Delphine Boël, daughter of King Albert II

[ACO]

Originally Posted by xenobia

King Albert admits that Delphine is his daughter:

https://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/be...ughter-136880/

This man is a pathetic waste of space. Truly.

[Lee-Z]

Well, this for me is the biggest surprise of the year... (and yes, i dare to say that even though the year is barely a month old)

Glad for Ms. Boël and her family that it is out in the open now..

[suztav]

Originally Posted by ACO

This man is a pathetic waste of space. Truly.

Wow! I never expected this!

[An Ard Ri]

And all the time Albert II spent fighting Delphine,what a waste of time and money.

I for one am glad for Delphine and her family.

[Blog Real]

Finally! Better late than never. They will probably never have a father-daughter relationship, but they can still get closer.
King Albert is from another generation, where these things were hidden. But now times are different.

[Moonmaiden23]

Now that Delphone has formal and public recognition that Albert is indeed her father, now what?

The man who raised her has disinherited her. Her biological father the king and his family want nothing to do with her. Her children will never have a happy family relationship with cousins on either side.

Talk about a Pyrrhic victory. But she has want I assume she wanted...vindication.

[Pranter]

All these years spent in denial and protest ....what was the point?


LaRae

[*Mara*]

Good for Delphine!
Though if you read the press statement of Albert's lawyers it's painfully clear, that Albert still handles all of this in the most pathetic way possible. Instead of saying sorry or showing any sign of regret or compassion he portrays himself as victim. He says he wasn't involved in her upbringing at all and basically still considers Jaques Boel as her father. Guess his 2 grandchildren will never meet him in person. Another missed opportunity to end this in a decent manner and admit his mistake.

[tausi]

I am happy for Delphine and her mother, especially because the battle ended while the King Albert is still alive. I am assuming there is some closure she was seeking and she does have that now.

Sad her other father disinherited her. I hope King Philippe and Other siblings will reach out to her and form some sort of family relationship. Even if it is a distant one.

What a painful experience to be rejected by your own father for years!!!

[Tatiana Maria]

Just as a clarification: King Albert II has simply released an informal statement acknowledging that Mrs. Delphine Boël is his biological daughter. As noted in some of the articles (see Marengo's post: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ml#post2288648), Delphine has not (yet) become the legal daughter of Albert. That will still require Mrs. Boël to seek a determination from a court.

Having said that, the unofficial but public vindication may be even important in a personal sense than the legal outcome.

[Pranter]

I don't even know that the legal part even matters unless you are talking possibility of inheriting something. Not sure that's even possible anyway.


LaRae

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

Just as a clarification: King Albert II has simply released an informal statement acknowledging that Mrs. Delphine Boël is his biological daughter. As noted in some of the articles (see Marengo's post: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ml#post2288648), Delphine has not (yet) become the legal daughter of Albert. That will still require Mrs. Boël to seek a determination from a court.

Having said that, the unofficial but public vindication may be even important in a personal sense than the legal outcome.

So what will happen when she (eventually) becomes Albert's legal daughter ? I mean, in terms of inheritance rights, titles or succession rights ?

[leidi]

Originally Posted by *Mara*

Good for Delphine!
Though if you read the press statement of Albert's lawyers it's painfully clear, that Albert still handles all of this in the most pathetic way possible. Instead of saying sorry or showing any sign of regret or compassion he portrays himself as victim. He says he wasn't involved in her upbringing at all and basically still considers Jaques Boel as her father. Guess his 2 grandchildren will never meet him in person. Another missed opportunity to end this in a decent manner and admit his mistake.

THIS.
He admits "siring" her but said he didn't have to do anything with her when we all know he was living with Sybille and Delphine for a while
But what were we expecting? He was a terrible father for his "legitimate" children, of course he was going to be a terrible person here.

[SLV]

I had not expected an outcome in Alberts lifetime. So what news!!!

[Lady Daly]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well well, that is a surprising turn of events! It seems the King had no other option but to tell the truth, after so many years of lies. A great pity he could not have done this years ago while there was still a possibility to have some sort of relationship with his daughter and to conclude this matter on a more harmonious note.

