Delphine Boël, daughter of King Albert II

[Roslyn]

Note that there are more cases where the natural father does not acknowledge his/her child. The Duke of Parma has fathered a child with a friend (a much older lady). When the child -Carlos jr.- was born, the secretariate of (then) Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme stated that "the choice of having a child was the mother's own and independent decision. There will be no any legal band with the child". A quite cryptic communiqué. The son, Carlos jr., is not acknowledged by the natural father but -like Delphine- grows up in well-to-do circumstances (his mother is a stepdaughter of the Count van Rechteren-Limpurg) and like Delphine with her alleged father, there were contacts -holidays even with the De Bourbon de Parmes and with the Orange-Nassaus.

C'est la vie.

There's acknowledging, and there's acknowledging. From this description it sounds to me that Prince Carlos has impliedly acknowledged the child. The difference with Albert is that he has not in any way publicly acknowledged the connection.

And I reject Carlos' statement that the choice of having a child was the mother's own and independent decision. Surely as a good Catholic he is not saying she should have had a termination! Once Carlos made the decision to stick his you-know-what* where it had no business being, he was just as responsible for the not unusual consequences of that decision. He's still the father, regardless of any legal bond.

(*Thank you, PetticoatLane.)

 

[SElizabeth]

I am amazed every time I come to this thread to see people basically say, 'her former step-father had lots of money, so what's she complaining about?'

This woman wants to know, finally and definitively, who she is. That's really what she's asking for. Had she only wanted money, she would've clung on for dear life to her former father figure who, it appears, has far more money than Albert does.

The lack of understanding towards this woman just stuns me. We see time and time again, adopted children who have wonderful and loving adoptive parents who still feel the need to know who their birth parents are. Delphine seems not to have had much of a relationship at all with her step-father since she was a very young child, so I really don't blame her for wanting the know once and for all who her father really is.

There appears to be something in the complicated human psyche that seems to need to know where we came from. Maybe Delphine's motives aren't entirely pure and maybe she's not going about this in the best way, but she seems to have had little option left but to go down the road she's taken.

Albert's actions in all this have been totally reprehensible. He was man enough to stick his you-know-what where it had no business being so he should be man enough to face up to the consequences.

Oh my goodness, you certainly do tell it like it is and your comment is *wonderful and full of the darn truth*, it is just sad that so many think KA must walk on water or something like that........lololololo, after all he is what........just a man and nothing more..........and yes I know there are some very good men in this world and KA sure isn't one of them.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

There's acknowledging, and there's acknowledging. From this description it sounds to me that Prince Carlos has impliedly acknowledged the child. The difference with Albert is that he has not in any way publicly acknowledged the connection.

And I reject Carlos' statement that the choice of having a child was the mother's own and independent decision. Surely as a good Catholic he is not saying she should have had a termination! Once Carlos made the decision to stick his you-know-what* where it had no business being, he was just as responsible for the not unusual consequences of that decision. He's still the father, regardless of any legal bond.

(*Thank you, PetticoatLane.)

The cryptic description and the age difference (12 years) between Prince Carlos and his apparently longtime friend (no girlfriend it seemed and the couple never co-habited) led to speculation here and there it might have been IVF with Prince Carlos as donor. We simply do not know. Apparently the mother had no relationship outside the what-was-it with her good friend Prince Carlos and apparently never married someone else. The non-recognition means that there are no legal bands between father and son, that the field "father" on the birth certificate is left empty and that the son bears the surname of the mother. Carlos jr. is now 17 years old.

 

[Roslyn]

The cryptic description and the age difference (12 years) between Prince Carlos and his apparently longtime friend (no girlfriend it seemed and the couple never co-habited) led to speculation here and there it might have been IVF with Prince Carlos as donor. We simply do not know. Apparently the mother had no relationship outside the what-was-it with her good friend Prince Carlos and apparently never married someone else. The non-recognition means that there are no legal bands between father and son, that the field "father" on the birth certificate is left empty and that the son bears the surname of the mother. Carlos jr. is now 17 years old.

OK. Well it seems that this is a totally different set of circumstances with totally different considerations, nothing like Albert's case.

 

[GracieGiraffe]

There are indeed many sides, or points of view, involved and we are all drawn to some more than others. I find myself unable to be very concerned about Paola's pride, dignity and reputation in the circumstances. She was also having affairs so by taking the stand she has she comes across as a hypocrite to me. Her insistence on her husband continuing to deny the product of his affair doesn't enhance her dignity or reputation, in my opinion; it diminishes it. I would have a far higher opinion of her if she allowed her husband to do what I consider to be the honourable thing and accept responsibility for his actions and submit to a DNA test rather than hiding behind his wife's skirts and the legal protections afforded by his royal status.

