On November 15, the Belgian Royal House celebrated its King’s Day, an event that has been celebrated since the 19th century on St. Leopold’s name day and an occasion where the royal family meets. However, Princess Delphine was not on the guest list led by her father, Albert II, and her half-siblings, Belgian King Philippe, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid. It should be noted that the sculptor Delphine Boel, on October 1, 2020, after a long judicial process, was granted the title of Princess of Belgium with the treatment of Royal Highness. Finally, a paternity test, which turned out to be a great scandal, showed that he was the daughter of Albert Baroness Sibily de Selly, 2nd of Belgium. Justice ruled her right, and despite the meetings she had with King Philippe of Belgium, at the Royal Castle in Laeken, and with Albert II and Paula at Belvedere Castle, Delphine of Saxe-Coburg was not satisfied and publicly declared that she did not feel “welcome” in his family.
© Getty ImagesAfter King’s Day, Princess Delphine uploaded a message on her social networks expressing her deep displeasure at what she considered unfair treatment: “The press reminded me again yesterday why they didn’t invite me to celebrate King’s Day. […] The fact is that I am not welcome because, in essence, when I was born, my parents were not married. I am writing it again and raising my voice for children. They do not choose the circumstances into which they are born. Our society and our laws must reflect values that embrace children equally, whether they are born in wedlock, third marriage, fourth marriage, out of wedlock, adopted or whatever. Before his coronation as King of Belgium, King Albert II had an extramarital affair with Princess Delphine’s mother for eighteen years. You will recall that Albert II ascended the throne in 1993, following the death of his brother, King Baudouin.
© Getty ImagesUnderlying a scam
Albert II, the third of six children of Leopold III and Astrid of Sweden, never thought he would become king of his country. For years, the Belgians hoped with hope that their king, Baldwin, and Fabiola would have children, but that hope faded over the years. Therefore, when Baudouin died, while praying on the roof of his residence in Motril, all dynastic responsibility fell on Prince Albert, who joined hands with his wife, the Italian aristocrat Paola Ruffo di Calabria, to accept his fortune and run his country. From that distant 1993 to July 2013, the date she abdicated in favor of her son, Felipe.
“I feel that my age and my health no longer allow me to work as I wish. To want to stay in exercise at any cost would be a failure in my sense of duty and royal ceremony,” said Albert II , 79, in a brief televised address. For months, there were rumors about the possible resignation of the sovereign. Apart from the reasons he gave in his speech, there was another one that had raised eyebrows among the Belgian royal family for years. In 1999, the journalist Mario Dannel wrote an unauthorized biography of Queen Paula, in which it was already mentioned that Albert II not only had a long relationship with Sibyl de Celis, but that both were parents to a daughter born in 1968.
© Getty ImagesIn his 1999 Christmas speech, the king of the Belgians informed his fellow citizens that he had been involved in an extramarital affair for many years – he married Paola Ruffo di Calabria in 1959 – and spoke of the existence of Delphine, but it was not until then. Years later he took a DNA test which confirmed his paternity.
For her part, Delphine Boyle discovered her real father’s identity at the age of seventeen. At first it seemed that becoming one of the family would not be so difficult; In fact, he had a private meeting with his father, but soon after the news broke, Prince Albert took a U-turn on his path and denied his paternity. It was precisely that turning point that prompted Delphine Boel to make an uncomfortable decision: fight for her rights through judicial means and by requesting, thus, a DNA test so that science could confirm what she knew very well: Alberto II was her father.
© Getty ImagesThe legal battle began in 2013, as soon as the king abdicated and lost his immunity, and did not end until 2020. For seven years there was great tension between Delphine’s legal representatives and the Belgian Royal House. Albert II tried to escape the DNA test, but the Brussels Court of Appeal forced him to do so. If he does not do so, he shall pay a fine of five thousand euros for every day he delays doing so. King eventually accepted, though he said the results would be confidential. Logically, as soon as the court recognized Delphine, at the age of fifty-two, the title of princess, as well as the royal highness for her two children, Josephine and Oscar – the result of her relationship with the American Gem O -, the results of the test were revealed immediately, without the need for words.
© Getty ImagesIn those days, Delphine’s lawyer, Marc Uetende, celebrated the family decision, but also painted a clearer picture of the situation: “A judicial victory will never replace the love of a father, but it provides a sense of justice.” In her social networks, Princess Delphine demonstrates the same thing four years after her victory: she still cannot find a warm and friendly place in her paternal family.
Life of Delphine
Noble blood flows through Delphine’s veins from both her father and mother. He was always educated in the best private schools in England and Switzerland. He studied at the Chelsea School of Art and Design in London and obtained his BFA with honors in 1990.
As he grew older, his mother introduced him to his father. Perhaps he did not remember that, when he was a child, his father was present at some moments of his childhood and even shared a holiday with him. When he decided to request recognition of his paternity from his father, some sectors of Belgian society classified him as a “gold digger” and, in effect, followed his future paternal legacy. What is later revealed is that businessman Jacques Boel, Delphine’s legal father, was a man of even greater fortune than the king emeritus, so Delphine’s assumption that the only driving force behind his claim was economic seems to have been shattered.
© Getty ImagesOctober 2020 was a month of meetings and commitments. There was much media coverage of Delphine’s meeting with her brother King Philippe, a meeting after which Albert II announced in a statement from the Palace that he felt “delighted”, as Queen Emerita Paola had been introduced to the brothers. In the same vein of warmth and camaraderie, Prince Laurent expressed himself about his new sister: “She knows that our doors, mine and my wife’s, are always open for her.” Regarding the meeting held at Laeken Castle between Felipe de los Belgas and Princess Delphine, they themselves issued a joint statement sharing the terms of it with their fellow citizens: “We talked about our lives and our common interests. To develop this bond in a family context. will be.”
© Getty ImagesFor a year now, Belgian Delphine has expressed her displeasure with what she perceives to be the treatment she is receiving. If this year, his anger exploded on social networks, last year the situation was the same – he was not invited to the King’s Day – but he tried to be more discreet when expressing his disagreement with the Royal House. In 2023, a letter from the princess addressed to her father was leaked, and possibly copied to Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix, in which she clearly expressed her displeasure at feeling that she was being treated differently from her three half-brothers. Either, King Philippe, and Princes Laurent and Astrid. That first call for attention seems to have had no effect – although it is true that last July he attended the National Day of Belgium and took pictures with the Emeritus Kings and their families – because his name was not printed on the invitation this year King’s Day. Hence his public outrage through cyberspace.
