Prince Albert of Monaco loses fight over love child

European Court deems royal was not justified in trying to keep story a secret after he sued French magazine.

Photo credit: Daily Mail / PA

Prince Albert of Monaco was not justified in trying to keep a love child a secret, the European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday.

The 57-year-old prince successfully sued Paris Match magazine for about £40,000 after it ran details and images of Alexandre, who was born in August 2003.

The child was the result of Albert’s affair with Nicole Coste, a French-Togolese flight attendant.

At the time, it was thought that Alexandre might be able to lay claim to the throne of the principality, although Monaco’s constitution was later changed to prevent this from happening.

Yesterday, the European court ruled that a Paris court had breached the magazine’s freedom of expression.

The judges said that story went ‘well beyond the scope’ of the private life of the prince and the public had a right to know about it.

Alexandre was Prince Albert’s second known love child – he has another called Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 23 and living in the USA.

Albert is now married to Princess Charlene, the former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock from South Africa, and the pair have seven-month-old twins, Jacques and Gabriella.

He keeps in touch with all of his children from previous relationships, and has come to legal agreements to pay their mothers.

French courts are notorious for allowing public figures including politicians and celebrities to keep key details of their lives a secret.

This has led to allegations that corruption and other wrong-doing can be swept under the table, under the guise of people in the public eye defending their privacy.