Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (born 16 December 1955) is a member of the Belgian Royal Family and an Austrian-Belgian citizen. Since 1996 he is also head of the House of Austria-Este, a branch of the formerly Imperial Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Early life and marriage

Prince Lorenz was born in Clinique du Belvédère, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France, as the second child of Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este and of Archduchess Margaret, born Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta.

On 22 September 1984 in Brussels, Lorenz married Princess Astrid of Belgium, the only daughter of the then Prince and Princess of Liège, former King Albert II and Queen Paola. The couple have five children and one granddaughter:

• Prince Amedeo Marie Joseph Carl Pierre Philippe Paola Marcus d'Aviano, Archduke of Austria (born 21 February 1986); married Elisabetta Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein (b. 1987) on 5 July 2014. The couple have one daughter:
  • Archduchess Anna Astrid of Austria-Este (born 17 May 2016)
• Princess Maria Laura Zita Beatrix Gerhard, Archduchess of Austria (born 26 August 1988)
• Prince Joachim Karl-Maria Nikolaus Isabelle Marcus d'Aviano, Archduke of Austria (born 9 December 1991)
• Princess Luisa Maria Anna Martine Pilar, Archduchess of Austria (born 11 October 1995)
• Princess Laetitia Maria Nora Anna Joachim Zita, Archduchess of Austria (born 23 April 2003)

Prince Lorenz is a godfather to Prince Carl-Johan of Nassau, youngest child of Prince Jean of Luxembourg and Count Costantino Secco di Aragona, oldest son of his cousin Archduchess Catharina-Maria of Austria.

Education and career

After finishing school, Archduke Lorenz made his military service in the regiment of Gebirgsjäger (Alpine Hunters) of the Federal Austrian Army and was promoted as Reserve "Leutnant" (Second Lieutenant) in 1980.

Lorenz studied economics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and the University of Innsbruck in Austria. He worked at various banks in London, Paris, and Rome. In 1983 he joined the Gutzwiller private bank in Basel where he eventually became a Managing Partner. In 1993, he spent one year as a consultant to Swift, a company which provides services to the financial industry. In 1995, he became Advisor to the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas Bank in Paris. He was formerly a director of UCB, Sita (a worldwide waste management company located in France) and of Ondeo Nalco (a water management company in

the United States).

Patronages

Since 2004, Lorenz has been 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 been the Patron of Europae Thesauri, an association of European cathedral and church treasuries.

Lorenz has also served as deputy chairman of the Société des Amis of the Almanach de Gotha.

He is named member of the Royal Crown Council of Romania in 2015.

Titles and styles

• 16 December 1955 – 10 November 1995: His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia
• 10 November 1995 – 7 February 1996: His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
• 7 February 1996 – present: His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, The Archduke of Austria-Este

As head of the House of Austria-Este since his father's death on 7 February 1996, Lorenz bears the titles "Archduke of Austria-Este". The name and arms of Este were made hereditary according to male primogeniture by declaration of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 31 October 1914 (following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este) and was confirmed by Imperial Austrian letters patent, both of which conferred it (with the traditional coat-of-arms of the House of Austria-Este) upon Lorenz's father, Archduke Robert, on 16 April 1917, and has been confirmed for Lorenz by specific reference in Article IX.1 of the constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium. In addition he also bears the traditional Habsburg titles of "Prince Royal of Hungary", "Croatia and Bohemia".

The Este suffix descended by male primogeniture and is borne by Lorenz and his successors as heads of the Austria-Este cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The title "Prince of Belgium" was granted to him by Royal Decree of 10 November 1995 by his father-in-law, King Albert II of the Belgians. Depending on the situation, Lorenz is thus legally and formally styled HRH Prince Lorenz of Belgium, or internationally otherwise HI&RH Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este or simply HI&RH The Archduke of Austria-Este.

His children by Princess Astrid bear the titles "Prince(ss) of Belgium", by Belgian decree of 2 December 1991, in addition to their traditional Austrian titles, "Archduke/Archduchess of Austria, Prince(ss) Royal of Hungary".

Honours

National honours

• House of Habsburg: 1, 285th Knight of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece
•  Belgium: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I

Foreign honours

•  Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
•  Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
• Montenegrin Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I
•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
•  Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
•  Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
• Romanian Royal Family: Extra Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit
•  Sweden: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

Military ranks

•  Austria 1980– : Austrian Armed Forces, Leutnant as Reserve Officer

Ancestry