Friday, October 30, 2020

Dad, I'm Home

It is probably safe to say Belgium doesn't get etched in anyone's consciousness for long. Maybe when having a breakfast of Belgian waffles, or quaffing down some Belgium beer, but face it, the country hardly blips our radar. At least not until you read in Wednesday's NYT of October 28 a dispatch from I'll guess the Times's Belgium bureau chief, Megan Specia, that Delphine of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is finally being recognized as being the daughter of King Albert II, the 86 year-old former reigning Belgium monarch. Dad, I'm home. Fine, your room's a mess.  

King Albert II has apparently been denying for decades that Delphine is the love child of his longstanding relationship with Delphine's mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps. Delphine is now 52, and sought for years the right to be recognized as the daughter of the King, and with it the right to use the royal title Princess Delphine. Additionally, the princess's two children are entitled to be referred as prince and princess of Belgium.

Princess Delphine has always claimed the quest has never been about money, but rather simple public recognition that she's the King's daughter. And although money is not openly talked about, the newly recognized Princess Delphine is entitled to one-quarter of the King's estate on his demise, sharing in equal parts with his other three children with Queen Paola.

Imagine the congestion at the checkout counters in Belgium grocery stores when all the news of who is a prince and princess hit the Belgium tabloids, for assuredly there have to be tabloids in Belgium with that much royalty floating around. Even express lines ground to a halt.

King Albert II abdicated the throne in 2013, and when he did he lost the protection of immunity against Delphine's lawsuit. He had to give in and provide a DNA sample which proved conclusively that Delphine was everything she said she was, and that he fathered her with the Baroness, significantly out of wedlock.

After the legal dust settled, imagine the royal, European civility in the above photo where the newly recognized princess is seen with her father King Albert II and his wife Queen Paola, 83, getting to know each other further in person. Missing from the photo is Delphine's mother, the Baroness, the King's mistress, who is still with us at 79. She splits her time between Belgium and Provence.

The Christmas gift giving list just got larger.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com


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