Princess Delphine joins Belgian royal family for National Day celebrations

Princess Delphine, the illegitimate daughter of Belgium’s former king, sat alongside the rest of the royal family at National Day celebrations in Brussels on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old artist appeared to be inspired by Elle Woods from Legally Blonde in a hot pink mini dress with a structured design across the shoulders, paired with a matching headpiece.

Delphine shared a photoshoot of the entire outfit, including close-up shots of key details as well as a look at the ruffles on the back of the dress.

“A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful Belgian designers and artisans who created this beautiful outfit especially for me,” she captioned the social media post.

“It is an honour to wear your talent and creativity and to celebrate our country while supporting Belgian craftsmanship.”

Princess Delphine’s stylist Jody told followers on social media “one year of preparation” that went into the styling.

While the ensemble could be an homage to the fictional Hollywood lawyer, it could also be that the colour was chosen as it’s not only the royal’s favourite, but it works into the royal family’s sash colouring as well.

Delphine’s half-brother King Philippe arrived in military uniform with the bright purple sash around him, representing the oldest and highest order in Belgium, the Order of Leopold.

His wife, Queen Mathilde, donned a gold lace dress with a large matching hat for the day, which included a church service before the parade.

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Two of their four children, Prince Gabriel, 22, and Princess Elisabeth, 24, followed in their father’s footsteps by wearing military uniform, adorned with the sash.

The younger two siblings, Prince Emmanuel, 20, and Princess Eléonore, 18, wore civil clothes, with Emmanuel in a blue suit and Eléonore in a light blue dress with a headband instead of a hat.

Princess Elisabeth, who has just returned from studying at Harvard University in the US, opted for a white dress and hat for the church service earlier in the day before getting into uniform for the parade.

Princess Delphine, who attended with her American businessman husband, James O’Hare, wasn’t the only one in the striking colour at the military and civil parade.

The king’s sister-in-law, Princess Claire, also donned a fuchsia wrap-style dress as she arrived with her husband, Prince Laurent.

Today’s appearance marked Princess Delphine’s fifth National Day celebrations - after making her debut in 2021, following a win in her long battle to be recognised as a royal.

Delphine launched paternity proceedings against King Albert after he abdicated the throne in 2013, following long-standing rumours about her father.

Her mother Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps and Albert had an 18-year affair when he was still Prince of Liège - a title that is no longer in use.

But Delphine was raised by her mother and her mother’s husband, Jacques Boël.

The rumours of a love child between the couple began after an unauthorised biography about Albert’s wife, Queen Paola, was published in 1999.

Delphine first referred to Albert as her father in 2005, though he always denied the allegations. She was only able to launch court proceedings after he abdicated the throne and lost his immunity to prosecution.

It would be 15 years before the former king was confirmed to be her father, following a court-ordered DNA test in 2020.

This eventually led to Delphine being given the same rights as her half-siblings - King Philippe, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid - being recognised as a royal and given both the Saxe-Coburg surname and a title.

Delphine’s two kids, Joséphine, 22, and Oscar, 18, have also been given royal titles.