Back in September, Nicole Coste covered an issue of Paris Match with her son Alexandre. Nicole had a years-long relationship with Prince Albert of Monaco, and Albert is Alexandre’s father. Alex is now 18 years old and he lives (part-time, I think) in Monaco, at the Prince’s Palace. Albert began incorporating Alexandre into the Grimaldi family’s lives several years ago, and Alex has been included in birthday parties and charity galas and more. In the Paris Match interview, Coste spoke highly of Albert and how he’s embraced Alex. Coste also said some harsh things about Princess Charlene and how Charlene waited until Albert was away, and then Charlene had Alex moved to the servant’s quarters in the palace. In November, Albert said he was “furious” that Coste spoke about that. Well, Albert is probably going to be incandescent with rage about this: Coste spoke to Richard Eden at the Daily Mail. The tea is piping hot:
Poor Princess Charlene of Monaco has withdrawn from public life as she recovers from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’, but her stepson’s mother, Nicole Coste, has precious little sympathy.
‘I don’t care what’s going on with her,’ Nicole tells me at a party in Marylebone. ‘Why should I?’
Former Air France stewardess Nicole, 49, has an 18-year-old son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, with Charlene’s husband, Prince Albert, 63.
‘Everything that is happening to her is karma,’ claims Nicole, who has not forgiven ex-Olympic swimmer Charlene, 43, for allegedly putting Alexandre in the palace’s staff wing before her £53 million wedding in 2011.
This summer, Nicole and her son were invited to one of the highlights of Monaco’s social scene, the Red Cross Ball, while Charlene was being treated for a mysterious illness 5,000 miles away in her native South Africa.
‘The people in Monaco love me more than they do Charlene,’ she claims. ‘They really love and respect me.’
Nicole adds that she remains ‘close’ to Albert, with whom she had a six-year clandestine relationship. ‘I have known this man for 25 years,’ she says.
Coste’s disgust for Charlene was evident in her Paris Match interview but holy hell!! This is next-level hatred! “Everything that is happening to her is karma” – we don’t even know where Charlene is and why she’s in treatment! And Nicole Coste is like “she brought it on herself and the people of Monaco love me more than her.” While this is delicious, I am worried about Coste a little bit? Albert was clearly displeased with the Paris Match interview, what will he do or say about this?
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Paris Match.
Piling on is never a good look. That tea is always best served in private and never outside a very tight circle.
Never a good look to make another look bad. Karma works both ways.
I agree with you, Amy T; not great to kick someone when they’re down. It does sound terrible that Charlene moved her stepson to the servants’ quarters, but it’s possible (not probable) that it was just while hosting visiting family and guests for the wedding. To say the public hates Charlene – which accounts seem to indicate is true – is not necessary or kind while Charlene is battling her demons.
Yep. Heartless and tacky to do so.
I couldn’t have said it better. Yes, karma has a way of biting the vindictive in the ass.
If a white SOUTH AFRICAN put my black son in the servants quarters, I would despise her too. It was vile to do that to a child. I suppose when they go low. . .f*&^ that when a child is involved. Coste’s disgust is righteous.
She will have to deal with the fallout from her petty and clingy with comments about her closeness to the crown and the love she feels from the elite. 💃🏿💃🏿💃🏿 In other words, she’s human.
@CapPhD: right! She is human, and all this talk about being vindictive isn’t exactly on point. A white woman banished her child to servants’ quarters. That was foul and evil.
OMG what?! How did I not know about this story in particular, though I knew in general of his infidelities. What a tangled web. It is really such a tragic story, all around.
I really find this woman unlikeable.
The more she speaks, the less I like her. What an awful thing to say about anyone yet alone Charlene who has been fighting for her life this entire year!! Coste isn’t putting herself in a great light either as you look at what she is saying. How does she know that the people of Monaco love her? It’s apparent that Nicole is an angry and bitter ex that is riding on the delusions that Albert was going to marry her until Charlene entered the picture, as she so gleefully admitted in previous articles.
Nicole is leaning towards crazy-town and it’s not a good look at all, in fact it’s a very bad look!! I wonder if Albert is going to slap her with a gag order now? I wouldn’t be surprised!!
She seems like an awful person.
