Prince Albert Admits to Illegitimate Child
By Stephen M. Silverman
Originally posted
Thursday June 01, 2006
Monaco's Prince Albert II – who last year officially recognized a toddler son he'd fathered with a Togolese flight attendant – has now acknowledged a second child born out of wedlock:
a 14-year-old girl living in California.
The unmarried Albert, 48, "officially recognizes a paternity that was legally established a few weeks ago," his lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, is quoted as saying in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro published Thursday.
According to the Associated Press, Lacoste also said that Albert had intended to keep his parentage of Jazmin Grace Rotolo secret until she reached adulthood, but "the situation had become untenable for her" in recent weeks as speculation about the identity of her father increased.
The bloodline of the teen, who lives in Palm Desert, Calif., was hinted at Wednesday by the Palm Springs newspaper The Desert Sun, which reported that Rotolo's 1992 Riverside County birth certificate identifies her father as Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi of Monaco.
The royal palace refused to comment to The Desert Sun, calling the matter a private affair of the prince.
French media reports have said Albert had a brief affair with the girl's mother, former waitress Tamara Rotolo, in 1991 when she vacationed on the French Riviera.
The Desert Sun said it was unable to reach Tamara, but Lacoste said Jazmin is welcome in Monaco – though she cannot take the throne and will not bear the Grimaldi family name.
The same holds true for Albert's other out-of-wedlock child, 3-year-old Alexandre.
Albert's late parents were Prince Rainer III and American movie star Grace Kelly.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1199760,00.html