Fake passports for Belgian royal family

Members of the Belgian royal family have long travelled using ‘fake’ passports for security reasons, former foreign minister Mark Eyskens has revealed in the VTM programme Royalty. Not only passports but also other identity documents have been issued to some members of the royal family, allowing them to travel abroad incognito; before becoming king, Philippe has sometimes used the name Philippe Dermulle, for example. "It was usually one of the king’s close collaborators who would take care of it," Eyskens said. "Strictly speaking they were fakes." The Federeal Public Service for Foreign Affairs has refused to comment on Eyskens’s claims, saying in a statement  that "the names featured in the passports that we issue are the ones given to us by the relevant authorities". The Palace, for its part, declined to say whether passports with pseudonyms were still being used by Belgian royals.