• Artist and sculptor Delphine Boel is on the cusp of officially becoming a Belgian princess after a Brussels court ruled in her favor Thursday in a decades-old royal paternity scandal pitting her against former King Albert II. Her lawyer, Alain de Jonghe, confirmed that the court gave his client full satisfaction, recognizing her as the former monarch's daughter. Her lawyers said she would be able to be called princess "Delphine of Saxe Coburg," and will be set on the same footing as her royal siblings. "The legal victory will never replace the love of a father but it provides a feeling of justice," the lawyers said. The former king, whose son Philippe is the reigning monarch, could still make an ultimate appeal at the Court of Cassation. Such a ruling had been in the offing since King Albert decided in January to no longer fight a claim that he is Boel's father after he finally agreed to have a DNA test and received the results. His lawyers had said that "scientific conclusions indicate that he is the biological father of Mrs. Delphine Boel." Rumors about Albert and Boel's mother, the aristocratic wife of a well-heeled industrialist, had been around for years. But the news that the king might have had a child with her broke into the open when a biography of Albert's wife, Queen Paola, was published in 1999. In his Christmas message to the nation that year, King Albert alluded to a past infidelity and said he and Queen Paola lived through a "crisis" in the late 1960s that almost wrecked their marriage, but that "a long while ago" they overcame their marital problems. Six years ago, Boel, who bears a striking resemblance to certain members of the royal family, opened court proceedings to prove that Albert is her father. Boel has always said that she brought the paternity case because she was angry at having been cold-shouldered by the royal family.
• Shia LaBeouf has been charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft. Prosecutors allege that the 34-year-old actor fought with a man named Tyler Murphy and took his hat, according to a criminal complaint obtained from the Los Angeles city attorney. The charges were filed Sept. 24 for the June 12 incident. A representative for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. LaBeouf is known for his roles in 2007's "Transformers," 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull," and last year's "Honey Boy," a film he also wrote about his relationship with his father. He's had several run-ins with the law during his career, including a 2017 New York arrest on charges of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct that was captured on a livestream video. He was sent to court-mandated rehabilitation for the incident.
