Belgium ex-king’s love child seeks royal rights and titles

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 Delphine Boël wants the same rights as her half siblings, her lawyer says.

The love child of the former Belgian King Albert II is hoping a court will grant her the same rights and titles as her father’s legitimate children.

Artist Delphine Boël, 52, has taken her case to the appeals court in Brussels.

King Albert finally admitted he was Ms Boël’s father in January this year, having fought her paternity claim for more than a decade.

Her mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, claims she had an 18-year affair with Albert before he was king.

Rumours of an illegitimate child first emerged in 1999 in an unauthorised biography about Albert’s wife Queen Paola, prompting a royal scandal and enduring media gossip in Belgium.

Ms Boël first alleged on the record that King Albert was her biological father during a 2005 interview, but it was not until he abdicated in 2013 – when he lost his immunity to prosecution – that she opened court proceedings.

Her lawyer said on Thursday that she was seeking the same rights as Albert’s three other children, Philippe, now King of Belgium, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid.

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