Who else but an awful person would be a in a decades long relationship with Albert? Look, I think it’s complete BS that Albert and this woman couldn’t be together officially for what I assume are the obvious reasons (and how gross is Albert for wanting to procreate with a doppelganger of his own mother?) but I suspect personality wise Nicole and Albert are cut from the same cloth.
But if it’s true that South African Charlene moved Albert’s black son into the servant’s quarters, the karma observation isn’t completely wrong either.
Charlene was allegedly vindictive to a CHILD. If this is true, then yeah, Karma. Imagine if Charlene were gracious and communicated w Alex mother as to wedding arrangements?
<THAT would have been a princess move! Cooperation vs evil.
Instead she “got back” at Albert through his child? just low low low (if true)
I think she’s reaching Alice Evans levels of revenge and bitterness. She needs to STFU, this is just so vicious and spiteful.
This is exactly who her behavior conjured up for me too! Charlene might well be a horrid person, but to say the people of Monaco love you and hate her PUBLICLY is a bitter bridge too far.
@Jaded
I was going to comment the same thing!!
Yes, I absolutely agree. She sounds terrible. It’s highly likely that Charlene is either suffering from an addiction or from mental illness. Both are too serious to bludgeon someone with in the press because someone likes the sound of their own voice.
I don’t kick a person when they are down and Nicole sounds horrible here. Besides tooting her own narcissistic horn: ‘The people in Monaco love me more than they do Charlene,’ she claims. ‘They really love and respect me.’
If Charlene has mental health and addiction issues, why talk about her in the press? No wonder Charlene needs help. She has a husband with a wandering peen, multiple love children, sisters who hate her and baby mama who sound like they thought they’d be queen if not for Charlene marrying Albert. Everyone in this mess is hideous except the kids.
@ H : I got caught on that comment too – the people of Monaco love me and hate her. Albert’s successful and amicable co-parenting with an ex does not elevate that ex (Nicole) to being a new-wife-in-waiting until she comes up with a scheme to get rid of the “current” wife.
I doubt it will happen but Nicole needs to sit down and shut up about Charlene. Also I wonder if Nicole is a “reliable narrator” about Charlene.
Nicole Coste needs a reality check. She has all this smoke for Charlene while singing the praises of a man she had to take to court to establish paternity? A man who, in spite of what she says, let Charlene move Alex to the servants quarters? A man who made sure to have white children to carry on the Grimaldi line while his firstborn son was excluded from succession?
She’s messy as fuck.
As if Charlene has any power to do anything regarding housing without Albert’s approval.
Yeah all this. Not saying that, if those stories were true, Charlene was right…just let’s not fool ourselves that Albert is a saint here.
Also, coming from a divorced home, I can attest that she is very likely making things harder for her son in terms of his relationship with his father. When kids are involved you just have to play it cooler for their sake, whether you want to or not.
And maybe a little delusional. I doubt that Monegasques think as highly of her as she thinks they do.
Seriously. She’s blaming Charlene because she knows Charlene is powerless. Albert holds all the power and she rather let out her anger on Charlene than where it really should belong, on Albert the Asshole. Like Charlene had the power to move his son without Albert’s agreement.
I don’t doubt Charlene’s got her nasty side. But seriously. The problem here is ALBERT not Charlene.
Ouch. I get it she’s pissed. Talking to the editor of the daily fail ain’t it though. I get that this is Albert’s ex-mistress and that she is rightfully pissed that her kid was placed in the servant’s hall by his then future stepmother, but I do have to wonder just terrible is Charlene in Monaco because the only voices that have risen in her defense are those of her siblings.
We have no idea if any of this happened, if Charlene changed anybody’s rooms. Coste has been bitching about Albert for years, now she’s turning her problems on Charlene.
No one has come out to say that this horrible thing didn’t happen either. This would be terrible to say about Charlene if it weren’t true and they would be quick to dismiss it, Albert came out to say that he was angry that his ex was talking to the press, not that she was “recalling events” differently, so while yes Nicole is terrible, she might not necessarily be a liar.
And who is supposed to come out about it? Albert? The staff? What Coste is doing here is spinning (a likely) lie against a woman who cannot defend herself.
