Artist claims she is Belgian king’s daughter, court hears

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

Delphine Boël claims she was born as the result of a royal affair (Getty Images)

Belgium’s King Albert II is under pressure to respond to an artist’s claim that she is his daughter, as a court began considering a request for DNA to prove her parentage.

Delphine Boël, 45, a British-educated multimedia artist, wants a Brussels court to order the king and two of his three children – Crown Prince Philippe, and Princess Astrid – to undergo blood tests to prove they are related. She claims she is the child of an affair between King Albert and the aristocrat, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps.

The court held a brief session behind closed doors this morning before postponing the hearings to early September. It was also revealed that Ms Boël’s mother will be a plaintiff in the case.

“One year after it was unveiled that Albert had an illegitimate daughter, Delphine called him,” Ms Longchamps said in comments reported on the Flanders News website. “‘You are not my daughter,’ he said. This was a terrible blow for her. I still don’t understand why he didn’t just admit things when the whole thing came to light.”

While the king remains on the throne, he is shielded from legal action which interferes with his duties – a position that one MP, Yvan Mayeur, said was outdated.