Princess Delphine & Family, News & Events 2; 2023 -

[Adda]

Recently, Delphine's children, Joséphine and Oscar, have taken steps to change their names. They now bear the surname of the Belgian royal family attached to their paternal surname, namely "O'Hare of Saxe-Coburg".

Les enfants de la princesse Delphine portent dorénavant le nom de la famille royale

Les enfants de la princesse Delphine sont obtiennent le nom de la famille royale belge : Josephine et Oscar O'Hare de Saxe-Cobourg

histoiresroyales.fr

 

[princess gertrude]

People will tire of her and I used to have sympathy for her in the past ,
Sadly enough is enough!

I agree. At first I had sympathy too. Now, this is all a "power grab" of some sort, just to make her look relevant. Just needs to stop.

 

[lookupdown]

Recently, Delphine's children, Joséphine and Oscar, have taken steps to change their names. They now bear the surname of the Belgian royal family attached to their paternal surname, namely "O'Hare of Saxe-Coburg".

Les enfants de la princesse Delphine portent dorénavant le nom de la famille royale

Les enfants de la princesse Delphine sont obtiennent le nom de la famille royale belge : Josephine et Oscar O'Hare de Saxe-Cobourg

histoiresroyales.fr

I wonder if she purposely gave her children the first names of her Swedish royal ancestors. Or are they popular names in Belgium?

 

[An Ard Ri]

I agree. At first I had sympathy too. Now, this is all a "power grab" of some sort, just to make her look relevant. Just needs to stop.

She comes across as someone who craves attention and it possibly has root causes elsewhere,but taking your family grievances to social media is tacky and Delphine should know better.

 

[Adda]

I wonder if she purposely gave her children the first names of her Swedish royal ancestors. Or are they popular names in Belgium?

Oscar is currently a very popular name, but Oscar O'Hare is already 16 years old. Considering Delphine used to tell Albert time and time again how she and her daughter resemble Queen Astrid, I don't doubt she purposely named them after their relatives.

Anyway, I don't know Josephine's full name, but Oscar's full name is Oscar John Patrick Tobias Léopold Michel.

 

[Hannelore]

Oscar and Joséphine are names you hear a lot in Belgium, both in French and in Dutch versions.

 

[iceflower]

Delphine's Christmas message on social media:

Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg on Instagram: "Wishing Everyone a Colourful Christmas filled with Love and Hope 💕"

delphine_de_saxe_cobourg on December 25, 2024: "Wishing Everyone a Colourful Christmas filled with Love and Hope 💕".

www.instagram.com

 

[Adda]

That's actually a nice photo...must be the Christmas spirit that moves me to say something good about this woman.

 

[sunflowers]

I’m in good holiday spirit too but I don’t like the painting and I can’t say anything nice about her as an artist or a person.

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

Oscar is currently a very popular name, but Oscar O'Hare is already 16 years old. Considering Delphine used to tell Albert time and time again how she and her daughter resemble Queen Astrid, I don't doubt she purposely named them after their relatives.

Anyway, I don't know Josephine's full name, but Oscar's full name is Oscar John Patrick Tobias Léopold Michel.

Are that many names common in Belgium?

 

[iceflower]

A rare set of new photos of the family Josephine and Oscar included - as the family celebrated both the New Year and the 25th anniversary of Delphine and Jim's relationship with a journey to Istanbul:

Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg on Instagram: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with u

delphine_de_saxe_cobourg on January 1, 2025: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with us for this very special moment. A...

www.instagram.com

 

[Toledo]

I agree. At first, I had sympathy too. Now, this is all a "power grab" of some sort, just to make her look relevant. Just needs to stop.

Me too. Years ago, when her story came out, I thought in this day and age she didn't ask to be stigmatized because her mother and Albert's adulterous escapades produced a child. Not to bring it up but same situation happened in my old country, Spain, and in comparison, Delphine's case had a better outcome.

per article:

The new laws on titles advocated a distinction between the civil surname and titles, thus making it possible to dissociate the title of Prince of Belgium from that of the surname "of Belgium" used – without legal justification – by members of the royal family. As a result, Delphine's children, Joséphine and Oscar O'Hare, had kept their father's surname, while receiving the predicate of Royal Highness and the title of Prince and Princess of Belgium. They were then known as "Her Royal Highness Josephine O'Hare, Princess of Belgium" and "His Royal Highness Oscar O'Hare, Prince of Belgium".​

​

My question on these titles:

1. Are they hereditary of for life only?
2. If hereditary, will every descendant of Delphine carry the predicative Royal Highness and or/Prince(ess) of Belgium down the generations?

