Belgian King Abdicates to His Son as His Illegitimate Daughter Fight Him in Court

King Albert II of Belgium announced today during a televised address that he would vacate the throne in favor of his son, Crown Prince Phillipe, and right on the heels of a royal scandal — Albert allegedly has an illegitimate daughter, 45-year-old Delphine Boel (right), and she's fighting for legal recognition of her lineage. Boel wrote a tell-all book in 2008 about how she "suffers" from her situation, which, yeah, living life as a commoner when you could be a princess does sound pretty rough.

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Boel summoned King Albert as well as his two legitimate children, Prince Phillipe and Princess Astrid, to a Brussels court in June. The speculation across the country is that Boel wants to order a DNA test. She probably won't have much luck, though, as Albert has sovereign immunity — even after abdication — and can't be compelled to appear in court. The palace has yet to make a statement about the case or any of Boel's claims. 

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In his statement to the populace today, Albert noted that it was time to "pass on the torch to the next generation," insisting that the 53-year-old Phillipe is "well prepared." And Albert's not the only royal to abdicate of late — Queen Beatrix in the neighboring Netherlands abdicated in favor of her son at the end of April, without any notable scandal. In Qatar, not so much.