BRUSSELS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Belgian Prince Laurent, King Albert's youngest son, testified on Tuesday at a court in Belgian central city of Hasselt in a fraud case.

    This is the first time a Belgian royal family member has testified at a civil court in the Belgian monarchy's history.

    The trial, which started on Monday, involves 12 people accused of pocketing some 2.2 million euros (2.9 million U.S. dollars) allegedly siphoned from the navy's budget.

    However, several of the defendants have alleged that 43 year-old Prince Laurent knew that 175,000 euros (231,770 U.S. dollars) of the money was used to refurbish his home on the outskirts of Brussels during the 1990s.

    The presiding magistrate started to hear the Prince's evidence at 1.50 PM local time (12:50 GMT), and Prince Laurent was quizzed for 16 minutes.

    In answer to most questions put by the presiding magistrate, the Prince referred to the statement he had made to the judicial police on Monday.

    The Prince was asked whether Noel Vaessen, the chief suspect and his former aide-de-camp, had told him that the navy would take care of the cost of his home renovations.

    The Prince answered: "Not in so many words."

    The Prince made it clear that he had always trusted his former chief advisor, lieutenant-colonel Vaessen.

    The Prince said he knew that the renovation was funded by the navy, but did not question this.

    He believed everything was above board when his adviser told him that the navy cash could be used to furnish his villa.

    The Prince said he did not know if the navy general staff knew about the fraud, and he did not know how much was spent and on what it was spent.

    Last week, King Albert signed a new Royal Decree allowing members of the royal family to give evidence in court.