August 9, 1993 Belgium found its new king, the sixth in a row. The younger brother of 59-year-old King Baudouin I. Albert ascended the throne without leaving any children behind.
King II. Albert held the Belgian throne for 20 years and abdicated on 21 July 2013, handing over the throne to his son Philip. “After 20 years in power, I think it’s time to pass the torch to the next generation. Prince Philip is well prepared,” said Albert II.
According to the official version, the monarch abdicated due to advanced age and health. However, the public was sure that the real reason for the resignation was the scandal that broke out a few months ago. Artist Delphine Boel flared up after she went to court to force Albert II to undergo a DNA test. The examination was supposed to confirm that she was the ruler’s daughter.
Who first learned the truth
Boel’s real father She learned that she was Albert at the age of 17. Her mother, Baroness Sibylle de Sély-Longchamps, confessed to her daughter that she gave birth to an old family friend, nicknamed Papillon (French for “butterfly”) by the monarch, and gave birth to her then-husband, industrial entrepreneur Jacques Boel. By that time, the baroness had been divorced from him for a year.
At first this did not embarrass or upset the girl. The situation changed years later, when the information was made public.
In 1999, the young journalist Mario Dannils published a book dedicated to the life of Queen Paola, wife of Albert II. In it, he mentioned, among other things, that the monarch had an illegitimate daughter. However, he refused to accept this fact. In his next Christmas speech to the nation, World War II Only in the mid-’60s, Albert noted, a side affair nearly ruined his marriage to the queen. But he assured that the problems in the family were resolved “a long time ago”.
After the publication of the book II. Albert cut all ties with the Baroness de Sely-Longchamps and her daughter. As Boel himself said in an interview with Tatler magazine, he was disappointed by his father’s behavior: “Although it was quite uncomfortable, it was surreal and unpleasant, especially because I was defending him. It was as if the king threw me like a piece of meat to the dogs.
In 2013, Boel’s mother revealed the details of the conversation between her daughter and her parents. A year after Albert learned that he had an illegitimate daughter, Delphine called him. “You are not my daughter,” she said. It was a terrible blow for him. I still don’t understand why he didn’t immediately accept the truth when it came out,” he said in an interview with Flanders News.
paternity through court
In June 2013, Boel, who was 45 at the time, decided to go to the Brussels court and demand paternity recognition from Albert II. She hoped to compel the monarch and her three children – Prince Philip, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent – to take blood tests that would reveal the DNA match. The palace confirmed that the king and his children had received subpoenas asking them to take the tests, but did not comment further. The monarch also enjoyed legal immunity from the lawsuit.
However, only a few weeks had passed since Boel’s appeal to the court, and King II. Albert abdicated in favor of his eldest son. That day, Sybille de Sély-Longchamps gave an interview to Belgian television, where she spoke for the first time about her love affair with the monarch, which lasted from 1966 to 1984. “I thought I couldn’t have children. And we did not take any action. It was a great time, Delphine was born in love. Albert treated her very well, ”the baroness shared.
Meanwhile, Boel continued to fight for paternity to be recognized by the old king. In 2014, he passed a DNA test by Jacques Boel, whose daughter he considered himself until the age of 17 – tests confirmed the absence of biological relationship.
In 2017, a Brussels court ruled that Jacques Boel could be legally considered the father of Delphine Boel because he raised him as his own and therefore Albert II is not required to undergo DNA testing. The artist was not satisfied with this decision – he appealed. Finally, at the end of 2018, the court ruled that Jacques Boel could not be considered his father. The former monarch, already 84, was given three months to pass the test.
The former king barely passed the tests at the end of May 2019, when he was threatened with a fine of €5,000 for every day the court order was not enforced. According to Albert II’s attorney, he passed the test “out of respect for legal institutions.” He also explained that the former ruler did not consider him guilty.
The results of the test were hidden until the end of the case. It wasn’t until January 2020 that Albert II recognized himself as Delphine Boel’s biological father based on tests that confirmed this. The king’s retired lawyers later assured him that he was doing this to “put an end to the complicated process in the name of honor and dignity”.
Hugs and recognition
In early October 2020, Boel was officially recognized as a representative of the Belgian royal family – the artist took the surname Saxe-Coburg and the title of princess, which was worn by the monarchs of Belgium. From that moment he was able to fulfill his royal duties.
In February 2023, the public saw for the first time how the 88-year-old former king embraced his youngest daughter and kissed her on the cheek – this was at a memorial service for members of the royal dynasty. The video that appeared on the network made the subjects smile. They admitted that they were more than happy to see a warm welcome in the comments.