Former Belgian King Albert's love child granted royal rights and title

Former Belgian King Albert's love child has just won her court battle to be granted the same royal rights and titles as her father's children with Queen Paola. After years of fighting for recognition from her father, Delphine Boël, now 52 years old, shall hereon carry the title of Princess of Belgium.

Boël was finally able to gain admittance from King Albert in January this year, after a paternity claim that lasted for more than a decade. The 86-year-old king resisted court orders to undergo DNA testing but was forced to recognise her or face the courts, since he had lost immunity after he abdicated in 2013.

Delphine Boël's mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, was said to have had an 18-year affair with Albert before he became king. Rumours of a love child started to circulate after an unauthorised biography published in 1999 on Queen Paola contained disclosure of Boël's existence.

At the time, the former king had never made any public statement about his affair nor the presence of a love child. He did however, manage a cryptic statement in his 1999 Christmas message in which he mentioned a crisis he and Queen Paola lived through in the late 1960s that nearly wrecked their marriage. Baroness Longchamps says her affair with Albert who was then known as Prince of Liège, lasted from 1966 to 1984. She said the former king had a constant presence during Boël's childhood.

Boël's lawyers were delighted with the court's decision and said, "A judicial victory will never replace a father's love, but it does offer a sense of justice. Many more children who have gone through similar ordeals may be able to find the strength to face them."

As a result of the ruling, Boël's two children will now be entitled to hold the surname of her father, Saxe-Cobourg as well as receive an inheritance along with her royal half siblings upon King Albert's demise, the BBC reports.

However, despite her new royal rights and title, Boël will not receive a royal endowment but her father is obligated to pay for her legal fees amounting to £3.1 million.