What’s probably going to happen, now that he’s 18, is that his mother will no longer be invited to all the fancy soirees.
Bingo.
And she might want to be cautious about saying such things on the record about the mother of the future ruler, when her son’s inclusion in any of this will one day depend on that ruling little brother’s kindness and leave.
Yikes lady! I thought you were better at this game for a minute there.
The reality is her son will never be a prince. And that’s not Princess Charlene’s fault (despite other nastiness she might have gotten up too). Take that up with his father the Regent. And since he’s not a prince? To the Monaco gentry this woman is nothing.
While her son will never be a prince Charlene’s nastiness cannot be overlooked. I used to feel sorry for Charlene because she seemed so unhappy and I attributed it to Albert’s behaviour. Not any more. Never, ever take out your anger on someone’s child-it’s speaks directly to one’s character. I think the mother is a piece of work, but this whole situation is beyond messy.
HK9, you’re assuming Coste is telling the truth. A woman who has lied repeatedly to the press through the years BTW.
@notasugarhere
I take everything I see with a boulder of salt. I’ll say it again, I think this woman is a piece of work, but if this is true, I think they all suck.
He is 18 now and She’s cashing out. I don’t believe a word she says about anything.
Having watched Coste’s behavior for 2 decades, I’m more likely to believe Coste is the one lying.
I mean yeah, she really has no business being at royal functions anymore. She was only there as a courtesy for being Alexandre’s mom. Whenever we see Jazmin, Albert’s other kid he had outside of marriage, we never see her mom with her daughter when Jazmin visits her father in Monaco as Jazmin has been a legal adult for some time now.
I could expect to see her at functions if she were, let’s say, his concubine.
Eesh. I’m getting the sense that Albert is a jerk and surrounds himself with fellow jerks. Everyone seems awful except for Alexandre and the twins.
I’m not a fan of piling on when someone is facing serious illness but, if Charlene really moved her son to the staff wing then I kind of get it.
Messing with a person is one thing. Why would anyone be so unaccountably cruel to someone’s kid? What did they do? That’s the sort of thing I would never forgive, if it were my child.
It honestly feels like “evil stepmother” stuff BEFORE we get into the racial angle of putting a biracial child with the servants.
There’s no coming back from that with me.
How do we know what Nicole says is true? I don’t think Charlene would be involved in the protocol of housing the wedding guests, she just showed up to get married
My guess is, it’s true. Was this denied by any of their camps? Albert was upset it came out but he didn’t deny it. And I’m not going to lie, if that was my child, I’d never forgive someone doing that to my child. It’s unforgivable.
Albert is unlikely to have denied something HE did or HE caused to happen. Charlene has no power in the household, that is all Albert.
No way Charlene could do this without Albert’s approval. This is Albert we’re talking about here. Costa is taking her anger out at Albert on Charlene.
And did Charlene do this? Or the people planning the wedding? Because I didn’t think Charlene had any say in the wedding.
Charlene was busy trying to find an escape route. HIghly doubt she would have had the ability to plan room assignments before she was even married anyway.
Please. Albert and his wandering peen, was probably unaware of what was going on in that household. Do you actually think that he was involved in the daily running of the mansion tasks? And did he deny the story? I don’t believe he did. He was angry that it came out, but I don’t remember a denial being issued. Unless I’m wrong?
This, goofpuff. It leads to Albert/Coste and Coste’s anger over her son not being the heir. Albert not marrying her. It doesn’t track to Charlene doing something against Alexandre.
Agree. Charlene tried to escape Monaco 3 times and was basically accosted at the embassy and dragged back to marry him, crying throughout the ceremony. I highly doubt she would have had the power to do anything, considering she was virtually held prisoner there until the wedding. Albert must have at least agreed to move him to another room, or the people planning the wedding did it and blamed Charlene. I mean, she is clearly not a decent person, as it seems like she made a deal to marry Albert and provide him with nice blonde White heirs, but she was completely powerless then and now. She is trapped ther by her children, who she cannot take with her if she leaves.
To be fair even Grace Kelly’s relatives called Charlene rude and unlikeable so I think there’s some truth on it. Also other than sorority to Charlene that she could be in a Britney situation, died she has friends in Monaco, or real fans?
