You South Africa – 08 August 2019

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Riviera in 1991 when sh

and Albert had a fling.

She discovered sh

was pregnant when sh

returned to the US an

she and Albert continue

to chat on the phone, s

said in an interview. B

when baby Jazmin w

born in 1992, he stopp

contacting her.

She filed a lawsuit st

ing the prince’s paterni

and seeking child suppo

but a judge dismissed it

jurisdictional grounds.

mara later sued her law

for failing to advise her

file the suit in Monaco andnottheUS.

Despite all the drama, Jazmin had a

normal upbringing in Palm Desert, Cal-

ifornia, where she went to a Catholic

school and excelled in sport, drama and

music.

In 2006 when she was 14, Albert for-

mally acknowledged paternity. His law-

yer, Thierry Lacoste, said the prince had

planned to keep his parentage of Jazmin

secret until she reached adulthood but

“increased public speculation about her

father made the situation untenable”

for the young girl.

Described as a “mature, sweet and in-

telligent girl” by insiders, Jazmin appears

to be close to her father.

She was first seen in public with him

• and Charlene (41) – at the Princess
  Grace Foundation Awards in New York
  in 2012. She also regularly visits the
  Pink Palace and was with her dad last
  year for his 60th birthday.
  In 2015 she gave her first public inter-
  view about her father to Harper’s Bazaar
  magazine, revealing she met him for the
  first time when she was 11.
  “My mom and I travelled to Monaco
  to meet him,” she said. “I wanted that
  moment to connect with my father, to
  get to know him and to have him get to
  know me.
  “Not having had that figure around, I
  missed that. It’s wonderful that it hap-
  pened when it did and we’ve been enjoy-
  ing a great relationship ever since.”
  While she never got to meet her fa-
  mous grandmother – who died in a car
  accident in 1982 aged 52 – she says she
  felt a connection when she saw her in
  the 1956 movie High Society alongside
  Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
  “I’m passionate about acting, dancing

andsinging.Itwasa realgoosebumps

momentforme.”

S

ADLYAlbert’srelationship

withAlexandredoesn’tseem

tohavefollowedthesame

trajectory– eventhoughthe

prince’srelationshipwiththe

teen’smomwasmoreserious

thanhisflingwithTamara.

AlbertmetNicoleona Paris-bound

planein 1997 whenshewasworkingas

a flightattendant.

“ThestrangethingisI wasn’teven

supposedtobeontheflight,”shesaidin

an interviewwithBritishnewspaperthe

MailonSunday.“Iwasonstandbythat

dayandwasfillinginfora colleague.”

It wasa caseofinstantmutualattrac-

tion.“IalwaysservedinfirstclasssoI

wasaccustomedtodealingwithVIPs.

ButwhenI sawAlbertoureyesmetand

I knewthiswasdifferent.Therewas

def initelyanauraaroundhimandwe

hit itoffimmediately.

“I found him attractive

ith a twinkle in his eye.”

he prince was en-

anted by the lanky

auty, who’d left her

st African homeland of

o at 15 for Paris, deter-

ned to make a better

for herself.

icole and Albert em-

ked on a clandestine

ir thatlastedfiveyears

d whenthingsended

olediscoveredshewas

nant.Alexandrewas

inAugust2003.

e boy’sexistencewas

oselyguardedsecret

untilFrenchmagazineParisMatch

publishedphotosoftheprincewithhis

then22-month-oldson,lessthana

monthafterthedeathofhisfather,

Rainier,attheageof 81 inApril2005.

Albertwentontosuccessfullysue

themagazineforinvasionofprivacy.

Hepubliclyacknowledgedpaternity

ofthelittleboyinJulyofthatyear“be-

causehewantedtofaceuptohisre-

sponsibilities,”hislawyersaid.

“He[Alexandre]willbeverywelltaken

careof,”AlberttoldUStalk-showhost

LarryKingin2006.

Butitseemshiscaredoesn’textend

toseeinghiseldestson– andNicole

sayseverythingchangedafterAlbert’s

wedding.

“Idon’tfeelI cancontacthimany-

more,”shesaid.“There’smoretobeinga

fatherthanjustmoney.Asonneedsa

father tolove,helpandguidehim

throughlife.Wemustfinda wayto

makethishappen.”S

SOURCES:DAILYMAIL.CO.UK,HELLOMAGAZINE.COM,IMDB,

INSTAGRAM,THEGUARDIAN.COM,BBC.CO.UK

He’snowhappilymarriedtoPrincessCharlene,withwhom

hehastwinsGabriellaandJacques,whoaresecondand

firstinlinetothethroneofMonacorespectively.Histwo

illegitimatechildrenaren’tinthelineofsuccessionbut

willinheritsomeofhisfortune.

In his single days Albert mingled

with many of the world’s most

beautiful women, including

supermodels Claudia Schiffer

(left) and Naomi Campbell.

you.co.za 8 AUGUST 2019 | (^91)