The artist Delphine Saxe-Coburg, illegitimate daughter of King Emeritus Albert II of Belgium, has expressed her discontent to the Prime Minister of her country, Alexander de Croo, for not receiving the same treatment as her half-siblings, Laurent and Astrid, at the time of being invited to royal family events.
Delphine's wishes have been made public through a letter published by different Belgian media. The text was written by the artist's lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, and in it he expressed that Delphine "wanted to be invited to all royal events," not just the country's national day or the funerals of family members.
Despite being recognized as the daughter of Albert II in 2020, Delphine continues to be excluded from events such as the King's Day celebration, organized on November 15. In this way, although the Belgian justice ruling forced the royal family to treat her the same as the younger brothers of the current King Philip, Delphine has never received the same treatment.
According to the lawyer, the letter should not have been leaked to the media, since in no case did they want to "generate controversy." They only wanted to find a solution to the problem that kept Delphine on the tightrope: she had to choose between staying silent and not receiving equal treatment or telling the truth and damaging the image of the Belgian monarchy. According to the lawyer's statements, it was an "unsustainable" situation for the artist.
"In a spirit of goodwill and discretion, she considered it necessary to clarify an embarrassing situation in which she is treated differently from her sister Astrid and her brother Laurent," Uyttendaele added.
The Belgian press considers that the disparity in treatment is based on the fact that Delphine does not receive (and has never asked for) an endowment from the public treasury, but the lawyer believes that "there is no justification for her not to be fully considered as a member of the family real".
