Don’t say Delphine Boël, say Delphine of Saxe-Coburg. The Brussels court of appeal addresses the question of the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II and puts an end to years of legal battle. Princess Delphine does not receive an endowment.
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‘We are tired, but satisfied. We have been fighting for her rights for seven years, ‘said lawyer Alain De Jonge early September, after the last session of the lawsuit against King Albert. Delphine Boël, and her lawyers, can now breathe a sigh of relief: the appeals court has ruled that Boël may bear the surname of her biological father. Her two children, Joséphine and Oscar, are also given the name of Saxe-Coburg. She therefore also receives the noble title ‘princess of Belgium’. Princess Delphine is now formally addressed as ‘Her Royal Highness’. That title also applies to her children.
According to her lawyers, Princess Delphine attaches little importance to her title, but has always intended not to be treated differently from the other children of the king. “Those titles are things that belong to her, just as they belong to the other children of King Albert,” said her lawyer Marc Uyttendaele after the September hearing.
The judgment also states that King Albert has to pay the court costs, which have now amounted to 9,351.65 euros.
The brand new princess will not receive an endowment. Her half-brother and-sister Astrid and Laurent are still entitled to this, but that was legally regulated seven years ago within an extinction scenario. They are listed by law as entitled to an endowment by name and forename as an exception, and therefore not generally for the descendants of Saxe-Coburg, which means that Princess Delphine cannot claim them.
Princess Delphine is entitled to part of the inheritance as daughter of Albert II. A few years ago, the former head of state had his marriage contract revised, so that as much of his property as possible will go to Queen Paola upon his death. But for the money, Princess Delphine didn’t have to do it anyway. Her previous father, Jacques Boël, was a wealthy Walloon steel baron.
The judgment is the final piece in a long legal battle for recognition. Delphine Boël demanded ‘exactly the same privileges, titles and qualities as her two brothers and her sister’, after King Albert II admitted through his lawyer at the beginning of this year that he is indeed Boël’s biological father.
Seven years of struggle for recognition
The legal battle began in 2013 when Delphine Boël went to family court in 2013 to contest the legal paternity of Jacques Boël and, in a second phase, to have the paternity of Albert II recognized. She had been saying for years that the former monarch is her biological father. Jacques Boël had not opposed the challenge of his legal paternity and had undergone a DNA test to show that he was not the biological father.
At the end of March 2017, the Brussels family court ruled Delphine Boël’s paternity lawsuit admissible, but unfounded. The court ruled that there was a family relationship between the legal father Jacques Boël, and the daughter, who behaved and presented themselves as such for many years. Delphine Boël appealed, and the appeals court ruled that Jacques Boël was not the legal father of Delphine Boël and that Albert II had to undergo a DNA analysis. When all objections to the use of that test were dismissed, Albert threw in the towel in January this year.
The image damage for King Albert is immense, the breach between father and daughter is beyond repair. “A victory in court can never replace the love of a father,” says her lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele. “It does give a sense of justice, reinforced by the fact that many children who face the same trial can draw strength from it.”
Princess Delphine responds Monday.
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