Why is there so much negativity about Laurent?


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Like his great uncle Prince Charles...
 
Again a bad book and you believe all what is written.

as a matter of fact the information about Queen Fabiola not speaking to her mother I found in the bio "La Reine Fabiola, une jeune fille de 80 ans" where they try to portray Fabiola as a saint...........terrible failure!
 
Laurent has a negative image in the press. But when you ask Belgians who their favorite member of this family is --- The answer's usually Albert II, or Laurent!

The Belgian press has an attitude towards the royals that's comparable to the British press. There are less scandals in Belgium, so the royals are mostly treated as dumbo's, real idiots. Laurent's an easy victim in this department, because he's hardly had any schooling! :ohmy: He was a bad student, he was constantly bullied because he was a prince, his parents were literally absent during his teen years ...

But the public loves him because he's about the only royal who acts like a "normal person", he's got a very warm heart, he's sensitive and honest, close to people. And they mostly love him for his humour.

So this "bad image" is relative. Philippe, Mathilde and Fabiola's image is much worse, especially in Flanders.
 
Laurent has a negative image in the press. But when you ask Belgians who their favorite member of this family is --- The answer's usually Albert II, or Laurent!

The Belgian press has an attitude towards the royals that's comparable to the British press. There are less scandals in Belgium, so the royals are mostly treated as dumbo's, real idiots. Laurent's an easy victim in this department, because he's hardly had any schooling! :ohmy: He was a bad student, he was constantly bullied because he was a prince, his parents were literally absent during his teen years ...

But the public loves him because he's about the only royal who acts like a "normal person", he's got a very warm heart, he's sensitive and honest, close to people. And they mostly love him for his humour.

So this "bad image" is relative. Philippe, Mathilde and Fabiola's image is much worse, especially in Flanders.
Why was the image of Philippe, Mathilde and Fabiola worse, especially in Flanders?
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I would say that ten years on things have changed. The popularity of the present King has greatly improved while Laurent's image and antics did him no favors.
 
I like how you put it like that. Everything has greatly improved.
 
I've always suspected that the low opinion of him online has to do with the fact that he is not particularly photogenic(never has been,even in youth) and somehow the bad publicity seems to win out over the good...his genuine concern for homeless Belgians, animal welfare etc.

He doesn't help his cause. He is rude and stubborn, and oblivious to public opinion..:ermm:
 
Why was the image of Philippe, Mathilde and Fabiola worse, especially in Flanders?
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The King, Queen Mathilde and Queen Fabiola have no worse image. In general there is a basic goodwill for the royal family. We could witness it last Sunday. Only the core circle of separatists are vehemently poisonous and negative about them. That is not different in a country like Spain.
 
I've always suspected that the low opinion of him online has to do with the fact that he is not particularly photogenic(never has been,even in youth) and somehow the bad publicity seems to win out over the good...his genuine concern for homeless Belgians, animal welfare etc.

He doesn't help his cause. He is rude and stubborn, and oblivious to public opinion..:ermm:

Philippe is not exactly a male model either though. But Laurent looks older than his brother...
 
Philippe was a handsome young man with a beautiful head of hair. In his salad days he was quite dishy. Just Google Philippe at 30.?

Poor Laurent never seemed to enjoy salad days...at any age ..sad:
 
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Philippe was a handsome young man with a beautiful head of hair. In his salad days he was quite dishy. Just Google Philippe at 30.?

Poor Laurent never seemed to enjoy salad days...at any ge ..sad:

Indeed. Thank you for serving us hot tea lol. The young Philippe is handsome, yes. And the Philippe with beard looks better. What happened now though?:lol:

Laurent? No comment
 
If Laurent was so averse to being a working royal and performing a few annual duties he should have renounced his succession rights upon marriage and got a job for himself and he'd have lived very quietly and modestly with his wife and kids.Instead he behaves like an overpaid royal bull in a china shop .The Belgian RF would work just as well without him as a semi working royal .

Like the old saying goes 'You can't have your cake and eat it' ;)
 
To me he mainly comes across as extremely entitled. He does seem to think that he deserves everything he pleases just because he was born a prince. He doesn't seem to be aware of the responisibility that comes with being given much (in his case both a prominent place in society and money).

Nonetheless, within his privileged life and despite his entitlement, he is contributing in his own limited way in areas that he is passionate about.
 
Well, Laurent certainly doesn't help himself! I agree that he has always come across as rude and arrogant as well as narrow-minded to me.
 
I think apart from this rudeness and misdemeanor, have somebody met Laurent in person? Is he warm and kind?

Maybe this rudeness is just a facade. What do you all think?
 
I think apart from this rudeness and misdemeanor, have somebody met Laurent in person? Is he warm and kind?

Maybe this rudeness is just a facade. What do you all think?

For what I've seen through videos he is very warm and kind to normal people and people love him back for that, cause they don't feel the class distance when he is around. However he has problems with autorithy, he does not seem to able to accept rules and restrictions from other people. He always takes them personally.
 
For what I've seen through videos he is very warm and kind to normal people and people love him back for that, cause they don't feel the class distance when he is around. However he has problems with autorithy, he does not seem to able to accept rules and restrictions from other people. He always takes them personally.

I see this is a nice observation though. Some people are like this and maybe for a Prince it is not something we usually see since we only know him from the footages we see and the articles written about them.

But yeah knowing that his relationship with Claire and his children is going well, I think he might have this warm and kind personality inside him.
 
Too fragile to be a state-funded royal

Laurent is a second son who doesn't understand the nature of his role as a son that belongs to the public as a result of his birth. If he doesn't like being scrutinised and questioned he could always opt for retreat into private life without public funds.

He says his wife has not appeared in public for 2 years (ie 658 days) because “She is sick and tired of how she is treated in some Belgian spheres. It's her way of saying she doesn't agree."

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20211007_94742367

Royal service means that you continue with the job even if people criticise you. They don't seem to understand their role permits the public to inspect and challenge who they are and what they do. If the couple prefer not to be observed and commented on as national figures, there is a door marked 'way out'.
 
If Laurent was so averse to being a working royal and performing a few annual duties he should have renounced his succession rights upon marriage and got a job for himself and he'd have lived very quietly and modestly with his wife and kids.Instead he behaves like an overpaid royal bull in a china shop .The Belgian RF would work just as well without him as a semi working royal .

Like the old saying goes 'You can't have your cake and eat it' ;)

But at one time, wasn't Philippe considered not fit to rule?
I seem to remember that long ago, there was speculation that Philippe would be bypassed and Laurent would succeed.

Then Phillippe married, had children, became more accepted, and Laurent was the one discarded.
If this is the case, it isn't surprising that Laurent might be a bit disgruntled now.
 
Laurent has pretty much always been disgruntled since he was young, sometimes with fairly good reason... although similarly taken a bit too far.

I think it's essentially accepted fact that King Baudouin instituted equal primogeniture because he did NOT want Laurent to succeed and was happy with Astrid and all her children as a buffer.

As many a Philippe fan will tell you, he's the only one in the family who's cared for and stuck by Laurent through his brother's multiple shenanigans, so Philippe is not the target of the disgruntlement.
 
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