King Albert of Belgium smiles as he leaves the hospital in Brussels after an eight-day stay
Go home! King Albert of Belgium, 89, laughs as he is released from Saint-Luc hospital in Brussels after an eight-day stay with dehydration
King Albert of Belgium appeared in good spirits this afternoon when he was released from hospital in Brussels.
The former monarch, 89, was admitted to Saint-Luc hospital on June 27 as a ‘precautionary measure’.
King Albert and his wife of 64 Queen Paola, 85, were staying at their official residence Castle Belvédère in Laeken when the former monarch started showing signs of dehydration last week.
Initially, a royal spokesman said the ex-king would be monitored in hospital for just a few days.
However, the king, who abdicated in 2013, spent a total of eight days in hospital.
Pictured: King Albert – who abdicated in 2013 – pictured leaving Saint-Luc Hospital in Brussels this afternoon
King Albert seemed cheerful as he left the hospital this afternoon with his wife Queen Paola.
The pair stopped to talk to staff members and wave to crowds before heading home.
Albert II, the father of the current Belgian King Philippe, was the third and youngest child of King Leopold III.
He became monarch on 9 August 1993 at the age of 59 and took over after his brother Boudewijn died without children.
At the time of his abdication, his love child Princess Delphine launched a legal bid to be officially recognized as Albert’s daughter – which she won in October 2020.
After the birth of Princess Delphine in 1968, the king initially remained in frequent contact with his child and her mother. But when Delphine reached her 16th birthday, the king began to distance himself.
Now the 55-year-old is entitled to bear the royal name de Saxe-Cobourg and is formally recognized as a member of the Belgian royal family, as are her two children, Princess Joséphine of Belgium, 19, and Prince Oscar of Belgium, 14. , which she shares with partner James O’Hare.
Speaking to Tatler last year, the princess, who is an artist, revealed that her father’s rejection when she was young still hurts, but added that she doesn’t hold it against him and harbors no ill will towards him.
The former king was accompanied by his wife, Queen Paola, 85, as he left hospital in Brussels this afternoon
The royal couple stopped to speak to members of staff and wave to crowds before heading home for the day
Albert II, the father of the current Belgian King Philippe, was the third and youngest child of King Leopold III
Left: King Albert, his wife of 64 years Queen Paola at the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and his Argentinian bride Maxima Zorreguieta in 2002. Right: Pictured: Jim O’Hare and Princess Delphine of Belgium at the 5th Cannes Festival in April 2022
She argued that royal life is “isolating” and she believed her father had been ill-advised at the time.
Now Delphine has attended royal engagements and says her relationship with her father has healed after years of bitterness.
When she started her lawsuit in 2013, she told the Belgian radio program Matin Premiere: ‘I feel that I have a right to exist. Not to exist in the royal family but as me.
“My decision to seek help through the law, I feel today it was the right thing to do… The justice system said I was right and I had a right to exist.”
Since the lawsuit was settled, Princess Delphine has slowly been integrated into the Belgian royal family.
She met her brother, King Philippe of Belgium, one of 20 Belgian royals to whom she is related, in 2020, where they posted a socially distanced photo on Facebook, describing it as a “warm meeting.” Her other royal half-sisters are Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent.