Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, the illegitimate son of Prince Albert II of Monaco, whom Vanity Fair magazine defined as “very handsome but without a dynastic title”, has just turned 18 leading a discreet life, away from the Monegasque court.
Despite the fact that at the beginning of his life his father did not want to know anything about him, he appeared in public for the first time, accompanied by his mother, Nicole Coste, at the last Red Cross gala, an unavoidable appointment for the Grimaldi family, last July. “…this very elegant and handsome young man was one of the privileged guests. A lively gaze, a captivating smile, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste is at home in Monaco”, wrote Vanity Fair magazine at the time.
Alexandre Eric Stephane was born in Paris on August 24, 2003, after afleeting relationship between the then Monegasque crown prince with the former flight attendant of the Air France airline Nicole Coste, born in Togo.
The romance had begun on July 13, 1997 on a flight between Paris and Nice in which Alberto met Nicole, and which marked the beginning of a relationship of nearly five years dominated by discretion, particularly when they saw each other in the Principality.
The relationship cooled in late 2002, but in January of the following year Coste called Prince Albert to tell him that after a flight to New York she had forgotten to take the pill and had become pregnant. He got from the now Monegasque sovereign a kind of pension of 10,000 euros per month, in addition to a BMW SUV and a mansion in the town of Villefrance-sur-Mer on the Cote d’Azur, valued at two million euros.
But the former stewardess was not satisfied with material security and she wanted the child to be able to grow up with her father. He hired one of the most mediatic French lawyers, Gilbert Collard, who advised him to make the case public to exert more pressure.
Alberto recognized Coste’s son on December 15, 2003 in a private and confidential act before a Parisian notary, with a document specifying that said recognition would not be registered in the civil registry until the death of Rainier III.When Rainier died, arguing that he was afraid that the new sovereign would not keep his promises because of his distance from her, the former stewardess decided to force the situation and talk to Paris Match magazine.
On July 7, 2005, after the period of mourning for Rainier’s death, Albert II publicly recognized Alexandre as his son and gave him the surname of the dynasty, Grimaldi. This, however, had no consequences in the Monegasque monarchy,since its Constitution specifies that the “direct and legitimate descendants” will inherit the throne, that is, those from a civil and Catholic marriage. Being born out of wedlock, Albert’s eldest son cannot claim his right to the throne of Monaco; yes, he can inherit his fair share of his father’s fortune.