I have to point out how proud I'm of the Queen accepting the child and grandchildren on that family picture. This situation had to be so tough for her as a wife with such a public life and she seems more relaxed in that picture than Albert himself.

Note aside: Princess Delphine's kids should be now on every magazine cover as Europe's next generation of good-looking royals

 

[Linda_26]

Me too. Years ago, when her story came out, I thought in this day and age she didn't ask to be stigmatized because her mother and Albert's adulterous escapades produced a child. Not to bring it up but same situation happened in my old country, Spain, and in comparison, Delphine's case had a better outcome.

per article:

The new laws on titles advocated a distinction between the civil surname and titles, thus making it possible to dissociate the title of Prince of Belgium from that of the surname "of Belgium" used – without legal justification – by members of the royal family. As a result, Delphine's children, Joséphine and Oscar O'Hare, had kept their father's surname, while receiving the predicate of Royal Highness and the title of Prince and Princess of Belgium. They were then known as "Her Royal Highness Josephine O'Hare, Princess of Belgium" and "His Royal Highness Oscar O'Hare, Prince of Belgium".​

​

My question on these titles:

1. Are they hereditary of for life only?
2. If hereditary, will every descendant of Delphine carry the predicative Royal Highness and or/Prince(ess) of Belgium down the generations?

I have to point out how proud I'm of the Queen accepting the child and grandchildren on that family picture. This situation had to be so tough for her as a wife with such a public life and she seems more relaxed in that picture than Albert himself.

I answered a similar question in post #123 of this thread.
In short: no, they won't pass the title of Prince/Princess of Belgium to their children, just like Astrid and Laurent's children don't/won't (see Astrid's three grandchildren so far). Josephine and Oscar have those titles due to them being "grandchildren of King Albert II", just like their 12 maternal cousins.
I agree about the family picture posted a few months ago, and it didn't look forced to me. While Delphine will certainly always be a reminder of the most difficult period in their marriage (which they were able to overcome a very long time ago), I'm sure, knowing how close they are as a couple (and how important his wife's support is to Albert, as he has said several times) that Paola is always there when Albert sees Delphine and her family, and at this point she will see Josephine and Oscar a bit as her grandchildren as well.

A rare set of new photos of the family Josephine and Oscar included - as the family celebrated both the New Year and the 25th anniversary of Delphine and Jim's relationship with a journey to Istanbul:

Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg on Instagram: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with u

delphine_de_saxe_cobourg on January 1, 2025: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with us for this very special moment. A...

www.instagram.com

I can no longer see her Instagram posts as she has apparently blocked me -merely for expressing legitimate and respectful criticism when she complained again about not being invited to King's Day a few weeks ago.
But I've now seen her post in the online Belgian press: the second part of the caption (about the hotel hospitality, etc.) seems a bit off for a family trip, but maybe it's just me.
Happy New Year to them in any case.

 

[duke of poliganc]

I know that her grandchildren won’t be prince/ss of Belgium but wasn’t it stated that all the defendants of the royal family are prince/ss but the of Belgium would be restricted to the children and grandchildren of a monarch?

 

[Linda_26]

I know that her grandchildren won’t be prince/ss of Belgium but wasn’t it stated that all the defendants of the royal family are prince/ss but the of Belgium would be restricted to the children and grandchildren of a monarch?

It's not my interpretation of article 4 of the 2015 royal decree: if it were the case, all the hundreds of people descending from Leopold I would be entitled to be "Prince" or "Princess" which is clearly completely absurd.
This discussion probably should be in a titles-thread.

 

[Halise]

I wonder if she purposely gave her children the first names of her Swedish royal ancestors. Or are they popular names in Belgium?

Delphine Boel is 4 months pregnant with her second child, she already has a 4 y/o daughter called Josephine. The father of both children is the Irish American Jim O´Hare.

Tobias O'Hare was born on April 28th 2008

(I'm not sure how it will be posted since I don't really know how to manage the site yet, it's a closed thread)

 

[Tatiana Maria]

It's not my interpretation of article 4 of the 2015 royal decree: if it were the case, all the hundreds of people descending from Leopold I would be entitled to be "Prince" or "Princess" which is clearly completely absurd.
This discussion probably should be in a titles-thread.