A great vindication for Mrs. Boël and her mother. Her crusade for recognition that has lasted for years and years and went against great odds. Congratulations to her.

https://www.hln.be/nieuws/binnenland...boel~a82c70ae/

https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20200127_04823306

https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...dn?id=10418022

https://www.rtl.be/info/belgique/fam...e-1191687.aspx

Great articles, thank you Marengo. I was especially fascinated by the resemblance between Queen Astrid and Delphine https://images4.persgroep.net/rcs/XL...b2&quality=0.8

[Mbruno]

I have a question for the French speakers and legal experts here. The royal decree of November 12, 2015 on titles and styles of the Belgian royal family says:

Art. 2. Dans les actes publics et privés qui les concernent, les Princes et les Princesses, enfants et petits-enfants, issus de la descendance directe de Sa Majesté le Roi Albert II portent le titre de Prince ou de Princesse de Belgique à la suite de leur prénom et, pour autant qu'ils les portent, de leur nom de famille et de leur titre dynastique et avant les autres titres qui leur reviennent de droit par leur ascendance. Leur prénom est précédé par le prédicat Son Altesse Royale.

Does the expression "issus de la descendance directe", which in this context, I believe, means "born of the direct descent" , imply that Art. 2 applies to legitimate children only ? Or could Delphine have a claim based on Art.2 to the title of Princess of Belgium ?


The article from De Staandard linked by Marengo seems to be unsure about the issue of titles for Delphine.

De beslissing van koning Albert II kan verstrekkende gevolgen hebben. Als officieel kind kan Boël immers aanspraak maken op een deel van zijn erfenis. Of ze ook de titel van prinses kan claimen, is niet duidelijk. Het hangt af van de wijze waarop een Koninklijk Besluit uit 2015 wordt geïnterpreteerd, waarin staat wie de titels van prins en prinses mogen dragen. Boël en haar advocaten hebben echter steeds volgehouden dat het haar noch om de centen noch om de titel te doen is.

[Somebody]

Finally. It was about time. But as some others said, it is still formulated as if the king grants a favor to his daughter... which it clearly isn't - and he hasn't acted 'in good faith' until today. She is not the one who asked to be born; it were the father (the king) and her mother (his mistress) who are the ones that made this happen and both of them should have taken responsibility from the start (and not just one).

Interestingly, it was also immediately stated that Delphine will - as one of his four children - receive an equal part of his inheritance. Albert will no longer fight against her being recognized as his legal daughter either.

I wonder who convinced him of this move.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

So what will happen when she (eventually) becomes Albert's legal daughter ? I mean, in terms of inheritance rights, titles or succession rights ?

It seems to be common ground that if Delphine eventually becomes a legal daughter of Albert, she would acquire the right to inherit part of his fortune and take his name.

https://www.lalibre.be/economie/conj...70fdc91b68f626
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/w...paternity.html

Originally Posted by Mbruno

Does the expression "issus de la descendance directe", which in this context, I believe, means "born of the direct descent" , imply that Art. 2 applies to legitimate children only ? Or could Delphine have a claim based on Art.2 to the title of Princess of Belgium ?

I will respond to this later in the Belgian titles thread.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well well, that is a surprising turn of events! It seems the King had no other option but to tell the truth, after so many years of lies. A great pity he could not have done this years ago while there was still a possibility to have some sort of relationship with his daughter and to conclude this matter on a more harmonious note.

A great vindication for Mrs. Boël and her mother. Her crusade for recognition that has lasted for years and years and went against great odds. Congratulations to her.

https://www.hln.be/nieuws/binnenland...boel~a82c70ae/

https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20200127_04823306

https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...dn?id=10418022

https://www.rtl.be/info/belgique/fam...e-1191687.aspx

Finally!!Now,that didn´t hurt now did it Albert?

[An Ard Ri]

Isn't Delphine also known as Jonkvrouw Boël,perhaps thats the only title she will ever want after the constant pointless battles of her biological father.