Delphine Boël, daughter of King Albert II

[AristoCat]

Originally Posted by 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...

IF she is on that list (I am sure there might be truth in this actually), then it could well be because she is coming across as dangerous. Thing is, that if Delphine has said nasty things about the King (Philippe) and she has indeed lashed out, it could be that she is considered dangerous to the health of the King/RF. As for Albert, I wonder why he hasn't spoken out.

I do think that Delphine is coming across as a little crazy. She doesn't want a relationship and does not want money? Meanwhile she's slandering various members of the RF in the past. So yes, I can see why they might view her as dangerous.

[Zonk]

Originally Posted by rominet09

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

In the US we call it, Statue of Limitations but it usually only applied to criminal cases and not civil cases such as paternity or inheritance.

I am not a lawyer but has anyone ever heard of such a statue being applicable to a paternity/inheritance case in the US?

And your English is great....each country has its own unique way, colloquial expressions, etc. and this is just another example.

[Roslyn]

Originally Posted by AristoCat

IF she is on that list (I am sure there might be truth in this actually), then it could well be because she is coming across as dangerous. Thing is, that if Delphine has said nasty things about the King (Philippe) and she has indeed lashed out, it could be that she is considered dangerous to the health of the King/RF. As for Albert, I wonder why he hasn't spoken out.

I do think that Delphine is coming across as a little crazy. She doesn't want a relationship and does not want money? Meanwhile she's slandering various members of the RF in the past. So yes, I can see why they might view her as dangerous.

She's considered dangerous to the health of the king? *snort* I'm sure Philippe and Albert and the rest of the family consider her a pest, but dangerous? Her constant presence reminding them of Albert's reprehensible behaviour - and I don't mean the affair, I mean the evasion and shirking of responsibility - might be giving them all headaches and heartburn and they might interpret this as "dangerous" to their health.

Throughout history people who have made pests of themselves by saying things the rulers didn't like and reminding them of things they wanted people to forget, have been labelled as dangerous and put on lists. A few centuries ago Delphine would probably have been burnt at the stake or simply disappeared in the night, but they can't do that today.

I don't consider that the fact she doesn't want a relationship and doesn't want money indicative of craziness, or indeed remotely surprising. I would be surprised, and disappointed, if she did. I believe that all she wants is it stated in black and white that Albert sired her.

[COUNTESS]

Zonk, there is no statute of limitations on discovering your father or mother in the states. Adopted people, whom I am not, but can sympathize with their conundrum have the right to find their birth parents. Now, those parents do not have to respond. I used to think, hey they have had these great people who raised them, and I have a cousin and a nephew who were adopted , but sometimes, they wish to know where and from whom did I come. Neither of my relatives felt this way, but other have that right to feel this way and it is correct. If Albert is so short sighted to accept that this happened (if it didn't DNA would have been performed, immediately and discounted her story), then say it was another time and it happened and I am sorry for causing pain to many.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Roslyn

She's considered dangerous to the health of the king? *snort* I'm sure Philippe and Albert and the rest of the family consider her a pest, but dangerous?

Well, in regards to that statement, mosquitoes are pests but can carry malaria.

Sorry folks, hadda do it.

[Al_bina]

Originally Posted by rominet09

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

Thanks for the clarifications!
King Albert's legal team will surely make the things more difficult for Ms Boel.

[nascarlucy]

If Delphine Boel is on such a list, someone considers her to be a threat. A threat isn't always someone who is dangerous or someone who has made threats. Sometimes this is done to discredit the other person or others feel threatened because of what the person is advocating or wants done (this would be case of Delphine Boel who wants to be recognized as the King's daughter).

I find this story to be very interesting and fascinating and have to a certain degree followed it.

[COUNTESS]

I find it nauseating. If he is her father all this other nonsense id just that. I used to think he was quite a decent man. That when he and Paola had difficulties he did something less admirable, is hardly a big deal, today. What is less admirable is not taking responsibility and having a law that forbids a person from fining out what their lineage is. So, adopted children should have a time line for discovering their parents. I am not adopted, so I don't know how those who are would feel. I used to feel that if you were loved by your adoptive parents, then the rest was moot. Then I realized, that who was I to decide for them. I don't know how it feels. And those here who condemn Delphine have no idea how she feels. But worse, is that Albert doesn't care. It could have been done in private.

[Sebastiana]

A little more information about the statute of limitations she is running up against is here: Delphine Boël ne gagnera sans doute pas face à Albert II, voici pourquoi - RTL people

The law says the action to contest paternity must be initiated when the child is between the ages of 12 and 22, or within the year when the child learns that the husband (previously supposed father, I guess) is not his/her father. As Delphine was evidently told in her teens that Boel wasn't her father, a strict reading of the code would bar her claim. However her lawyers are expected to argue she didn't really know until the DNA test that he wasn't her father.

[Charlotte_Aster]

Originally Posted by Sebastiana

A little more information about the statute of limitations she is running up against is here: Delphine Boël ne gagnera sans doute pas face à Albert II, voici pourquoi - RTL people

The law says the action to contest paternity must be initiated when the child is between the ages of 12 and 22, or within the year when the child learns that the husband (previously supposed father, I guess) is not his/her father. As Delphine was evidently told in her teens that Boel wasn't her father, a strict reading of the code would bar her claim. However her lawyers are expected to argue she didn't really know until the DNA test that he wasn't her father.

