Former Belgian king faces daily fine for paternity test refusal

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The former King Albert II of the Belgians has
been ordered by a court to submit to a DNA test or face daily fines
of 5,000 euros (S$7,665) lawyers said Thursday (May 16).

The order was the latest twist in a Belgian’s sculptor pursuit
to prove that she is the former monarch’s daughter.

“I believe that the king will submit to this test, since he has
the guarantee that it will remain confidential,” Albert’s lawyer,
Guy Hiernaux, told AFP.

Another lawyer, Alain Berenboom, cautioned that the final
decision remains with the monarch.

The court-ordered fine was a major development in a long battle
between Albert II and Delphine Boel, who launched proceedings
before a top Brussels court in 2013 to have Albert’s paternity
recognised.

Boel claims she was born in 1968 after a long affair between her
mother, Sibylle de Selys Longchamps and the then crown prince
Albert, married since 1959 to Paola Ruffo di Calabria.

The 81-year-old former monarch, who reigned from 1993 until
2013, has always refused to acknowledge that he could be her
father.

Last October, the Brussels Court of Appeal ruled in favour of
Boel and ordered Albert II to submit to a genetic sample in order
to finally decide the matter.

Albert refused any test, which led to Thursday’s order at the
appeals court in Brussels.

The ex-king must now report to an appointed forensic expert who,
on the basis of a saliva sample, will carry out a comparative
analysis with the DNA of Boel and her mother.

After a request made by Boel, the court said the result of the
DNA test would remain secret until the end of the legal
proceedings, which could last a year.

Boel “herself suggested this option in order to calm the
situation and avoid a media storm”, her lawyer Marc Uyttendaele
told AFP.

“I can’t imagine for a second that he (Albert II) doesn’t submit
to the test,” he said.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!