Prince Albert’s Son Alexandre Grimaldi Says The Word Illegitimate is “Insulting”

Though Alexandre Grimaldi, the second-born child of Monaco’s Prince Albert, isn’t in line for the throne of the small principality where his father is head of state, he has spent plenty of time in the country. Next week, the university student will turn 20, and to mark the occasion, he sat for an interview with the French magazine Point de Vue. The conversations addressed his feelings about some negative public reactions to his role in the Monegasque royal family, specifically in response to commenters online who refer to him by the surname of his mother, Nicole Coste. 

“My father’s name is Grimaldi. It makes sense that I bear his name. I would have been called Dochomel if my father had been Mr. Dochomel!” Alexandre said, per People. “Besides, I never called myself Coste or Coste-Grimaldi. On no ID, at school or on my diplomas. Those who call me that have a malicious attitude.”

He said that he dislikes being called “illegitimate,” and added that it was Albert’s own choice to acknowledge publicly that he had fathered a child though he was not married. “Nor am I ‘illegitimate’ since when I was born, neither of my parents was in another marriage, and they did not commit adultery,” he said. “Using that word is insulting! I hope no one believes the lies conveyed on the internet. One bears the name of one’s father when one has been recognized since birth. I had voluntary recognition from my father when I was a baby. Not from a judge or the press who have forced him to.”

In 2005, Albert announced that he had a son with Coste, a French-Togolese woman who Albert met when she was working as a flight attendant. The next year, it became public knowledge that Albert had an older daughter from a previous relationship, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who was born in 1992. Albert also shares eight-year-old twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella with his wife, Princess Charlene, who he married in 2011. 

Both Alexandre and Jazmin have spent time in Monaco, and in January 2022, Jazmin shared a photograph of all four siblings together on her Instagram account. In 2021, Albert told People that Charlene’s relationship with his older children had “evolved” over the years, adding “She is more acceptant now.”

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