Prince Laurent of Belgium has been discharged from hospital after having spent three weeks under the care of doctors.
The 50-year-old prince was rushed to hospital in Brussels with pneumonia at the end of March, and was voluntarily placed in a medically-induced coma to help him recover.
Laurent is now stable and will continue his recovery at home, royal spokesperson Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw has confirmed. The palace has also asked for privacy for the prince and his family at this time.
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrince Laurent of Belgium
Laurent was in a coma for two days in order to give the antibiotics time to act against the pneumonia. At the time, Belgian television channel RTL explained that "an artificial coma would avoid the patient exhausting themselves by fighting against the life-support system. "The royal had been recovering at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc hospital and the treatment seemed to be going to plan as he was encouraged to eat and rest when he woke up.
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrincess Claire, Prince Laurent and their three children
Members of the Belgian royal family have all visited the prince in hospital, including his older brother King Philippe and the reigning monarch's wife Queen Mathilde.
Laurent's spouse Princess Claire has been at her husband's side since he was first admitted. The Bath-born beauty and the prince married in April 2003 and are parents to Princess Louise, 10, and nine-year-old twin sons Prince Nicolas and Prince Aymeric.
According to HELLO!'s sister publication HOLA!, the Belgian palace has denied rumours that Laurent had been hospitalised due to depression caused by a marital crisis with Claire.
