BRUSSELS: Lawmakers voted yesterday to reduce the prince’s 307,000-euro (USD 378,000) annual allowance by 15 per cent, a cut of 46,000 euros, following a recommendation by Prime Minister Charles Michel.
Prince Laurent, 54, was photographed last year wearing a military uniform while attending the 90th anniversary of the Chinese army at Beijing’s embassy in Brussels — a photo he himself tweeted — without official permission.
He had earlier been reproached for meetings in Libya and for an unauthorised visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony, in 2011.
The vote by 93 votes to 23, according to the Belga news agency is the first use of a 2013 law that permits a “retention” of allowances for members for the royal family if they break certain rules.This allowance, the reduction of which is being discussed as a result of the political or media currents.
