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 Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prin ...

. He is the head of the

House of Austria-Este The House of Habsburg-Este (), also known as the House of Austria-Este () and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este (; ), is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. ...

, a cadet branch of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa, Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively List ...

; he has held this position since 1996.

Early life

Prince Lorenz was born at Belvedere Clinic in

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the Parisian area, located from its Kilometre zero, centre. It is a Subprefectures in ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as the second child and eldest son of

Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (given names: ''Robert Karl Ludwig Maximilian Michael Maria Anton Franz Ferdinand Joseph Otto Hubert Georg Pius Johannes Marcus d'Aviano''; 8 February 1915 – 7 February 1996), was the second son of Karl I, (beati ...

, and his wife, Archduchess Margaret (née Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta). He is the grandson of

Charles I of Austria Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...

, 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 nl, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ter Zavelkerk , native_name_lang = , image = Brussels, église Notre Dame du Sablon oeg2043-00070 foto7 2015-06-07 13.28.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Prince Lorenz married

, 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 The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

. 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.

Honours

National

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

: 1,285th Knight of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece *: Grand Cordon of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Foreign

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (french: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau) is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * Montenegrin Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I * : Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

Romanian Royal Family The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...

: Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Crown The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national Order (decoration), order of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 189 ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

* : Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

Military ranks

* 1980– : Austrian Armed Forces, Leutnant as Reserve Officer

References

External links

Official Belgian Monarchy Website – Prince Lorenz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este 1955 births Living people Austria-Este Austrian princes Dukes of Modena Belgian people of Austrian descent Belgian people of Hungarian descent Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star University of St. Gallen alumni Austrian people of Belgian descent