Not to sound paranoid and all, but when was this law passed? It almost sounds custom-made for this case.

[maria-olivia]

This thread turns sadly to a very bad and untrue novel....

No Belgian Members are posting posts...

The Judges of the Court are honest and will decide , I think they cannot do it to day 2nd October , but next months.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

Not to sound paranoid and all, but when was this law passed? It almost sounds custom-made for this case.

The Act is in the Civic Code, Art. 312 etc.

The Civic Code has been implemented on March 21st 1804. The chapters concerning recognition of children born inside and outside a marriage, parental rights of married and non-married parents, adoptive parents, same-sex parents have continuously been updated to follow new developments in society (same sex marriages, for an example) and to harmonize with EU-legislation.

[leidi]

I wonder if there are data on the exact amount of the fortune of King Albert II and how much Delphine could be getting if she finally gets the DNA test and is legally recognized.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by leidi

I wonder if there are data on the exact amount of the fortune of King Albert II and how much Delphine could be getting if she finally gets the DNA test and is legally recognized.

Even with the DNA proof, would Albert still have to formally recognize her as his daughter in order to inherit or would the DNA do that for him?

[Ish]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Even with the DNA proof, would Albert still have to formally recognize her as his daughter in order to inherit or would the DNA do that for him?

I would think the courts would force him to recognize her if DNA proved she was his daughter. This is probably in no small way part of why he's refusing to provide DNA. As it stands now he can claim she's not his daughter, if DNA were to say otherwise he can't.

[AristoCat]

What would legal recognition get her though?

She claims she does not want a relationship
She claims she does not want money
She claims she does not want a title

So what is it that is driving her to this demand for court enforced recognition?

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by AristoCat

So what is it that is driving her to this demand for court enforced recognition?

Perhaps she is driven by the desire to be legally recognized as the daughter of King Albert II and Sybille de Sélys Longchamps.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Perhaps she is driven by the desire to be legally recognized as the daughter of King Albert II and Sybille de Sélys Longchamps.

The more I think about, the more this makes sense to me. Perhaps just being recognized legally by the court and/or Albert puts it on record and in future generations, the descendants can come on to TRF and have proof that they are biological descendants of King Albert II. One just has to take a good look in the various threads here on genealogy threads to see the importance of heritage to some people.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by leidi

I wonder if there are data on the exact amount of the fortune of King Albert II and how much Delphine could be getting if she finally gets the DNA test and is legally recognized.

The personal fortune of King Albert II is estimated on around 12 million Euro (around 15,2 million US Dollar). There are articles claiming that King Albert must be milliardaire, pointing to the fabulous wealth of King Leopold II, who had Belgian Congo as his private fortune.

This King however was so estranged with his family, that he gave the bulk of his estate to the Belgian State (the so-called "Donation Royale") which is an autonomous entity administering the many possessions. King Leopold II made a few conditions: some of the domains never can be sold, some of the properties must remain at the disposal of the royal family, etc.

This makes that the members of the Belgian royal family can still live in splendid castles but these are not privately owned and can not be attributed to their private fortune. When they were so dazzling rich, would Prince Laurent then need the "help" of the Navy to decorate his villa? When they were so dazzling rich, would the late Princess Lilian then feel enforced to sell so many treasures?

Regarding possible wealth, we have to keep in mind that when King Leopold III died he left a widow and six legal children:
- Lilian (the widow)
- Joséphine-Charlotte
- Baudouin
- Albert
- Alexander
- Marie-Christine
- Marie-Esméralda

Belgian law says that all children have the right on an equal part of the estate and that the surviving spouse (here Lilian) holds the usufruct of the estate. That means that if King Leopold III was a wealthy man, his fortune is now fragmented between his children.

When Delphine Boël is declared a natural daughter and able to inherit from her natural father (Delphine still has a legal father, Jonkheer Jacques Boël) then King Albert's inheritance will be divided by his surviving spouse and his four legal children:
- Paola (the widow)
- Philippe
- Marie-Astrid
- Laurent
- Delphine

You will understand that after such fragmentation and after taxes, relatively little will be left for Delphine to inherit. She is the legal daughter of Jonkheer Jacques Boël. The family Boël is in the top 10 of Belgium's wealthiest families. So had Delphine not made the relationship with her father (a man who shuns publicity and wants discretion) impossible, she would have inherited an amazing fortune. It seems that Jonkheer Boël has done everthing to prevent his daughter to inherit from him (by removing assets into the ownership of legal entities like trusts, foundations and funds).

[SElizabeth]

Originally Posted by AristoCat

What would legal recognition get her though?

She claims she does not want a relationship
She claims she does not want money
She claims she does not want a title

So what is it that is driving her to this demand for court enforced recognition?

I would think that any sane person wants to know where they came from , there are many reason for wanting to know such as all of us get a lot of our medical questions answered through our parents, that alone is enough to want to know whom our parents are. I would think it is sad and a very lonely thinking that you belonged to know one on this earth and didn't have anyplace to call home or know whom your relatives are.