Belgium's former king agrees to take DNA paternity test after claims he fathered secret child

King Albert II, 84, faced daily €5,000 fines for refusing to give saliva sample

The artist Delphine Delphine Boël and, right, the man she claims is her father, King Albert II of Belgium (EPA/Reuters)

Belgium’s former king has finally agreed to give DNA for a paternity test demanded by a woman who claims to be his daughter from an affair.

The test could be a breakthrough in a case brought by 51-year-old Delphine Boel that has followed King Albert II for decades.

The 84-year-old has faced daily €5,000 (£4,400) court-ordered fines for failing to take a DNA test.

Ms Boel has been trying to establish paternity for years.

Albert, who abdicated in 2013 for health reasons, has never publicly denied being her father but had refused to provide DNA until now.

A statement from Albert’s lawyer said he would submit the test “out of respect to the judicial authorities” after taking note of the judgment two weeks ago, which imposed the daily fine.

It was made clear the move did not imply any admission of guilt.

Ms Boel’s lawyer, Yves-Henri Leleu, said she “reacted very positively, because with the DNA test, the biological evidence is now there”.

Belgium's Queen Paola and King Albert II at the Royal Palace in Laeken, Belgium, in July 2008. (AP)

The DNA results will be sealed until later in the legal case.

Rumours about a long-running affair in the 1960s between Albert and Ms Boel’s mother Sybille, Baroness de Selys Longchamps, have been around for years.

But the revelation that the former king may have had a child with her broke into the open when a biography of his wife, Queen Paola, was published in 1999.

In his Christmas message to the nation that year, Albert indirectly confessed to a past infidelity and said he and Queen Paola lived through a “crisis” in the late 1960s that almost wrecked their marriage but that they overcame their marital problems “a long while ago”.

Six years ago, Ms Boel, an artist and sculptor, opened court proceedings to prove that Albert was her father.

She has always said that she brought the paternity case out of anger at being cold-shouldered by the royal family.

Albert’s and Queen Paola’s three children are all older than Ms Boel.

The retired monarch, who no longer has any formal public role, was succeeded by his son Philippe.

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

Associated Press contributed to this report