Changing Names

Following the line set out by King Philippe in 2015 (see: https://queenmathilde.blogspot.com/2015/11/change-in-title.html) some of the members of the Belgian royal family have officially changed their name at the register office.

From now on only King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, Crown Princess Elisabeth, former King Albert II and former Queen Paola use "de Belgique"/"van België"/"von Belgien" as their surname.

The other members of the family now use "de Saxe-Cobourg"/"van Saksen-Coburg" as surname.

This had already become clear when looking at Prince Gabriel's name tag at the Royal Military Academy, which was different from his sister's when she was following the same formation.

Also when Delphine Boël's name was officially changed, it became Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg. 

This is a practical matter, distinguishing the royals who are closest to the throne from the rest of the family. It's by no means a loss of title. All members of the family remain Princes or Princesses of Belgium. It's at a later stage that the children of some of these Princes/Princesses will no longer bear the title "of Belgium".