Ooh, my suspicions are that Albert and Nicole never ended their tryst. It continued and still continues to this day. I think Charlene never accepted his paramour, which naturally caused a hostile relationship between the three. Charlene is probably working out a deal to come back on the condition that Nicole is gone, and Nicole fears this and is acting out.
Albert only commented to appease those still not accepting of his relationship with Nicole.
She’s very much implying it never ended.
I think you are right that’s why Nicole is so bold now. But Albert is and absolute wimp for letting someone treat his son this way. And if Albert was a real one couldn’t he amend the royal constitution to make the boy his heir and avoided this messy situation to begin with ?
This supposedly happened when he was eight years old and she is just now telling press? Coste went to the press in 2014 complaining while Charlene was pregnant that she was keeping Albert from her son. Why didn’t she tell this story then? And why did she drop her child off at the Palace for the staff to take care of while his father was gone? And she doesn’t call them staff, she calls them “servants.” That is so gross, entitled, and off-putting. He was a little boy, left in a “suite of rooms.” If he was moved, maybe it was out of necessity. It is hard for staff to keep an eye on a young child when they are on the other side of the Palace.
Edited to add; Perhaps Ms. Coste should have hired a nanny, then she wouldn’t have to deal with those “servants.” The horror.
The 10 year delay in Coste telling the story makes me believe, even more, that Coste is lying.
Nicole is mad because had Albert married her before Alex was conceived and born Alex would be the hereditary Prince of Monaco now. But acceptance of her being consort is a stretch.
He would have been the hereditary Prince if Albert had married Nicole even after Alex was born actually. As long as the ruler of Monaco weds the mother at some point, the offspring automatically are legitimized. In fact, if Albert were to divorce Charlene and then marry Nicole, that’s exactly what would happen as Alex is his eldest son and Monaco for whatever reason prefers male primogeniture because it’s stuck in the dark ages. But that won’t happen as that would displace Jacques’s position in the succession and be way too messy to deal with.
It’s the reason why Stephanie’s two eldest kids Pauline and Louis are in the line of succession for Monaco and not her third kid Camille. She had both Louis and Pauline before she married their father (one of her bodyguards), they were married for a little over a year before they divorced. Because they were briefly married, Pauline and Louis are in line for the throne, even though they were born before their parents were briefly married. Stephanie never married Camille’s father though and so Camille is not included in the line of succession to the Monaco throne.
Albert chose not to marry Coste at any time. That’s why she has continued this crusade for years, and what makes me seriously doubt anything she says about what Charlene may or may not have done.
@ notasugarhere, that’s an excellent point!! Nicole is actually angry at Albert but she can’t smear him in the tabloids, whereas Charlene is fair game! Now I am beginning to wonder if Charlene actually moved him into the servant quarters, as she would have been well acquainted with Nicole and her nastiness.
I get that she’s upset with Charlene and she has every right to be but she’s *publicly* trying to put someone down who’s already dealing with a lot of issues which isn’t right to me. Again, it doesn’t lessen what Charlene did but this isn’t the way to go about it.
And “The people in Monaco love me more than they do Charlene”. I don’t live in Monaco but I doubt that Nicole. Makes me wonder if she’s mad that she isn’t Princess of Monaco and is jealous/angry at Charlene. She can be both angry at Charlene for sending her son to the servant’s quarters but also be angry at Charlene for having the position she wants.
Yeah saying the people in Monaco love me…I mean maybe but probably not? A lot of the people hanging around royals just seem to be two-faced backstabbers so I wouldn’t believe that “love.”
Yeah. Plus if the Monegasque elites don’t like Charlene who is a blonde haired, blue eyed white woman, I don’t think they’re going to like a black woman over Charlene.
@ Sofia : I don’t think the people of Monaco have liked anyone that Grace Kelly’s children have married except for Caroline last husband who had a title but turned out to be a jerk. So Charlene is not alone in being disliked by the people of Monaco who I have heard have an elevated sense of their own importance. Ah, society gossip in an international tax haven!
That’s taking it too far. I doubt Albert will be happy with her saying those things publicly.
If it’s true that Charlene messed with Alexander then I don’t blame Nicole for being upset. But let’s be careful with the way we speak of others suffering. We don’t know the entire story but it’s definitely nastyl.
