Albert II, Prince of Monaco

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born March 14, 1958), styled HSH The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the current ruler of the Principality of Monaco.

Controversy

Bachelorhood

Over the years, there has been much discussion of the prince's continued bachelor status. Though he has received much press attention for dating well-known fashion models and actresses, including Angie Everhart and Claudia Schiffer, as well as Victoria Zdrok (who has been both a Playboy Playmate and a Penthouse Pet), his apparent disinclination to marry gave rise to rumors that he is gay, and merely engaged in superficial, sham dating. Prince Albert has consistently denied this suggestion, most notably in a 1994 interview published in the French magazine "Madame Figaro". "At first it was amusing," he said, "but it becomes very irritating in the long term to hear people say that I am homosexual." {{ref|note1}}

Related Topics:
Angie Everhart - Claudia Schiffer - Victoria Zdrok - Playboy - Penthouse - Gay - 1994 - Madame Figaro

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These rumors would be put to rest by 2005 with a paternity claim against Albert that was backed up by DNA tests.

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Paternity suits

In 1992, a California woman, Tamara J. Rotolo, filed a paternity suit against the prince, claiming that he was the father of her illegitimate daughter, whom she named Jazmin Grace Grimaldi. However, the case, which went to trial in 1993, eventually was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Graham Anderson Cribbs, who claimed that there was "insufficient contact between Albert and the state of California to justify hearing a suit there" (Evening Standard, March 24, 1993, page 20), agreeing with an assertion by the prince's lawyer, Stanley Arkin, that the California court had no jurisdiction. In court papers, Prince Albert admitted that he had been with Tamara Rotolo in Monaco on "a couple of occasions" in July 1991. (The child had been born approximately nine months later, on March 4, 1992.) As reported by a local newspaper covering the case, "Arkin asserted that the Riverside County court had no jurisdiction in the case since the romantic encounter supposedly occurred in Monaco and Albert has had no contacts with California that relate to the issues in the suit." {{ref|note2}} Prince Albert has not agreed to Rotolo's request that he take a paternity test.

Related Topics:
Tamara J. Rotolo - Jazmin Grace Grimaldi - Evening Standard - March 24 - 1993 - Stanley Arkin - Monaco - July - 1991 - March 4 - 1992

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An earlier paternity suit, brought by Bea Fiedler, a German topless model whom the Daily Telegraph described as a "sex-film star", reportedly also was dismissed. A blood test, which was refused by the judge, did not prove that the prince was not the father of Fiedler's son, Daniel. {{ref|note3}}

Related Topics:
Bea Fiedler - Daily Telegraph

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Illegitimate son

In May 2005, Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo, claimed that her youngest son, Alexandre, born on August 24, 2003, is the son of Prince Albert and that DNA tests conducted by technicians working on orders from the Monegasque government have proven her assertion. She further claimed that the prince had signed a notarized certificate confirming his paternity but that she had not received a copy of the paper. The French weekly Paris Match published a ten-page interview with Coste and included photographs of the prince holding and feeding the child and another of the prince on the cover of the magazine showing him holding Alexandre in his arms. Coste also said in her interview with Paris Match that she is presently living in the prince's Paris apartment, has been receiving an allowance from the prince, and has been pretending to be the girlfriend of one of his friends in order to maintain the couple's privacy. She also said that the prince had last seen his purported son in February 2005. A spokesman for Prince Albert had no comment, though upon news of Coste's claims, the prince's lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, announced that "A judicial strategy will be determined within the next few days."

Related Topics:
May - 2005 - Nicole Coste - Air France - Flight attendant - Togo - Alexandre - August 24 - 2003 - DNA - Paris Match - February

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In mid May 2005, Lacoste announced that as a result of the international publicity over the revelations of the prince's son, Prince Albert is suing the Daily Mail, Bunte, and Paris Match for delving too deeply into his private life.

Related Topics:
Daily Mail - Bunte - Paris Match

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On July 6, 2005, a few days before he was enthroned on July 12, Albert II officially confirmed via his lawyer Thierry Lacoste that 22 month-old Alexandre Coste is his son. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4656797.stm.

Related Topics:
July 6 - 2005 - July 12

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