That is a good argument (with which I concur) for why King Philippe surely didn't intend that to be the interpretation of Article 4 of his 2015 decree, but we already have one instance of the royal decree being interpreted by a judge in a way that King Philippe surely didn't intend (i.e., Article 2 regarding titles for Delphine, but as you say this is not the titles thread so I will leave it at that). So we will need to wait for one of Delphine's future grandchildren to sue for the Prince/ss (minus "of Belgium") title...

 

[meeralakshmi]

Does anyone know what language Delphine grew up speaking? My guess is Dutch because her accent doesn’t sound French or German.

 

[Marengo]

She seldom speaks Dutch. IIRC she once did on a Dutch programme in the early 2000s. But now she speaks English when interviewed for Flemish television. While living in Belgium she was raised speaking French, though she moved to the UK and had an English stepfather from the early 80s, where she perhaps spoke English.

In general it was not evident for Belgian French speakers of the 60-ties and 70-ties to learn Dutch. It still isn't. And that would count even more so for the old elites, to which Sybille, Mr. Boël and Delphine belonged. Interestingly the chairman of the French speaking Liberal party now holds a strong plea for making the Dutch language an obligatory course at French speaking schools and the plan is [or was in december at least] to make it obligatory by 2027. The only problem is that they can not find enough teachers. Fortunately the present King and Queen were very wise in sending their four children to Dutch-speaking schools, which they speak as native speakers and without a trace of a French accent.

 

[meeralakshmi]

She seldom speaks Dutch. IIRC she once did on a Dutch programme in the early 2000s. But now she speaks English when interviewed for Flemish television. While living in Belgium she was raised speaking French, though she moved to the UK and had an English stepfather from the early 80s, where she perhaps spoke English.

Strange, her accent doesn’t sound French but her siblings’ do. Is there a reason for that?

 

[Linda_26]

Strange, her accent doesn’t sound French but her siblings’ do. Is there a reason for that?

She mainly speaks English. She was mainly raised in London (from age 7-8) and speaks English with her American partner as well. She can speak French of course (her mother is from a French-speaking family, obviously, as you can easily tell from her family name) but it's clear she's more at ease in English.
As far as I know, she can't speak any Dutch, unlike her half-siblings: she has said so when she took part in the Flemish version of "Dancing with the Stars" (all other people were speaking Dutch, except her). And when she does something in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, she always speaks English.

 

[meeralakshmi]

Watched one of Delphine’s interviews and she does indeed have a mild French accent that seems to be mixed with British and/or American. If anyone can tell which I would appreciate it.

 

[leidi]

A rare set of new photos of the family Josephine and Oscar included - as the family celebrated both the New Year and the 25th anniversary of Delphine and Jim's relationship with a journey to Istanbul:

Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg on Instagram: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with u

delphine_de_saxe_cobourg on January 1, 2025: "How wonderful to be in Istanbul to celebrate the New Year,as well as our 25 th Anniversary, for Jim & I of being together & in Love. This was even more special because our children, Josephine & Oscar are with us for this very special moment. A...

www.instagram.com

Oscar looks like a darker haired version of his cousin Emmanuel, their features are so alike!
Those Coburg genes work overtime, nearly all of Albert's descendants look like his side of the family, except for some of Astrid's kids and that's only because Habsburg genes are just as strong

 

[Marengo]

A lovely way to celebrate that they have been together for 25 years. Mr. O´Hare certainly must have been her greatest support.

 

[meeralakshmi]

Oscar looks like a darker haired version of his cousin Emmanuel, their features are so alike!
Those Coburg genes work overtime, nearly all of Albert's descendants look like his side of the family, except for some of Astrid's kids and that's only because Habsburg genes are just as strong

To be fair some of the grandkids look like Paola.

 

[maria-olivia]

She is not their grandmother

 

[meeralakshmi]

She is not their grandmother

They said that nearly all of Albert's descendants look like his side of the family except some of Astrid's kids.

 

[Linda_26]

She is not their grandmother

It wasn't a reference to Joséphine and Oscar, but to (some of) the other grandchildren

 

[leidi]

To be fair some of the grandkids look like Paola.

Hence the "nearly all" part

 

[leidi]

A lovely way to celebrate that they have been together for 25 years. Mr. O´Hare certainly must have been her greatest support.

I have a good image of him, he seems to be a calm, straightforward man, probably what someone as "wild" as Delphine needs for balance, I think it's a similar situation to Laurent and Claire, both of Albert's youngest kids needed sensible people to curb them (as much as possible )