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BelgiumEuropean Royals

Delphine Boël “relieved” after King Albert’s decision to take DNA-test

Delphine Boël was “relieved” after her supposed father, the former King Albert II of the Belgians, decided to finally take a DNA-test in her paternity case.

Her lawyer Marc Uyttendaeletegenover told RTBF, “She was relieved, but she was also relieved after the verdict from the Court of Appeals. She could not imagine that King Albert would not respect a judicial ruling.” However, he added that the process had taken a very long and said, “my client is obviously suffering.”

King Albert decided to take the DNA-test on 28 May after facing a 5,000 euro a day penalty for refusing to take the DNA-test. He likely took the test that very same morning. However, the results will remain a secret until there is a verdict on the appeal the King made to the Court of Cassation. Late last year the Court of Appeals in Brussels ordered King Albert to undergo a DNA-test in order to determine if he is the father of Delphine Boël. The King then decided to take his case to the Court of Cassation, the main court of last resort in Belgium. This appeal is still open.

Delphine was born in 1968 as the daughter of Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps and was officially recognised by her mother’s husband Jonkheer Jacques Boël (of which the English equivalent would be Esquire). The King made a reference to a crisis ‘thirty years ago’ in the 1999 Christmas speech but has otherwise remained silent on the subject. Delphine Boël has always claimed that it was not about any inheritance, as her legal father is much richer than the King.

In 2013, Delphine summoned King Albert and two of his children, the Duke of Brabant, now King Philippe and Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este to court in hopes of obtaining DNA for testing purposes. The King enjoyed immunity at the time, but his abdication in July 2013 opened the way for a new procedure. The former King of the Belgians was part of a great deal of Delphine’s childhood but has wanted nothing to do with her for the past 20 years. He has also refused to appear in court.