Delphine Boel - A 20-year journey to reclaim the status of the Belgian Royal Family

Delphine Boel, 52, artist, winner of a seven-year battle to prove herself the daughter of former Belgian king Albert II, has won the right to recognize herself as a princess.

Albert II is the former King of Belgium, reigning from 1993 to 2013. King Albert II abdicated in favor of his eldest son, the incumbent King Philippe. The reason for the former king's abdication was due to old age and weak health and wanted to retire. But everyone predicts that a large part of the reason is actually due to the people's opposition to the persistent scandal related to his affair and his stepchild - Princess Delphine.

Delphine Boel was born in 1968, is an artist, sculptor. Her mother was a noble figure - Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps. Legally, Delphine's father was Mrs. Longchamps' husband and she also bore the man's last name Boel. But when she was an adult, Delphine was told by her mother that her biological father was the current king at that time, King Albert II.

Nearly 20 years ago, Delphine Boel announced to the Belgian media that she was the illegitimate daughter of King Albert and asked to be recognized as a Princess, to be given titles, titles, recognized as a princess. a member of the Royal Family. Delphine actively provides information about the affair between her mother and the king. The two had an affair when both were married for nearly two decades, from 1966 to 1984. Delphine said she had met and stayed with King Albert many times as a child. The relationship between the two was very good, although she did not know at the time that this was her biological father. This move caused a stir in public opinion at that time and the Belgian people only knew how to sell trust and doubt when the Royal representative denied everything.

The story begins on February 22, 1968, a girl named Delphine Michèle Anne Marie Ghislaine Bol was born in Uccle, near Brussels. Her parents were Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps and King Albert of Belgium. However, this fact was only revealed when Delphine was 17 years old. At the time of her birth, both her mother and father were married, but each had a family of their own.

Before that, in the summer of 1966, Sybille de Selys Longchamps was married to industry boss Jacques Bol, but the marriage was not happy. To get out of that marriage, Sybille de Selys Longchamps followed her father to Athens (Greece), where he served as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium. On that occasion, King Albert's boat was in trouble, so he wanted to stay at the Embassy while waiting for the boat to be repaired. And two young people met, their relationship developed at breakneck speed. After just 3 weeks, Prince Albert announced his love for Sybille. Only, the Prince of Belgium was married to Princess Paola at the time, and their marriage was also in trouble. When the two returned to Belgium, they kept in touch and kept seeing each other. The Baroness ended her relationship with her husband even though they were still legally married. In addition, Prince Albert and Princess Paola have been living separately, the annual family vacation being their only reunion. The Prince kept a relationship with Delphine and his mother for about 16-17 years, but the divorce was a great scandal for the Royal Family, so the Prince was later reunited with his wife. In 2019, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

For more than a decade, Delphine Boel persistently appeared in front of the media to claim her identity. The response was the continued denial of King Albert II. Ms. Delphine said what she needed was equal recognition as her brothers and sisters, not fighting for the royal fortune because her nominally raised father was richer than the king.

In 2013, she began to look for a stronger solution than suing the Court. The incident once again created a storm for the Belgian Royal Family. At the same time, King Albert II announced that he would abdicate after having severely "lost points" in front of the people.

However, the more strongly Delphine Boel sued, the more King Albert refused to go for a DNA test to check the paternity. Until 2019, the Court concluded that Jacques Boel - the father who raised Delphine was not the biological father and asked experts to compare her DNA with Albert's. The former king remained adamant at first, but changed his mind after the Court threatened to pay a fine of 5,000 euros for each day of delay in complying with the order.

On January 27, 2020, the Brussels Capital Court made the final conclusion that Delphine Boel was the biological biological daughter of the former King Albert.

At the first public press conference when the Court's conclusion was made, Ms. Delphine said she felt "stabbed in the back" before King Albert's coldness and abandonment. It turned out that in fact, after knowing he was the biological father, the two still kept a good relationship in secret. But he cruelly cut ties with her at the age of 33, so she took such drastic action. The 52-year-old princess also stated that she did not expect her brother King Philippe to contact her. What she needs is only justice, not love.

Bol has the right to take his father's royal surname. She will be called Delphine of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha, the Belgian princess, her lawyer said. Her two children, Joséphine and Oscar, are also recognized as Belgian princes and princesses.

The lawyer said the client was very pleased to finally be treated like Albert's three other children, including the current King Philippe.

"She is very happy about this court decision. It has ended a long journey that has been particularly painful for her and her family. A legal victory never replaces a father's love but feels emotional. sense of fairness, further reinforces the fact that many children going through similar ordeals will find strength in the face of them," Bol's lawyers said.

In October 2020, Delphine Boel was officially granted the title Princess Delphine of Saxe-Cobourg of Belgium. However, they were not listed as heirs to the Belgian throne because they were born out of wedlock. Delphine was also not entitled to a share of the Royal estate. But King Albert had to pay a huge legal fee of 3.4 million euros because the lost son had been fighting the lawsuit for too long.

After 20 years of tension, the relationship between the two sides showed more signs of reconciliation when Princess Delphine visited her father's mansion for an official visit at the end of 2020. The Belgian royal family declared "it's time to forgive, Korean". mount and reconcile".