If it’s true that Charlene messed with Alexander then I don’t blame Nicole for being upset. But let’s be careful with the way we speak of others suffering. We don’t know the entire story but it’s definitely nasty.
Womp womp. Charlene is a white South African raised during apartheid so I 100% believe she was awful to the half-black child. I also think the reason his other daughter’s mother isn’t seen isn’t because she’s not there, it’s bc she looks yt and so doesn’t stand out as much. Is this a good look eh? But let’s stop acting like Charlene didn’t know who he was when she married him.
I’d be careful believing anything Nicolle Coste says, particularly around Charlene or what Coste claims Charlene did. Coste has resented Charlene for years, she remains angry Albert never married her and refused to make their son the future ruler of Monaco.
Of course she’s angry? Shouldn’t she be? Racism should make you angry too.
She’s angry because he didn’t marry her. She should be mad at both because Albert isn’t a saint either….
Furthermore she’s also implying she still is his mistress….
As far as I can tell her public rage is directed only towards Charlene, not Albert. That tells me she knows which side her bread is buttered on.
@alpinewitch
Are you saying race didn’t play a part and she is just petty and jealous person and it has nothing to do with race? Wow!
But the racist person is Albert who refused to marry her to legitimize her child. why isn’t she angry at him instead of singing his praises?
You’re assuming Charlene did any of this, when Coste has been caught lying about many other things. And as someone wrote above, this incident was supposed to have happened 10 years ago but only now is Coste bringing it up? She’s spinning lies and people are falling for it.
goodpuff, that’s how I see it. She knows Albert is a wimp, he’s struggling with Charlene’s condition now, and she’s taking advantage to go for the (financial and PR) juggular.
“Alexandre sort de l’ombre” — Alexandre comes out of the shadow/shade? Kind of a SHADY cover line for a Black woman and her son, no? The racism is just everywhere, in the littlest and most mundane details. I hope this young man can have a happy life and stay out of the drama as much as possible.
Honestly I also feel sorry for Nicole. What a nasty situation.
I just think about the boy, her son. It looks like he may find himself just a tool in her manipulations, whatever her goals can be.
If Charlene was real “evil stepmother”, this is very bad look for her. But I have no warm feelings for this woman too. Firstly, the main culprit in general situation is definitely Albert not Charlene. Stop blaming woman only. What, she hopes Albert will divorse Charlene and marry her? And this is her way to achieve this goal? I’m no fan of Charlene but it looks undignified.
Secondly, doing this to woman who is sick, it’s evil.
And her son, he is reading these articles too. What are his feelings about his mother’s campaign? Anger? Embarrassment? Jealosy? He is a teenager.
I don’t like this.
He’s still not going to marry you, Nicole. Honestly, this isn’t about Alexandre. He’s a convenient excuse to bash a woman Nicole feels usurped her position. I’m more inclined to believe Nicole & Albert were still fooling around than Charlene had the power to do anything in the household which was under Albert/Caroline’s control until Charlene’s marriage. And even after their marriage, Charlene has never had the control Nicole bestows over her.
And why doesn’t he wanna marry her?
Let’s not simplyfy this into a story about a fairy tale princess and the jealous other woman.
He literally has two black so called illegitimate kids and married the white woman because she could give him acceptable white heirs.
If only he had been like Prince Max of Lichenstein he married Angela Brown a black wedding planner from Brooklyn and did not give too hoots what the family or anyone else had to say about it . The same with Prince Alberts cousin the Baron his wife is from Barbados his mother is from Prince Reiner’s first wife .
I’m well aware why he didn’t marry her or Jazmine’s mother. That has nothing to do with Charlene and everything to do with the supremacy of royalty. Nicole isn’t stupid. She needs to blame the right person. Charlene has no power in the palace. Never has. Never will. She needs to be mad at the right person.
She won’t get mad at the right person, because she’s still trying to get Albert to leave Charlene and marry her. Which would put her son as the heir to billionaire Albert and to the ‘throne’ of Monaco. I don’t find Coste believable or trustworthy at all.
