Princess Charlene, Nicole and Gossip

I dislike even discussing these sorts of things but, as usual, there is no let up in the rumor mill regarding Princess Charlene. The latest rumor (from the usual anonymous sources -not worth a dime, keep that in mind) is that Princess Charlene has forbidden Prince Albert to have any contact with his past girlfriends. Of course, as with such gossip, you can take it for what it is worth (which isn’t much). I remain indifferent on the subject. I certainly would not object to Princess Charlene putting her foot down on this issue, they are a married couple now and different rules apply. A husband and wife have every right to want each other completely to themselves. Much of the tongue-wagging has focused on the absence of Nicole Coste (mother of the Prince’s natural son Alexandre) from the recent Red Cross ball which she had attended in the past. She certainly has not been bashful about being seen.

All of this may be completely untrue (and probably is I would think) but as I, or anyone else who runs a weblog, forum, chat room, message board or what have you on the subject of Monaco can tell you, the former flight attendant from Togo has a handful of very committed fans on the internet with a great deal of free time on their hands. Any time Nicole or Alexandre is mentioned they come out of the wood work to plead her cause, trash the Prince and the new Princess and to moan endlessly about little Alexandre as if he were some poor, victimized, neglected child in an uncaring world. Spare me the drama (and thanks to upgrading screening measures taken a few months ago I am), this is simply ridiculous and I will take this opportunity to explain exactly why.

Nicole does not have a very illustrious reputation and most of it began when the general public first learned she even existed, when she went public with her son, announcing to the media that Prince Albert was the father, mere days after the death of HSH Prince Rainier III when all of Monaco was still deep in mourning. Alexandre was born in 2003 and yet she said nothing until 2005 until there was a death in the family and all eyes were on Monaco to go public with her “revelation”. That did nothing to endear her to the general public from the very start. She has also been rather forward with herself, such as when she decided to go strolling through the streets of Monte Carlo the very day before Prince Albert and Princess Charlene were to be married. A rather odd time to visit the country to say the least. Neither was she some empty-headed girl who was taken advantage of by a dashing prince. She was a grown woman when they had their “relationship”, already divorced with two children. In short, she had been around the block and knew how the world worked. She has cashed-in big time because of her fling with the Prince, a fling she had to know would go nowhere.

Finally, as to Alexandre himself, he is the one totally innocent party in all of this. His parents made the bad decisions and he has to live with the consequences. Everyone wishes the very best for him, I certainly do and I have never come across anyone who does not. What I will not do is feel sorry for him. This may come as a surprise to some people but, in the grand scheme of the history of the Grimaldi dynasty, Alexandre is nothing special. Illegitimate children are nothing new, in fact they have been rather common. None ever became princes of Monaco, nor did any ever expect to be, though some certainly rose to positions of great importance in the principality. This was the case in royal houses all across Europe. Alexandre is not unique in being the natural son of a prince, nor is he being treated any better or any worse than any other. He is not a child to feel sorry for. He is very well cared for, can do and become anything he likes and he will never have to work a day in his life if he doesn’t choose to. Just because he may not see his father as often as some people think he should (and rest assured these people have no idea how often the Prince sees Alexandre) that is nothing to moan and groan about. Feel sorry for children who have no parents or who have abusive parents, who are sick or starving. Do not feel sorry for Alexandre. He is better off than the vast majority of children on this planet, he wants for nothing and he has the world at his feet. He’s a good kid and can live whatever sort of life he chooses.

Now, let’s move on shall we…