Former king of Belgium agrees to take DNA paternity test
King Albert had been facing a daily 拢4,400 fine for failing to provide his DNA in the case brought by 51-year-old Delphine Boel.
Wednesday 29 May 2019 06:04, UK
The former king of Belgium has agreed to a DNA test demanded by a woman who claims to be his daughter.
King Albert II, who abdicated in 2013 due to health reasons, had been facing a daily fine of €5,000 (£4,400) for failing to provide his DNA in the case brought by Delphine Boel.
The test could be a decisive breakthrough in the case that has followed the 84-year-old royal for decades.
Ms Boel, 51, has been trying to establish paternity for years and the story has often made headlines.
While Albert has never publicly denied being her father, he has up until now refused to provide DNA.
A statement from Albert's lawyer said he would submit the test "out of respect to the judicial authorities".
It was made clear the move did not imply any admission of guilt.
Ms Boel "reacted very positively, because with the DNA test, the biological evidence is now there", her lawyer Yves-Henri Leleu said.
The DNA results would be sealed until later in the legal case, the lawyer for the royal said.
Rumours regarding Albert and Ms Boel's mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, have been around for years.
Baroness Sybille has even claimed the two had an affair between 1966 and 1984 when he was still Prince Albert of Liege.
However news that the king may have fathered a child with her broke out into the open when a biography of Albert's wife, Queen Paola, was published in 1999.
King Albert indirectly confessed to a past infidelity in his Christmas message that year, saying he and wife Queen Paola, who he married in 1959, lived through a "crisis" in the late 1960s that almost destroyed their marriage.
He added that the couple overcame their marital problems "a long while ago".
Ms Boel, who works as an artist and sculptor, opened court proceedings to prove Albert is her father six years ago and first alleged that Albert was her biological father during a 2005 interview.
She has always claimed that she brought the paternity case due to anger since she was being cold-shouldered by the royal family.
Albert unexpectedly came to the throne following his brother's death in 1993 at 62 and held the position until July 2013 when he announced his abdication, with his son Philippe replacing him.