I do find it terribly suspicious if the story about the room change was never told until Charlene was taking her sabbatical and there were rumours a divorce might be coming soon. It certainly turned some public sentiments against Charlene at a time when it might serve Albert well to make her look bad.
That is IF this story was not told before, am I right about that?
Yikes, getting in bed with Richard Eden?? Big huge mistake Nicole. Related: Monaco gossip beyond the Casiraghis is hard for me to enjoy or analyze cos we know so little. IF stepmom-to-be Charlene put an 8-year old boy in the servants quarters, she absolutely sucks and I get why his mother would hate her a decade later. IF this Richard Eden story is accurate I wonder if Nicole is okay sounding very unkind to a woman in distress, and also a bit villainish (Monaco loves me more than Charlene sounds cartoonish). IF this is accurate, what does it gain Nicole from Albert? If, if, if.
Agree that giving interviews with the Fail is her fatal mistake. Now they use her for the headlines. They must have thrown some cash at her, and this is what she did with her 30 pieces of silver. Smeared Charlene. To what end?
As a mother, if you messed with my child, you would be dead to me, so while I dislike the sense of kicking a dog while it is down, something tells me that Nicole truly detests Charlene and has waited long years to say it out loud.
This, however, will not gain her any sympathy with Albert, who is doing his best to keep this situation under wraps. Nicole is just adding fuel to the fire and impliying way too much- to me, it reads more like ” see, you were afraid to marry me because of my race, but people love me in Monace and they hate you white chick!”
Ranier would have never allowed her to join the family and represent Monaco. Taking that disappointment out on Charlene helps no one.
Are you aware of Princess Stephanie Alberts sister ? She is Grace Kelly’s daughter and one of Albert’s older sister after Caroline she has two illegitimate children one with her security guard at that. Reiner allowed them at family functions and everything. Monaco’s royal family is and absolute mess. Reiner’s grandmother was and illegitimate child of the first prince of Monaco and was only legitimized as and adult
They aren’t illegitimate, she married both their fathers, albeit briefly. Her third child was born out of wedlock and, therefore, isn’t in the line of succession.
Except Nicole is black. It wasn’t the illegitimate child that bothered Rainier, it was the race of the child and the race of his mother. Had Nicole been white, Rainier would have had a different reaction.
They were out of Wedlock births. She married the security guard after they were born .
@Cait:
Stephanie began a relationship with her bodyguard Daniel Ducruet in 1992. The couple have two children, Louis and Pauline Ducruet, born in 1992 and 1994 respectively at Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monaco. The children were included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne when Stéphanie married Ducruet on 1 July 1995 at Monaco town hall. The couple divorced on 4 October 1996.
Stéphanie gave birth to her third child, Camille Gottlieb, on 15 July 1998 at Princess Grace Hospital Centre. Although she did not identify the father’s name on the birth certificate, many suspected from the start, that Camille’s father is her Head of Security Jean Raymond Gottlieb and, indeed, Camille herself has acknowledged Gottlieb as her father. As her parents never married, Camille is not included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne.
Albert could have married her after his father died; Rainier cannot control him from the grave. Albert made the choice not to marry either of his baby mamas.
Not a fan of this woman. Kicking someone when they’re down is never cool. Also Charlene moved the son without any input from Albert? I wonder what the whole story about that is? Was is temporary? Maybe other guests were there? Hmmm, I think it’s clear Albert is running the show. This chick seems mean and needs to shut up.
“Maybe other guests were there?” — so it is ok to move the biracial son to the servant quarters because other guests are there? those guests can’t stay in a hotel room if there is no place at the palace ? jeez…..the ingrained or internalized racism in some is mindblowing! if Charlene did what Nicole accused her of, she was dead wrong!
now kicking someone when they are already down is not good at all and should not be condone…talking to a dailyfail gossiper makes me think Nicole herself is after something……
I don’t find Coste trustworthy. If Alexandre’s housing was changed, given that he never lived full-time in Monaco and only visited his father rarely? It would have been Albert making the call, not Charlene.
