicated to work in such a situation,” he said. | Laurent told the Libre Belgique daily on Thursday that his family had continued to “put a spoke in his wheels” after sabotaging his work for years. “All my life, I have been blocked ... it is really complicated to work in such a situation,” he said. |
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