By STEPHEN CASTLE
BRUSSELS - Belgium's royal family have made an unprecedented public denial of claims that King Albert II attended paedophile sex parties which could link him to associates of the alleged child-murderer Marc Dutroux.
In place of its customary "no comment", the palace issued a stinging condemnation, accusing a
new book of spreading "allegations made by a fantasist in search of sensation".
Co-authored by maverick investigative journalist Jean Nicholas, the Paedophile Dossier claims that, in the 1980s and before he assumed the throne, the then Prince Albert attended paedophile parties.
The book argues that Belgian investigators have failed to mount a formal case against Dutroux, more than five years after his arrest, because they are afraid their inquiries may embroil leading public figures, including the King.
Dutroux is accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering a string of young girls. While he has been tried and sentenced for a dramatic escape bid in 1998, the main case against him has yet to come to court.
In a country where the monarchy is held in high regard, much of the media reacted with disdain or anger.
Le Soir newspaper described the royal family's fury as "legitimate" and said Nicholas' aim was to topple the King and possibly the Belgian state as well.
The most sensitive part of the book is based on statements which originally surfaced as part of a divorce case, when one of the parties claimed that the other had attended orgies at which leading public figures were present.
Subsequent police investigation yielded nothing.
The newsmagazine Knack made its own inquiries into the claims several years ago but dismissed them.
Its editor, Rik Van Cauwelaert, has described Nicholas' claims as "crackpot".
"He is amalgamating a whole lot of things and I am completely astonished that his book was published."
Nicholas defended his work, arguing that, of a 400-page book, only 40 were devoted to King Albert.
- INDEPENDENT
