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The beloved daughter of the former king of Belgium seeks the same rights and titles as her father’s legitimate children through the courts.
Delphine Boël, 52, is the daughter of the former Belgian King Albert II.
The former royal admitted that he was his father in January of this year after fighting over the paternity claim for more than a decade.
The artist Delphine’s mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, claims she had an affair with 86-year-old Albert before he became king.
Delphine Boël, the love daughter of the abdicated Belgian king, Albert II, who asks the courts to grant her the same rights as her other children.
Former King Albert II of Belgium, father of artist Delphine Boël
Rumors of a royal scandal first surfaced in 1999 due to claims of an illegitimate son in an unauthorized biography about Albert’s wife, Queen Paola.
The former king had never made any public statement about the allegations, except for a cryptic statement in his 1999 Christmas message in which he said he and Queen Paola experienced a ‘crisis’ in the late 1960s that almost ruined their marriage, but that ‘long ago’ outweighed their marital problems.
The BBC said that Miss Boël initially alleged in the records that King Albert was her biological father in 2005 during an interview.
After that, she repeatedly stated that she was the King’s daughter and used it as a theme in some of her professional artwork.
While Albert was on the throne, he could not be compelled to appear in court, limiting Miss Boël’s possibilities to prove her case.
However, he began court proceedings in 2013 when he abdicated the throne and lost his royal immunity.
Miss Boël’s lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, said on Thursday that she seeks the same rights as Albert’s other three children: Philippe, now King of Belgium, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid.
Uyttendaele told the BBC: “Delphine’s position is not that she wants or doesn’t want to be a princess.
“She does not want to be a girl at a reduced price, she wants to have exactly the same privileges, titles and abilities as her brothers and sister.”
A previous lawyer said that Miss Boël was not motivated by money, as she was better off as Boël, a family of industrialists worth around a billion dollars.
Delphine Boël (center), the love daughter of the former King of Belgium, seeks the same rights as the other children of Albert II
Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, mother of Delphine Boël, with Baron Dieter von Malsen Ponickau
King Philippe of Belgium, who followed his father to the throne.
Princess Astrid, daughter of former King Albert II and her youngest son, Prince Laurent
It has been suggested that if the court rules in their favor, Miss Boël’s children will be eligible for a royal title.
But Albert’s legal team claims that Miss Boël can only be awarded the title of princess by royal decree and not by court.
Baroness Longchamps says her affair, with then-Prince Albert of Liege, started in 1966 and lasted until 1984.
He adds that he was a regular presence during the early years of Miss Boël’s life.
Longchamps divorced the plaintiff’s legal father, Jacques Boël, in 1978 and Belgian media reports claimed that he had disinherited his daughter due to the shame the scandal had caused the family.
Albert married Queen Paola, or Paola Ruffo di Calabria as she was known then, in 1959 and the Italian princess was long considered to bring a touch of glamor to the Belgian royal family.
On one occasion she was not allowed to enter the Vatican in 1969 because she was wearing a miniskirt, while in Rome she was seen riding motor scooters.
Alberto only came to the Belgian throne after the unexpected death of his brother King Baudouin in 1993 at age 62.
A renowned bon viveur, he was popular with the public and politicians for his laid-back style and was seen as a unifying factor in the linguistically divided country.
He remained on the throne until he cited poor health in July 2013 and abdicated in favor of his son Philippe.
In 2018, a Brussels court ordered Albert to undergo a genetic sample to finally decide the matter.
He finally underwent the test in 2019 after facing fines of 5,000 euros (4,600 pounds sterling) for each day he refused to comply.
In January 2020, Albert’s lawyer revealed the test results, which proved that the former king was the biological father of Miss Boël.
Ms. Boël’s lawyer said at the time that ‘her reaction was one of relief, emotion, but it also shows a wound that will not heal.’
He told RTL television that: “His life has been a long nightmare due to this search for identity.”
Delphine Boël and her lawyer Marc Uyttendaele out of court after the last hearing
The King of Belgium is a constitutional monarch who largely plays a ceremonial role in affairs.
However, he was forced into infrequent political interventions during a long period of political stagnation in the country in 2010 and 2011.
Royals have also faced criticism, especially when it emerged that Queen Fabiola, Balduino’s widow, had planned to transfer an estate in Spain using a trust to avoid paying taxes.
The reports prompted the Belgian government to reform the system of allowances and taxes for members of the monarchy.
Queen Paola, now 83, has also had a less public role since Alberto abdicated in favor of Philippe.
Many see King Philip as a more reserved character than his father. He told a Belgian astronaut in 1992 that he should be addressed simply by his first name. “I think there is absolutely no protocol in space,” he said.
Next in line to the throne is Princess Elizabeth, 18, daughter of Philip and Queen Mathilde.
The royal family announced this year that Elizabeth would enter the Royal Military School in Brussels to help her prepare for royal duties.
He was previously studying in Wales at Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan, pursuing an International Baccalaureate.
