I want to be a princess! Love-child of former Belgian king goes to court for same rights and titles as his other children
- Love child of former Belgian king seeks same rights as his legitimate children
- Delphine Boël, 52, wants the courts to rule in her favour against former King Albert II
- Abdicated royal has admitted Miss Boël is his child following DNA tests
The love child of the former king of Belgium is seeking the same rights and titles as her father’s legitimate children via the courts.
Delphine Boël, 52, is the child of the former Belgian King Albert II.
The ex-royal admitted he was her father in January of this year after he had fought the paternity claim for over a decade.
The mother of artist Delphine, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, claims that she had an affair with Albert, 86, before he became king.
Delphine Boël, the love child of the abdicated Belgian king, Albert II, who is asking the courts to grant her the same rights as his other children
The former Belgian King Albert II who is the father of the artist Delphine Boël
Rumours of a royal scandal and media gossip in Belgium first sprang up in 1999 due to claims of an illegitimate child in an unauthorised biography about Albert’s wife, Queen Paola.
The BBC said that Ms Boël initially alleged on record that King Albert was her biological father in 2005 during an interview.
She waited until 2013 when he abdicated from the throne, and lost immunity from prosecution, before she began court proceedings.
Ms Boël’s lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, said on Thursday, says the BBC, that she is seeking the same rights as Albert’s three other children – Philippe, now King of Belgium, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid.
Delphine Boël and her solicitor Marc Uyttendaele outside court following the latest hearing
Mr Uyttendaele told the broadcaster: ‘Delphine’s position isn’t that she wants or doesn’t want to be princess.
‘She doesn’t want to be a cut-price child, she wants to have exactly the same privileges, titles and capacities as her brothers and her sister.’
It has been suggested that if the court rules in her favour that Miss Boël’s children will be eligible for a royal title.
But Albert’s legal team claim that Miss Boël can only be given the title princess by royal decree and not by a court.
Baroness Longchamps says that her affair, with the then Prince Albert of Liege, started in 1966 and ran until 1984.
She adds that he was a regular presence during the early years of Miss Boël.
Albert only came to the Belgium throne following the unexpected death of his brother King Baudouin in 1993 aged 62.
He remained in this position until he cited ill health in July 2013 and abdicated from the throne in favour of his son Philippe.
Court orders demanding that Albert take DNA tests to determine if Miss Boël was his child were refused until he was faced with fines of €5,000 (£4,600) a day while he resisted.
The former king eventually admitted that Miss Boël was his child in January after learning the results of DNA tests.
Albert’s acceptance of the DNA tests said Mr Uyttendaele, at the time, was a ‘relief’ for Miss Boël.
He told RTL television that: ‘Her life has been a long nightmare because of this quest for identity.’
The King of Belgium is a constitutional monarch who largely plays a ceremonial role in affairs.