Yep, Paola was just as unfaithful... in fact there are many who believe Albert did only father three children, and they are not necessarily the children listed on the court website. I wonder how much that plays into Albert and Paola's attitude toward Delphine at this point?

 

[Roslyn]

Yep, Paola was just as unfaithful... in fact there are many who believe Albert did only father three children, and they are not necessarily the children listed on the court website. I wonder how much that plays into Albert and Paola's attitude toward Delphine at this point?

Oooh! *rubs hands together* The plot thickens!

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

The late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands only publicly recognized his two extramarital daughters in an interview published very shortly after his death. The Prince made sure that Alicia de Bielefeld and Alexia Lejeune-Grinda would equally share in his inheritance.

With Alexia Lejeune-Grinda there are similar circumstances as with Delphine. Not only do both share the same age, also she was legally recognized by another father, in this case the Baron Stanislas Lejeune. Like King Albert II the Prince did not confirm or deny the existence of a possible extramarital daughter. Both his daughters seem to have received periodical financial dotations from Prince Bernhard. It is generally assumed (but not proven) that Prince Bernhard -married with a very wealthy wife- was open for money offered by Lockheed because he had to find ways to pay for his two daughters and their mothers without the knowledge of Queen Juliana.

It seemed expecially Alexia was a regular guest at Soestdijk Palace. As said, only after his death Prince Bernhard publicly acknowledged his daughters. Both Alicia and Alexia have received their share of Prince Bernhard's inheritance. There are no contacts with their half-sisters Princess Beatrix, Princess Irene, Princess Margriet and Princess Christina. Apparently both Alicia and Alexia felt no need for public-fought battles or recognitions. They knew Prince Bernhard was their father and that was it.

 

[Marengo]

Prince Bernhard however stayed in touch with his daughters, as was mentioned by Alicia de Bielefeld. Albert did not.

 

[Lee-Z]

Prince Bernhard however stayed in touch with his daughters, as was mentioned by Alicia de Bielefeld. Albert did not.

Indeed, P.Bernhard did not feel the need to seek the publicity with his daughters (until he died), but did keep in touch with them throughout his life.
Alexia and Alicia visited the palace (Soestdijk) and the holiday-home (in Porto Ercole) to meet with Bernhard and also met Q.Juliana (!)

This is exactly what K.Albert does not do with Delphine, and imo had he kept in touch privately, there would have been no courtcase now

Anyone who thinks Delphine's situation is comparable to Alicia/Alexia is precisely missing the point...

 

[Princess Xenia]

Just as many do not have empathy for Sybille de Sélys Longchamps and Delphine Boël in this situation, so do many also not have empathy for "poor" Queen Paola, who wishes to keep intact her pride, dignity and reputation. Very Christian virtues and ones which she must have temporarily forgotten when she too was engaging in extramarital affairs during the difficult period in her union with her husband. There are obviously many sides to this story.

I never wrote that I don't have empathy for Queen Paola,Her Majesty has my utmost respect and admiration, she like all women has the right to keep her pride and dignity , but this situation has long been out of control and very publicised, it didn't need to turn out this way. Maybe, maybe if as I have read , she wasn't so strongly refusing to acknowledge Delphine, things would have been better for both sides and her children and husband would not have been summoned to court.

There are many illegitimate children around the world whose fathers won't acknowledge them, the children don't accept it , but at the very least get along with it. This is a different one. And apparently Delphine won't stop trying until she gets what she wants.

In the past I was on Albert's side, but now I am neutral, both parties are making bad moves that won't have any benefit for each of them at all IMO.

 

[Benjamin]

The comment was a general one and not directed to anyone in particular.

 

[AristoCat]

I never wrote that I don't have empathy for Queen Paola,Her Majesty has my utmost respect and admiration, she like all women has the right to keep her pride and dignity , but this situation has long been out of control and very publicised, it didn't need to turn out this way. Maybe, maybe if as I have read , she wasn't so strongly refusing to acknowledge Delphine, things would have been better for both sides and her children and husband would not have been summoned to court.

There are many illegitimate children around the world whose fathers won't acknowledge them, the children don't accept it , but at the very least get along with it. This is a different one. And apparently Delphine won't stop trying until she gets what she wants.

In the past I was on Albert's side, but now I am neutral, both parties are making bad moves that won't have any benefit for each of them at all IMO.

What does Delphine want, that is what I want to know.

