Emmanuel de Merode

Prince Emmanuel Werner Marie Ghislain de Merode (born 5 May 1970) has been the director of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2008.

Because his father was on a diplomatic mission, Emmanuel was born in North Africa, at Carthage, Tunisia. He is the second son of Charles, the Prince de Merode, and of his wife, born Princess Hedwige de Ligne. His parents belong to two of Belgium's historically most ancient and influential families, the Merodes and the House of Ligne. He descends patrilineally from Count Félix de Merode, a military commander during the successful Belgian Revolution of 1830 who helped form the first Belgian legislative counsel and government. His mother's branch of the Lignes are also the heirs to a French princely family, the House of La Trémoille: His uncle is Charles-Antoine, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle.

Emmanuel de Merode does not use his hereditary title in professional contexts; however, he is legally a prince in the Belgian nobility, the title having been conferred upon the family by King Albert I in 1929. His elder brother, Prince Frédéric de Merode, is married and heir to titles of his father.

The Prince de Merode's sons grew up outside Nairobi, Kenya and Emmanuel studied at the Banda School, followed by Downside School and Durham University in the United Kingdom. Emmanuel earned a PhD in Anthropology from University College London, having concentrated on Congolese conservation issues.

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