Princess Claire of Belgium (born Claire Louise Coombs on 18 January 1974) is a British-Belgian

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

. She has been married to Prince Laurent since 2003 and is the sister-in-law of King

Philippe of Belgium french: Philippe Léopold Louis Mariegerman: Philipp Leopold Ludwig Maria , house = Belgium , father = Albert II of Belgium , mother = Paola Ruffo di Calabria , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle, Laeken, B ...

Family

She is the daughter of Nicholas John Coombs (Bath, 14 April 1938), a British-born businessman, and his Belgian wife, Nicole Eva Gabrielle Thérèse, ''née'' Mertens (

Ixelles ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the muni ...

, 20 June 1951). She has an older sister, Joanna, and a younger brother, Matthew. Her family relocated to Dion-le-Val, near to Brussels in francophone

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

in 1977. She has therefore lived in Belgium since age 3.

Marriage and children

On 12 April 2003, she married

Prince Laurent of Belgium nl, Laurens Benedikt Boudewijn Maria ger, Laurentius Benedikt Balduin Maria , image = Prince Laurent of Belgium (2015 F).jpg , caption = Prince Laurent in 2015 , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle, Laeken, Brussels, ...

, the second son and youngest child of the King

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

and

Queen Paola of Belgium Paola (born Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria;AlthougThe Belgian Monarchy websiteattributes the title of "Princess" to Queen Paola prior to marriage, Burke's Peerage 1973, The Descendants of Louis XIII 1999, ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' 200 ...

. The civil ceremony was held at

Brussels Town Hall The Town Hall (french: Hôtel de Ville, Dutch: ) of the City of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of the City of Brussels municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of the famous Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brus ...

, and the religious ceremony at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula. The couple have three children: * Princess ''Louise'' Sophie Mary, born 6 February 2004 at Saint Luc University Hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. * Prince ''Nicolas'' Casimir Marie, born 13 December 2005 (twin) at Saint Luc University Hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. * Prince ''Aymeric'' Auguste Marie, born 13 December 2005 (twin) at Saint Luc University Hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. The family live in ''Villa Clementine'', in

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

Public life

Unlike Queen Mathilde and Princess Astrid, Princess Claire has no defined official role. She occasionally appears in public accompanying her husband, generally in support of environmental causes or animal charities. She is also a leading patron of the Brussels Choral Society, which sang at the religious part of her marriage ceremony. She is also active in organisations related to the United Kingdom in Belgium. She is a member of the Board of Trustees at the

British School of Brussels British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and actively attends charitable and commemorative events hosted by the British Ambassador to Belgium. In March 2020, amid the large-scale outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was officially announced that Princess Claire had tested positive for the infectious disease, which is caused by a

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

called

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

Titles and styles

Coombs received the title ''Princess of Belgium'' from the King ten days before her marriage, by Royal Decree of 1 April 2003 (effective as of the date of the wedding, on 12 April 2003).

Honours

National

* : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I

Foreign

* : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

* : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Henry

References

External links

Her official webpage at the official site of the Belgian monarchy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claire Of Belgium, Princess Belgian princesses Belgian surveyors 1974 births Living people Walloon people House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry English surveyors People from Bath, Somerset