Jonkvrouw Delphine Michèle Anne Marie Ghislaine Boël, known professionally as Delphine Boël, is a Belgian artist. She is an illegitimate daughter of King Albert II of Belgium and half-sister of King Philippe of Belgium. She belongs to the Belgian titled nobility and is legally Jonkvrouw Boël.
On 19 October 1999, an 18-year-old Flemish schoolboy,, published his unauthorised biography of Queen Paola, Paola, van 'la dolce vita' tot koningin. The book contained a statement referring to the existence of a daughter born out of wedlock to King Albert. The Belgian press made investigations into the identity of this daughter, tracing Boël. At first, both Boël and her mother refused to comment on the matter, and the palace dismissed Danneels' book as gossip and rumor. The main element considered by the Belgian press as acknowledgment that Boël is the king's daughter is a short extract from the king's 1999 Christmas speech:
This Christmas feast is also the occasion for each of us to think to one's own family, to one's happy periods but also to one's difficult moments. The queen and I have remembered very happy periods but also the crisis that our couple have experienced more than 30 years ago. Together we could, very longtime ago already, surpass those difficulties and find back a deep understanding and love. This period has been recalled to us short ago. We don't wish to dwell on that subject which belongs to our private lives. But, if certain people who meet today similar problems could get some reasons to hope from our lived experience, we would be so happy.
The press interpret this to refer to the king's 18-year-long relationship with Sybille de Sélys Longchamps. Boël gave an interview on 15 May 2005, to the France 3 presenter Marc-Olivier Fogiel in the broadcast "On ne peut pas plaire à tout le monde" in which she said that she is indeed Albert's daughter. She said she made a telephone call to Albert in order to receive help for her mother who was being harassed by journalists. According to her statement, Albert replied "Leave me alone with that story. You are not my daughter," which she said was hurtful. She said she felt the absence of contact from him, especially because she is a mother herself. In the same interview, she alleged that when she and her mother moved to England when she was 9, Albert wished to divorce his wife and join them. Her mother apparently opposed this because of the political consequences for Albert. Boël added that her "parents" kept in touch by telephone for some years, but that this stopped some time before she was 16. She said her mother told her "the truth" about her parentage when she turned 18 in 1986. In June 2013, Boël summoned Albert, his son Philippe and his daughter Astrid, to appear in court. Boël hoped to use DNA tests to prove that she is Albert's daughter. As Albert enjoyed complete immunity under the law, Boël decided to summon his children as well. After the king abdicated on 21 July 2013 and no longer enjoyed immunity, Boël relaunched proceedings against him. In March 2017, the court ruled that her claim was unfounded, and her lawyers said she would take the claim to appeal. On 5 November 2018, a court ruling was made public which instructed Albert to submit to a DNA test to determine whether he is Boël's biological father. Such DNA testing is not obligatory in Belgium, but not submitting to it is considered evidence of paternity. In January 2019, Albert appealed in cassation against the verdict, nevertheless on 16 May of the same year, Brussels's Court of Appeals sentenced the former king to pay a fine of 5000 Euros per day to Boël for every day he refuses to take a DNA-test. On 27 January 2020, it was determined through DNA tests that King Albert II of Belgium is the father of Delphine Boël.
