View source for Princess Claire of Belgium

{{Short description|Belgian princess (born 1974)}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Princess Claire
| image = Princess Claire of Belgium (2011).jpg
| caption = Princess Claire in 2011
| birth_name = Claire Louise Coombs<ref>{{cite web|url=https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/belgians-abroad/registry/giving-name|title=Giving a name|website=Diplomatie Belgium|date=4 May 2022 |access-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404040223/https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/belgians-abroad/registry/giving-name|archive-date=4 April 2023|url-status=live|quote=Under Belgian law, marriage does not have any effect on the spouses' surnames. You keep the surname that you had before you were married.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hln.be/royalty/prins-laurent-en-zijn-gezin-hebben-nieuwe-achternaam-en-daar-is-hij-niet-zo-blij-mee~a70721cd/|title=Prins Laurent en zijn gezin hebben nieuwe achternaam, en daar is hij niet zo blij mee|trans-title=Prince Laurent and his family have a new last name, and he is not very happy about it|language=Dutch|website=HLN|date=7 January 2023|access-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230601100405/https://www.hln.be/royalty/prins-laurent-en-zijn-gezin-hebben-nieuwe-achternaam-en-daar-is-hij-niet-zo-blij-mee~a70721cd/|archive-date=1 June 2023|url-status=live|quote=Claire heet nu ‘Claire Coombs’, haar meisjesnaam. ... [Claire is now called 'Claire Coombs', her maiden name.]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=fr&pub_date=2005-01-05&numac=2004015232&caller=list|title=SERVICE PUBLIC FEDERAL AFFAIRES ETRANGERES, COMMERCE EXTERIEUR ET COOPERATION AU DEVELOPPEMENT|trans-title=FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE FOREIGN AFFAIRS, FOREIGN TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION|language=French|website=www.ejustice.just.fgov.be|access-date=4 April 2023|date=14 July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404042119/https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=fr&pub_date=2005-01-05&numac=2004015232&caller=list|archive-date=4 April 2023|url-status=live|quote=la Princesse Claire Coombs, Princesse de Belgique.}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1974|1|18}}
| birth_place = [[Bath, Somerset]], England
| house = <!--Do not add a royal house or dynasty unless you have an official source. People are born into dynasties of ruling families. Whether or not a person is confirmed to belong to a dynasty by marriage requires a source that proves that fact. -->
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Prince Laurent of Belgium]]|12 April 2003}}
| issue = {{Plainlist|
* [[Princess Louise of Belgium (born 2004)|Princess Louise]]
* [[Prince Nicolas of Belgium|Prince Nicolas]]
* [[Prince Aymeric of Belgium|Prince Aymeric]]
}}
| father = Nicholas John Coombs
| mother = Nicole Mertens
}}
{{Belgian Royal Family}}

'''Princess Claire of Belgium''' (born '''Claire Louise Coombs'''; 18 January 1974) is a British-Belgian<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vaute |first1=Paul |title=Claire, future princesse very British |url=http://www.lalibre.be/actu/belgique/claire-future-princesse-very-british-51b87c1be4b0de6db9a8124e |access-date=1 December 2018 |work=La Libre |date=19 December 2002 |language=fr}}</ref> [[Surveying|land surveyor]]. She has been married to [[Prince Laurent of Belgium|Prince Laurent]] since 2003 and is the sister-in-law of King [[Philippe of Belgium]].

==Early life==
She is the daughter of Nicholas John Coombs (Bath, 14 April 1938), a British-born businessman, and his Belgian wife, Nicole Eva Gabrielle Thérèse Mertens ([[Ixelles]], 20 June 1951). She has an elder sister, Joanna, and a younger brother, Matthew. In 1977, when she was three years old, her family relocated to [[Chaumont-Gistoux|Dion-le-Val]] near Brussels in francophone [[Wallonia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jammart.be/coombs/coombs-frm3.htm|title=Kwartierstaat van Claire Louise COOMBS|website=www.jammart.be}}</ref>

==Marriage and children==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=August 2020}}
On 12 April 2003, she married [[Prince Laurent of Belgium]], the second son and youngest child of the King [[Albert II of Belgium]] and [[Queen Paola of Belgium]]. The civil ceremony was held at [[Brussels Town Hall]], and the religious ceremony at the [[Cathedral of St. Michael and St. 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]].

==Public life==
[[File:ClaireDeBelgique LeRoeulx 2013.jpg|thumb|170px|Princess Claire at a flower show in [[Le Rœulx]], 2013]]
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=August 2020}}
Unlike [[Queen Mathilde of Belgium|Queen Mathilde]] and [[Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este|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]] and actively attends charitable and commemorative events hosted by the [[British Ambassador to Belgium]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

==Titles and styles==
{{Infobox Royal styles
|image=[[File:Lesser arms of the Royal House of Belgium.svg|50px]]
|royal name=Princess Claire of Belgium
|dipstyle=[[HRH|Her Royal Highness]]
|offstyle=Your Royal Highness
}}

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).<ref>Royal decree of 1 April 2003. [http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/mopdf/2003/04/08_1.pdf#Page8 Moniteur Belge, 8 April 2003, p.17620]</ref>

===Honours===
{{see also|List of honours of the Belgian royal family by country}}

====National====
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]]<ref>royal decree of 14 July 2004. [http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/mopdf/2009/02/27_2.pdf#Page114 N.74, Moniteur Belge, 27 February 2009 second edition, p.17188 ].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/prince-laurent-and-princess-claire-prince-lorentz-princess-astrid-and-picture-id80685409|title=Photo |website=media.gettyimages.com}}</ref>

====Foreign====
* {{flag|Netherlands}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown (Netherlands)|Order of the Crown]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/50/95/2d/50952dafc89db3322ef2205e06096203.jpg|title=Photo |website=s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com}}</ref>
* {{flag|Norway}}: Grand Cross of the [[Royal Norwegian Order of Merit|Order of Merit]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/prince-laurent-princess-claire-of-belgium-attends-a-state-news-photo/157793093?#prince-laurent-princess-claire-of-belgium-attends-a-state-banquet-at-picture-id157793093|title=Norwegian State Visit To Belgium|date=3 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kongehuset.no/tildelinger.html?tid=28028&sek=27995&q=av+Noreg+&type=&aarstall=|title=Tildelinger av ordener og medaljer|website=www.kongehuset.no}}</ref>
* {{flag|Portugal}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Prince Henry|Order of Infante Henrique]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/32/f8/e3/32f8e333b9c149b894250792c7762fee.jpg|title=Photo |website=s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/prince-laurent-of-belgium-and-princess-claire-of-belgium-at-the-gala-picture-id160873517?s=612x612|title=Photo |website=media.gettyimages.com}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.monarchie.be/royal-family/princess-claire Her official webpage at the official site of the Belgian monarchy]
* [http://www.jammart.be/coombs/coombs-frm3.htm Princess Claire's ancestry]

{{Belgian princesses by marriage}}
{{Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by marriage}}
{{authority control}}

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