Belgium’s former king Albert II had a love child. She is his daughter Delphine Boël who has now got the title of Princess Delphine after she won the battle against him.

Delphine has not met her half-brother – the present King Philippe last Friday 16 October 2020. This is her first meeting with him, according to Belgian officials.

Belgium gets a new Princess-Princess Delphine

The country of Belgium got a new Princess recently. She is Delphine Boël who acquired the royal title now. It was a long wait for the new Princess as she was engaged in a legal battle lasting seven years.

She had contested in court that she was the love child of former King of Belgium, Albert II. The trial meant that Albert II had to submit a DNA test to disapprove or confirm his paternity. But he was refusing to give the paternity test.

But the test result came positive. It was proven beyond any doubt that Albert II, 86 was indeed the father of the child, Delphine. Later, he admitted that he had fathered the child during his extramarital affair with Delphine’s mother in the late 1960s. Albert II abdicated the throne of Belgium in 2013 due to his poor health.

The new Princess meets her half-brother

And last Friday on 16 October 2020, Princess Delphine met her half-brother, present King Philippe.  The meeting happened at the Palace of Laeken which is the official residence of the royal family. It was a warm encounter.

The two released a joint statement that stated that they had a long and rich discussion. It added that it was an opportunity for them both to know each other. The statement continued:

“We talked about our respective lives and areas of shared interest,”

“This bond will further develop within the family setting.”

The two siblings also posed for photos alongside each other. It was a historical moment for the Belgian royal family. The icy relations have now been thawed after it was confirmed that Delphine does belong to the royal household.

About Delphine and her work and life

Princess Delphine is an artist and sculptor. She has now changed her name from Delphine Boel to Delphine of Saxe Coburg. Thus she will be in line with her royal siblings. The news of confirmation that she was the child of the royal household brought her a sense of relief but with a lot of emotions. She said that she also had great pain due to the lack of a father in her life.

Her mother was Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps. A 1999 biography of Albert II’s wife, Queen Paola has a reference to Delphine’s mother and Albert’s extramarital affair with her. Thus, rumors of the alleged cheating of Albert II were doing rounds long before the legal battle began.

In 1999, during Christmas, in his address to the nation, Albert referred to this extramarital affair indirectly.

He had said that he and Queen Paola had gone through a crisis in their relationship in the late 1960s. He had added that it had almost crumbled their marriage.

But he assured people that the matter was sold and they have overcome their marital problems. Delphine had not until now contacted her father of half-siblings. She had said that she has low expectations of doing so. Last week, she said:

“If suddenly they showed signs of life, I would never turn my back to them.”

Also, read Princess Elisabeth of Belgium starts her military training at Belgium’s Royal Military Academy!