Wow, she’s messy! She seems to occupy a nebulous place in Albert’s life. Bringing the mother of your illegitimate son to the biggest social event in a high-class society takes some real audacity. It seems pretty understandable to me that she would resent Charlene, or even that she would project all of her frustration because of Albert at Charlene. The servants quarters story is a great story–it’s a way to garner sympathy toward her and her son, and create enmity for Charlene, whether true or not. But piling on Charlene doesn’t seem very smart or strategic. The smarter thing to do, especially if she wants to continue to benefit from her son’s position, would be to say a few kind words about Charlene, even if she doesn’t really mean them, or even if Charlene has actively been a megabitch back to her.
The kind words would garner sympathy for her and for her son, and if she saw herself replacing Charlene (Charlene’s duty is done–she gave the prince the blond kids he wanted), looking elegant and sophisticated is the way to go. After all, the Prince has 1 sister who ran off to join the circus and marry a lion tamer. You can’t make this shit up. Don’t punch down, Nicole. If she’s a better hostess than Charlene, she could even find herself in a role as long-term mistress, which would be financially beneficial to her and her son. (It squicks me out to say it, but that seems to be her game). Albert might jump at that, with the approval of monarchies around Europe–“proof” after all that monarchy isn’t inherently racist, which could be used to bludgen Meghan and Harry even further.
Nicole may be counting the money before the check was signed. Not too smart. She needs a better advisor.
It would be interesting to see Nicole in a more “public-facing” role as the official girlfriend/partner if Albert and Charlene ever divorce. It almost worked out for ex-French President François Hollande, but he messed that up with a cheating scandal.
Nicole is probably more liked in Monegasque circles. But I agree that she’s not playing the long game here. I feel she is entitled to feel this way and even voice her opinion on the matter. But it certainly is smarter to play nice and reap the benefits.
Black women are over putting their heads down and smiling so they’re allowed to exist in these white spaces. Her timing may be off, but her anger is well earned and lying to say kind words about Charlene to appease is not the way to go.
@ Val
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
@val —- 100% agree
“The smarter thing to do, especially if she wants to continue to benefit from her son’s position, would be to say a few kind words about Charlene, even if she doesn’t really mean them, or even if Charlene has actively been a megabitch back to her.” —
the smarter thing is to say nothing imo
Don’t know much about these people but I am uncomfortable with how these comments are piling on the black woman while making all kinds of excuses for Charlene. Racism is racism just because Charlene is having a hard time now doesn’t mean we can’t call her out for past behaviour. By that token we will never get rid of racism.
I get the feeling it’s because Costa isn’t the perfect victim. She’s too messy and isn’t classy enough for people to sympathises.But just like in the case of DV victims, victims of racism doesn’t have to be the perfect.
How was Charlene racist?
I have no dog in this fight. I just think Charlene is teetering on the edge and could actually die, so dumping on her at this point in time is not a good look.
What did you expect the comments to say? I don’t see anyone making excuses for Charlene, I see people saying this is not the time to come after her, what happened happened years ago, if it bothered Nicole, she had plenty of time to bring it up while Charlene was healthy. Two things can be true at the same time – Charlene may be racist and Nicole can be nasty, and both can be called out for their respective sins. Besides, Nicole’s nastiness is coming from her own mouth, whereas Charlene’s is alleged by Nicole, who’s clearly not an objective party.
To me this is a woman scorned exacting her revenge on the woman who “took her place”. If anyone is to accused of racism it’s albert since he fathered two mixed race kids but never married the mothers. Nicole however seems to be blaming Charlene and no one else. I don’t care about any of the protagonists but my sympathy at the servant quarters story has now been replaced by doubt, this woman seems delusional
I’m not making excuses for Charlene, she could very well be racist. And I don’t think victims need to be perfect. But they should be credible, and I don’t find Coste credible. Dumping on Charlene as the sole evil when this whole situation was caused by Albert (whom she showers with praise while kissing his @ss) is bad enough, but the timing of it is also suspect. I also question her view of the world regarding the people of Monaco’s adoration of her. And I don’t like that she is using her son for her own publicity. And her previous statements that her son should be the heir (and NOT his older half-sister). It all combines to lower her credibility. And again, the story MAY be true, and Charlene may be a racist (and even if the story wasn’t true, Charlene might STILL be a racist). But I have a hard time believing what Coste says, because I don’t find her credible.
Look I am not that interested in any of these people and wish Charlene a speedy recovery but to me it’s just interesting how this type of posts differs from ones on DV.
