Royal Profile: 19 Facts about Princess Claire of Belgium

1. Claire Marie Coombs (aka Princess Claire of Belgium) was born Princess Claire was born in Bath, Somerset, Englandon 18 January 1974 {Source}
2. She is the daughter of Nicole (Mertens) Coombs and Nicholas Coombs {Source}.
3. Princess Claire has two siblings, elder sister Joanna and younger brother Matthew {Source}.
4. She has a niece named Emma {Source}.
5. When she was three years old, her family moved to Belgium, settling in Wavre{Source}. 
6. She attended primary and secondary school at the Institut de la Providence in Wavre{Source}. 
7. She was interested in drawing, painting, music and horse-riding{Source}.
8. She was an active member of a youth movement (the Guides), and sang in the local choir, with whom she played an active part in the Pope's visit to Brussels{Source}
9. Princess Claire frequently travels to England to visit her grand-parents on her father's side and friends{Source}
10. Her grandmother on her mother's side of the family lives in Chaumont-Gistoux{Source}.
11. Having completed her humanities, she studied as a surveyor{Source}.
12. She completed her training with a period of work experience at "Brone & Oldenhove" in Wavre and qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1999{Source}.
13. At one time, "Brone & Oldenhove" then offered her the possibility of becoming a partner{Source}.
14. Princess Claire has dual nationality, Belgian and British, and trained at the Antwerp office of a chartered surveyors' firm{Source}.
15. She married Prince Laurent on 12 April 2003 in Brussels{Source}
16. Miss Claire Coombs was raised to Princess of Belgium, on the day of her marriage, by Royal Decree of April 1st 2003{Source}.
17. Together, they have three children{Source}:
1. Princess Louise Sophia Mary of Belgium (2004)
2. Prince Nicolas of Belgium (2005)
3. Prince Aymeric of Belgium (2005)
18. Unlike her sisters-in-laws, Queen Mathilde and Princess Astrid, she does not have a defined role in the monarchy {Source}.
19. She is patron of the Brussels Choral Society{Source}