Delphine Boël claims she was born as the result of a royal affair

Delphine Boël, 45, wants a Brussels court to order Albert II and two of his three children to undergo blood tests to prove they are related

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Sunderland's Campbell on his way to Cardiff

Cardiff have signed Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Meir, Antwerp's main shopping street

Straight to the heart of Flanders fashion

Slice Of The City: Antwerp - Back in 1988, a group of young designers took London by storm. William Cook picks up the trail of the Antwerp Six

24-hour room service: Hotel Matelote, Antwerp

In a city as self-consciously chic and sleek as Antwerp, the term "boutique hotel" holds even more of a fervent grip on the popular imagination. Where other tourist destinations might be able to offer a certain level of boutiquerie simply with the introduction of a shearling rug or some chrome taps, a hostelry set in the heartland of fashionable minimalism has a bit more to live up to.

Hugo Claus: Acclaimed author whose work was marked by intelligence and passion

Though often a controversial figure, the Flemish writer, director and graphic artist Hugo Claus was rarely overtly political. His sympathies were with the underdog, but he never descended to agitprop. Claus was the recipient of seven state prizes in Belgium and in 1986 was awarded the prestigious Prize for Dutch Literature. Harry Mulisch, the only other living writer in Dutch to be tipped for the Nobel Prize, called Claus "a great figure", while the poet Remco Campert described him as "the greatest writer of my generation".

Football: United to appeal over player's life ban

MANCHESTER UNITED and the Belgian club Royal Antwerp will go to law to try to lift a worldwide life ban on the young United player, Ronnie Wallwork, although they may have to settle for a four-year suspension.

Belgium opens old war wounds

MORE THAN 50 years after the Allied liberation of Belgium, the country's two linguistic communities, the Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, are embroiled in a rancorous feud over who collaborated with the Nazis, and more compellingly, why.

Invisible people

Letter from a low country

Diving trio suffer bends

Three British divers were yesterday said to be doing well at a medical unit in Belgium after getting into difficulties off the Kent coast.

Best of the bunches

Planted snowdrops in silver-painted crates, from pounds 65 (pounds 360 for arrangement shown), from Kenneth Turner, 125 Mount Street, London W1, 0171 355 3880

THOSE OTHER FLEMISH CITIES

One OF the advantages of such a small country as Belgium is that it never takes any time to get anywhere. If you find yourself tiring of the coachloads of tourists in Bruges, you can easily pop across to the other Flemish cities of Belgian Flanders which in many respects are equally intriguing, if not quite as picturesque.

Tourists become pawns in Belgium's separatist war

Industrial decay is no match for Flemish splendours, reports Sarah Helm in Brussels

LETTER : It is time for a referendum

Sir: My thanks to Andrew Reid (Letters, 12 March) who clearly took the time to read Sir James's letter to the candidates and supporters of the Referendum Party in Monday's newspaper. As president of the Young Conservative Group for Europe, Mr Reid must firmly believe that the British people's interests are best served by the Maastricht treaty and the creation of a federal Europe. Why then is he so opposed to a referendum?
Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
Berlin - East meets West
Three nights from only £399pp Find out more
Europe’s finest river cruises
Four nights from £669pp, seven nights from £999pp or 13 nights from £2,199pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from only £749pp Find out more
Pompeii, Capri and the Bay of Naples
Seven nights half-board from only £719pp Find out more
Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end