DNA tests show Belgian ex-king is father of artist, lawyer says

[left-of-center2012]

DNA tests have revealed that Belgium’s former King Albert II is the biological father of Belgian artist Delphine Boel, a lawyer for the retired monarch said on Monday, putting an end to a decade-long paternity claim. Albert, who abdicated six years ago in favor of his son Philippe, had long contested Boel’s claim. He gave a DNA sample in May after a Belgian court order.

The tests showed that he is Boel’s biological father, a statement from Albert’s lawyer said. Boel has said that she just wants recognition that the former king is her father rather than any money. She is younger than Albert’s three children with Queen Paola, his Italian wife.

Next in line to the throne is 17-year-old Princess Elisabeth, daughter of Philippe and Queen Mathilde.

Boel’s identity became a topic of public debate after publication in 1999 of a biography of Paola which alleged that Albert had a long extramarital relationship from which a daughter was born in the 1960s.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-king-paternity/dna-tests-show-belgian-ex-king-is-father-of-artist-lawyer-says-idUSKBN1ZQ28K

[ret5hd]

1. Reminds me of this poem:

A Story That Could Be True (William Stafford)

If you were exchanged in the cradle and
your real mother died
without ever telling the story
then no one knows your name,
and somewhere in the world
your father is lost and needs you
but you are far away.

He can never find
how true you are, how ready.
When the great wind comes
and the robberies of the rain
you stand on the corner shivering.
The people who go by–
you wonder at their calm.

They miss the whisper that runs
any day in your mind,
“Who are you really, wanderer?”–
and the answer you have to give
no matter how dark and cold
the world around you is:
“Maybe I’m a king.”

[PandoraAwakened]

2. Wow, very moving poem.

Thanks for posting.

[marble falls]

3. Howsziz one ...

There once was an Albert, the King
Who once gave a lass a ring:
"Hello", he said
"Lets jump in bed,
But its only a temporary fling!"

Wm Shakespeare.