The Belgian artist Delphine Boël (52) can now call herself Princess of Belgium. The Brussels Court of Appeal has decided that, reports the French-speaking broadcaster RTBF. Delphine now changes her surname to that of her father, King Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Delphine’s children, Joséphine and Oscar, also receive the titles princess and prince of Belgium. At the last session on the recognition of the paternity of King Albert II, Boël was vindicated: she and her children can now call themselves a royal highness.
Years of struggle for recognition
At the beginning of this year, Albert, the father of the current King Philippe, acknowledged that he was Boël’s biological father is. This was preceded by years of legal battle and a DNA test. The artist did not think this recognition was sufficient: she demanded to be treated like Albert’s other children and wanted to receive the title of Princess of Belgium.
Boël’s mother, Sybille de Selys Longchamps, had an affair with King Albert for many years from the 1960s onwards. At that time she was already married to Queen Paola. Earlier it turned out that the man De Selys Longchamps was married to at the time of Delphine’s birth was not her biological father.
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