 

[COUNTESS]

Recognition. To believed by the whole world, because it is a true fact, that she is Albert's daughter. There is little else she could get or want.

 

[Grandma828]

There is an interesting article in our local paper this week. It said that there area lot of "children" with a hunger in their hearts. All they want is to be blessed by their fathers. I think that is what is going on here.

 

[GracieGiraffe]

Recognition. To believed by the whole world, because it is a true fact, that she is Albert's daughter. There is little else she could get or want.

Exactly. Why this is so hard to understand is beyond me.

 

[Osipi]

While I do believe each and every person has the right to question and want to know their heritage and their parentage, there are also many out there that are not overly particular about finding out. I am one of them. I was given up for adoption and was adopted by wonderful people at 3 weeks old. I've always known I was adopted and I've never felt the need to seek out my biological heritage.

Perhaps with Delphine it is the difference between having one father figure that has always been there for her and having two men, one legal and one biological, that were quite sporadic in her life. Perhaps she is seeking a sense of "belonging" to someone psychologically instead of knowing there are two men out there that basically don't give a rat's tooth about her. I would imagine that would hurt.

I really can't comprehend why Albert just can't come out and state that yes, she's his biological daughter from a past indiscretion. Its not like its a big, dark secret that is only whispered about behind fluttering fans. Give her the recognition that she is seeking and in my opinion, deserves.

 

[AristoCat]

I dunno; her legal father raised her and treated her well, never stinting on anything she would want or need and to me that isn't a bad life. Before Boel disowned her (for so publicly repudiating him as a father) she was going to inherit almost billions.

 

[PetticoatLane]

I dunno; her legal father raised her and treated her well, never stinting on anything she would want or need and to me that isn't a bad life. Before Boel disowned her (for so publicly repudiating him as a father) she was going to inherit almost billions.

What's your source for this claim exactly? Others in this thread have stated pretty much the opposite; that Delphine had little relationship with her step-father after he split from her mother when she was still very young.

Even if Mr Boël had been the world's greatest father, what difference does it make? People with wonderful adoptive parents choose to seek out their birth parents all the time, not because there was anything lacking in those new parents, but because something inside them feels the need to know who they are and where they come from. Is that really so difficult to understand?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Prince Bernhard however stayed in touch with his daughters, as was mentioned by Alicia de Bielefeld. Albert did not.

You your self wrote in this thread that the alleged father, the (then) Prince de Liège, stayed in touch with Delphine, there seems to photos around to prove this, etc.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Recognition. To believed by the whole world, because it is a true fact, that she is Albert's daughter. There is little else she could get or want.

So she has no hunger to know who her father his, she is convinced that this is Albert. She want to be believed by the whole world. These are two different things. The "right" to know (there is no such 'right'). She knows who her father is. At least that is her firm belief. But apparently she wants to scream to the whole world that Albert was her father. He was not. It is Jonkheer Jacques Boël who is her father -for law-. He and Mr Michael-Anthony Rathmore-Cayzer were the two men who looked after her in real life. Their contributions to her upbringing are totally shoven aside, trampled and "forgotten" in her zelotic zest to prove that once her mother engaged into an affair with then Prince Albert.



What a grateful (legal) daughter. What a grateful stepdaughter.

 

[Osipi]

I can understand where you are coming from here. As a matter of legality, when my parents adopted me, I became legally their daughter and took the name they gave me. Any biological parentage, should it had ever come up, while I was growing up, would never hold any water in a court of law. I may carry their DNA and even exhibited similar physical similarities but that would have been the end of it. They would have no claim on me nor I on them.

Being married to Mr. Boel at the time of birth, Delphine is his legal child. All I can see Delphine trying to do is prove that at the time of conception, it was Albert's little swimmer that won the race to the egg and conquered. He may well be her biological father but from the sounds of what I've been reading, none of the men in her life have really been a Dad and a constant father figure for her. I would imagine also that had Albert been a chimney sweep or a factory worker, she wouldn't be going through all this trouble. Whatever her motives are, I think it is quite late in the game to be trying to force this issue. Other than perhaps proving with DNA and that he did father her would give her some inheritance, I can only feel that she's just causing a lot of stress for herself and for all of the people involved in this.

It is her prerogative I guess to do as she feels is right but I really don't see any thing positive coming out of this.

 

[SElizabeth]

Recognition. To believed by the whole world, because it is a true fact, that she is Albert's daughter. There is little else she could get or want.

