Meet Princess Charlene’s stepson – and why he won’t inherit the throne
Alexandre Grimaldi, the 19-year-old son of Prince Albert of Monaco, was largely shielded from public view since he was an infant.
Alexandre Grimaldi, the son of Prince Albert of Monaco, is increasingly becoming one of the more popular members of his famous family. The 19-year-old, who is Princess Charlene’s stepson, was recently granted his first interview, after years of being raised in privacy, largely shielded from public view.
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WHO IS ALEXANDRE GRIMALDI?
Born on 24 August 2003, Alexandre Grimaldi is the son of Prince Albert II (65) and Nicole Coste (51). Unlike his siblings, Grimaldi is not in the line of succession because his parents were never married, as per the law in Monaco.
Coste was a flight attendant on an Air France flight en route to Paris in 1997 when she met Prince Albert. The pair were in a secret relationship for several years until Albert’s father, Rainer II, demanded that he end the affair.
According to several reports, Prince Albert financially took care of Coste and Alexandre after the birth and had promised to legally acknowledge him after a DNA test confirmed he was the father. Prince Albert has said that Alexandre and his eldest sister Jazmin Grace Grimaldi (31) would not be in line for the throne, but would be taken care of financially.
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PRINCE ALBERT’S SON SPEAKS OUT
Speaking to French magazine Point de Vue ahead of his 20th birthday next week, Alexandre Grimaldi said he considers himself fortunate and describes himself as a university student who just happens to be a prince’s son.
When asked about what role he hopes to play in Monaco’s future, Grimaldi laughingly said: “I’m only 20. Let me get my diploma, and we’ll talk about it.”
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He is studying Business Management at an English university and still lives at home with his Togolese mother, who was also interviewed.
Alexandre admitted that being the son of a prince has not been the burden that some imagine it to be, saying: “I’ve had some rather happy times, to tell the truth, and I’ve never had the feeling that the way others, my friends in particular, change their views of me and who I am. But maybe I’m still too young to discern this. I appreciate my friends very much, and I hope they’ll never disappoint me.”
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