Belgium: Protests as Prince gets degree

Belgium’s oldest university bestowed an honorary doctorate on Crown Prince Philippe for his ‘‘contribution to world peace,’’ ignoring protests by professors and students who said he did not deserve the prestigious award.

The ceremony drew over 150 anti-monarchist and student demonstrators to the campus of Leuven Catholic University as it marked its 575th anniversary.

Police held protesters behind barbed-wire barricades and arrested 11 people after a clash between supporters of the monarchy and Flemish nationalists who want to create a separate republic in Dutch-speaking northern Belgium.

Other honorees at the ceremony included UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte and British Petroleum chief executive Sir John Browne.

The honorary doctorate for Philippe, 41, became a source of controversy from the moment the university announced it several weeks ago.

It lauded him for his ‘‘active contribution to world peace’’ and for promoting Belgium across ‘‘economic, social, political and cultural levels’’ in the world at large.

Some 250 professors signed a letter saying the prince lacked the proper credentials for such a title.

It accused the university of trying to please the royal palace.

‘‘The argument that the prince actively contributes to world peace caused great amazement,’’ said the protest letter that originated in the university’s faculty of political sciences.