Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps (born 28 August 1941) is a Belgian noblewoman. She is the former

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

of King Albert II, with whom she has a daughter, Princess Delphine. Born in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, De Selys Longchamps was the daughter of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Michel François de

Selys Longchamps Selys Longchamps is a Belgian baronial noble family. History In 1656, Michel de Selys, former mayor of Liège, received at the same time as his brothers Hubert and Godefroid, a nobiliary title from Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor. His grandson ...

and Countess Pauline Julie Cornet de Ways-Ruart. In 1962, she married industrialist and steel magnate,

Jonkheer (female equivalent: ; in the masculine only; ''jonkvrouw'' is used in the feminine, even in French; ) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used ...

Jacques Boël (1929–2022), nephew of Count

René Boël Count René Boël (1899–1990) was a Belgian industrialist and Director of the '' Usine Gustave Boël''. He was married to Yvonne Solvay (1896–1930), granddaughter of Ernest Solvay. They have two sons Yves Boël and Pol Boël and one daught ...

. They divorced in 1978. In 1982, de Selys Longchamps married

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Michael Anthony Rathborne Cayzer (1929–1990), son of shipping tycoon

Herbert Cayzer, 1st Baron Rotherwick Herbert Robin Cayzer, 1st Baron Rotherwick Deputy Lieutenant, DL (23 July 1881 – 16 March 1958), known as Sir Herbert Cayzer, 1st Baronet, from 1924 to 1939, was a British shipping magnate and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party pol ...

. In 1968, De Selys Longchamps gave birth to daughter Delphine Boël while engaged in an extra-marital relationship with Prince Albert (later King) of Belgium. In 2013, the Baroness granted an interview with Belgian network VIER in a television special entitled, 'Onze dochter heet Delphine' (Our Daughter is Called Delphine). The Baroness told the interviewer that she and the Prince took no precautions in their affair, as she thought she was unable to become pregnant. Delphine was born in 1968 as a Boël. She was not formally recognized as King Albert's daughter until 2021. De Selys Longchamps moved to London in 1976 where she lived with her second husband at his rural estate. She now maintains homes in Brussels and

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

References

* Oscar Coomans de Brachène, ''État présent de la noblesse belge, Annuaire de 1998, première partie (de Selys Longchamps)'', p. 187-197, Brussels, 1998. * Oscar Coomans de Brachène, ''État présent de la noblesse belge, Annuaire de 2003, seconde partie (Boël)'', p. 354-358, Brussels, 2003. * Delphine Boël, ''Couper le cordon'', Brussels, ed. Wever & Bergh, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Selys Longchamps, Sybille De

Belgian nobility Selys Longchamps, Sybille de Mistresses of Belgian royalty Selys Longchamps, Sybille de People from Uccle