Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste

Alexandre Eric Stéphane Coste
Born	(2003-08-24) 24 August 2003 Paris, France
Parent(s)	Albert II of Monaco Nicole Coste

Alexandre Éric Stéphane Coste (born 24 August 2003 in Paris) is the son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and Nicole Coste, a native of Togo in west Africa. His paternal grandparents were the late Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and Princess Grace.

Name

Born out of wedlock, he was initially named Alexandre Éric Stéphane Tossoukpé. His mother Nicole changed her surname and his to Coste on 10 November 2004. In her interview with Paris Match, Nicole also claimed to have changed the order of his names to Alexandre Éric Stéphane, though in spring 2005 she filed papers in French court seeking support for Alexandre Éric Stéphane Coste. Albert made no public comment on the lawsuit at that time, being in official mourning following the death of his father.

Status

On 6 July 2005, six days before he was enthroned on 12 July, Albert officially confirmed his paternity of the child, via a statement released by his lawyer Thierry Lacoste. He is not in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne according to Article 10 of the Constitution of Monaco, as amended 2 April 2002 by law n°1.249, which specifies that only "direct and legitimate" descendants of Monaco's monarch (or of the monarch's siblings) may inherit the throne. Theoretically, an illegitimate child may be fully legitimatized in Monaco: Article 227 of the Mongegasque Civil Code provides that when the parents of a (non-adulterine) child marry, the child is legitimatized ipso facto (as happened in 1995 when Princess Stéphanie of Monaco married the father of two of her children. Even though the couple later divorced, the children are deemed to have succession rights).

If his parents were to marry, as the eldest son of Albert, Alexandre Eric would become Monaco's heir apparent. He would also automatically acquire the honorific of Serene Highness and the titles of Hereditary Prince of Monaco, would by tradition be designated Marquis of Baux and, upon accession to the throne, would acquire the dynastic surname of Grimaldi. The French dukedom of Polignac, which the legitimate heir male of the first duke still inherits, and for which Albert II is therefore a potential heir as grandson of Pierre de Polignac, descends according to the nobiliary law of the ancien régime, which did not recognize legitimation for purposes of succession to titles.

On 26 October 2005, Albert II gave an interview to USA television personality Larry King. Albert said his son would not be in line for the Monegasque throne but that he would be taken care of financially. He is also an heir to Prince Albert's personal fortune, estimated at more than one billion dollars. Due to the accession of Monaco to the Council of Europe on 5 October 2004, the European Convention on Human Rights regulates inheritance rights, in addition to the laws of Monaco, which also guarantees familial inheritance for children born out-of-wedlock.

Family

Éric Alexandre has two older half-brothers who live with their father, Nicole's ex-husband, in South America. In June 2006, his father Albert II confirmed a half-sister, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi.

Éric Alexandre lives in France with his mother. They share an estate provided and secured by his father near Monaco (Villefranche-sur-Mer).

Ancestry

Family of Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste

16. Count Maxence de Polignac 8. Count Pierre de Polignac 17. Suzanne de la Torre 4. Rainier III, Prince of Monaco 18. Louis II, Prince of Monaco 9. Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois 19. Marie Juliette Louvet 2. Albert II, Prince of Monaco 20. John Henry Kelly 10. John B. Kelly, Sr. 21. Mary Costello 5. Grace Kelly 22. Charles Majer 11. Margaret Majer 23. Margareta Berg 1.Alexandre Coste 3. Nicole Coste

External links

• [1] BBC: Albert II confirms Alexandre is his son
• [2] Article on Coste and her son (in French)
• [3] Larry King interviews Prince Albert II