Absolutely correct on this and I also don't get why some can't figure this out........and yes there is a *Human Right* to know whom your parents are, it doesn't have to be the law or written anywhere, it is just a *human right* to know, you use this infor for medical reasons alone is enough to know where you came from. I was tossed away by my mother when I was a 3 years old and won't go there before that so all my life I wondered why and what did I do to make her do that.......it wasn't me as I later learned in therapy, it was her and her actions and she took it out on me, *D* I think is coming from a place in life where she needs to know she belongs somewhere on this earth and to whom, good grief, that is so important in a person's physic to belong somewhere to belong to someone I would think that all would understand that. For those of us that this has happened to, we all have a different physic to fill and needs to know..........I would not wish this on anyone, the pain of abandonment at any age makes for a very angry child/adult and they need that recognition and acknowledgement to move on. This all comes from having been there.

 

[nascarlucy]

Everyone wants love and acceptance from their parents. Sometimes you get the love and acceptance and other times you don't. I would suspect if Delphine had a good relationship with her legal father or step-father she probably wouldn't be pursing this as vigorously as she has, perhaps not at all in a public way.

If you had a good relationship with a legal or step-father why would you want to jeopardize that relationship which you would be by going to court to prove another man is you're biological father. I know I personally wouldn't and if I were going to do anything about it, would wait until they had passed and then really think about it.

I know when I expressed an interest in meeting my biological parents, I was cautioned by several family members to be careful as I really didn't know what I would find. They were concerned about me being hurt if rejected. I know that if my biological parents had rejected me, I wouldn't have taken it very well.

Turns out my biological parents found me but then didn't know what to do with me. so they distanced themselves from me. Maybe I wasn't what they expected or hoped that I would be. I don't know.

It's one thing to know that there is a child out there or possible child out there, even if you know who the child is. When you meet the child or see the child in public, now the child has a name, an identity. It's no longer abstract but real. Some people would rather see these children in the shadows or hidden from view.

I would imagine in the cases of children conceived through adultery, this is more so.

In the end she may get what she wanted (legal recognition as the daughter of Albert) but she will never get love, attention or affection from him or anyone else in the family.

 

[SElizabeth]

Yes, I so agree with you, it's always best to know where you come from even if is bad news or not what you expected. And in knowing then the questions are answered and then the healing process begins. Nobody has to like the family nor want to be like the family they were born into, yet we all have a right to make that decision when the time comes for those of us that don't know our parents nor are acknowledge by our parents.

 

[rominet09]

The papers state here that she will lose because there will be prescription. There are deadlines fixed by the laws to claim and she didn't do it on time.
Let me stress again that in Belgium you cannot fully dishinerit your child, you can leave the minimum only but you must leave it. It is the law. If her action fails she will remain M. Boël daughter and will inherit, him willing or not !

 

[AristoCat]

Her relationship with Boel must have been at least congenial since she lived a more than comfortable life and I admit I am against Delphine. I do wonder, what if she got the DNA test and it was announced that Albert was in fact, NOT her biological father? It would be a massive amount of humiliation and leave her up a creek. She will inherit, but not as much as she would have if in fact she hadn't been disinherited from what would be the bulk of a massive inheritance.

 

[Al_bina]

The papers state here that she will lose because there will be prescription. There are deadlines fixed by the laws to claim and she didn't do it on time.
Let me stress again that in Belgium you cannot fully dishinerit your child, you can leave the minimum only but you must leave it. It is the law. If her action fails she will remain M. Boël daughter and will inherit, him willing or not !

my bolding
What does "prescription" mean in this context? Who will authorise the prescription?

 

[Lee-Z]

http://1.standaardcdn.be/Assets/Images_Upload/2013/06/24/81af2eee-dd04-11e2-a515-ff3c49fa3059_web_scale_0.2640845_0.2640845__.jpg?maxheight=416&maxwidth=568&format=jpg

Delphine's mother; just to share the photo in the discussion, Delphine might look like some of the BRF, but she resembles her mother too..

 

[Lee-Z]

Delphine Boel: Ik probeer probleem op te lossen | RTL Nieuws

Article from tv station rtl on Delphine's reason for the trial. She says she doesn't want a father-daughter relationship, mentions that her age she doesn't need a father anymore, but the situation is causing her problems because it turns out she is on a list of "Staatsgevaarlijke personen" (subversive persons, dangerous to the state).
As she puts it: why would i be on that list, unless i'm his daughter...

 

[rominet09]

my bolding
What does "prescription" mean in this context? Who will authorise the prescription?

Sorry for my bad English ! It is in the Law that you have to introduce the complain within a certain time after you have known. So Albert's lawyer will only have to state that law and make the judges notice that she has known for years before going to justice. I hope I am clear here it is difficult