In a royal scandal that would eclipse anything we've seen on The Crown, the former king of Belgium's private affairs have been dragged into the public sphere.

King Albert II has been ordered to undergo a DNA test to determine whether he's the father of a 50-year-old artist. Delphine Boel says that the former monarch, who abdicated in favour of his son in 2013, is her biological dad and has pursued the issue through the country's courts for five years. Her case got a boost today with the ruling that Albert will have to give a DNA sample to the court. He's required to provide a sample of his saliva within three months or risk being presumed Ms Boel's father - making her eligible for a cut of his inheritance. It's claimed that she was conceived as the result of an affair that the king had with Boel's mother in the 1960s, reports The Guardian. Albert has been married to his Italian wife Queen Paola since 1959. They have three children - King Phillipe, Belgium's monarch since his father's abdication; Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent - 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A spokesperson for Albert has said that he is considering what to do do next, suggesting that the former monarch might appeal the decision. Lawyers for Ms Boel said that she welcomed the ruling. Her mother Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps has spoken openly about her affair with Albert. "I thought I could not have children because I had had an infection,” she said in a TV interview. “We had not taken any precautions.” “It was a beautiful period. Delphine was a love child. Albert was not the father figure, but he was very sweet to her.”