What you are doing by stating you don’t find her credible and pointing to her being motivated by having ulterior( financial or status related or both) motives is exactly the thing people do with women like amber heard etc.
It’s interesting and very telling that we believe problematic white women when they speak on DV but we don’t extend the same benefit of doubt to problematic black women who speak on racism.
Also there’s a narrative about Charlene which is that she is the victim in this story so her alleged bullying of the black so called illegitimate son isn’t something that fits into the narrative and therefore people don’t want to believe it.
I don’t think every victim or witness is equally credible. Judging credibility is difficult, and I can’t say I am correct. But given my view of THIS PARTICULAR behavior, I do not find Coste credible. And that is specific to this issue; I might find her credible in other contexts or on other issues. But again, I tried to articulate why I have reservations about what she is saying on this particular issue. That has nothing to do with how credible, or not, other people/women are on other issues. I really don’t see how anyone can say every person is equally credible.
@ Pilar,
We have a man who cheats on women, fathers children, then denies their parentage until forced to do so. Charlene tried to leave him when she found out about the third child he had fathered but he would not let that happen. Let’s just ignore that for now. I don’t know why, but we are. In the meantime, we have Nicole Coste telling us about the time ten years ago that she left her young child with the “servants” at the Palace while his father was gone, then telling us that he was forced to sleep in the same wing as the “servants” who were supposed to take care of him. Am I missing something? Let’s just say he did sleep there. Was he supposed to sleep in his “suite of rooms” by himself? He was alone. His parents were nowhere around. Perhaps it made more sense for him to sleep near the people who Coste felt more than comfortable leaving him with for the weekend. It is not at all unusual for royals to use staff quarters. The Queen of England invited 30 members of her family to Sandrigham to celebrate George’s first birthday and they slept in the staff quarters. Even the Queen has done so. Perhaps if one feels above the staff, they may find it appalling. Clearly the Queen finds no issue with it at all.
Ms. Coste Is making excuses for a racist man who denied her child and blaming his wife for everything that has gone wrong. I cannot abide by that. Albert is not a victim. He is the perpetrator and she needs to stand up and say it out loud so her son understands he doesn’t need to put up with being treated poorly by his father in order to be “someone.” He already is someone. He has more grace and power than all of them combined.
stagaroni, very well said.
I don’t doubt that Coste was the victim of racism, or that Charlene did treat her and her son poorly whenever she got the chance, that this was motivated at least partially by racism on Charlene’s part. There is absolutely no denying that, and it’s wrong of Charlene to do that.
However, with that being said–I think, to attribute all of Nicole Coste’s bitterness, purely to the racism she’s experienced, is naive. If racism was the only thing that Nicole Coste had an issue with, something tells me she wouldn’t be crowing about how good her relationship is with Albert. She wouldn’t be so complimentary about the Monagesque people. She’d be able to recognize how she’s treated in a racist way in all its forms.
But she reserves her ire just for one person, never for anyone else. That says a lot about what’s motivating her anger, and it’s not just racist treatment. If that’s what she’s so angry about, why isn’t she putting Albert on blast for never marrying her and making her son the legitimate heir, all bc he wanted his heirs to be white and in the image of his mother? Why doesn’t she correctly point out that the Monagesque people are incredible snobs who say the worst things behind closed doors about black people and other people of colour?
Why is she so nice about him, and the rest of the Monagesque people, but only singling out Charlene? There’s no way Charlene was any worse than any of the rest of them. These are snobby rich white European aristocrats. Just bc one of them is ok to have sex with a black woman doesn’t mean they’re not all still incredibly racist and snobby.
To say, “I don’t care what happens to Charlene,” while in the same line gushing so positively about Albert, when this man literally found a tall white blonde woman to coerce into marriage out of a line-up bc he wanted tall white blonde kids, is what’s pinging people’s radar. That’s an incredible double standard, and it begs a question as to why it exists for Nicole Coste.
On the one hand, yes, Charlene’s South African and yes, it could be racism. But at the same time, it also seems just as likely that Charlene may not be thrilled to deal with her husband’s ex and his kid. Or all of the above. Heck if I know.
Could be 50/50 on that. Or maybe it’s more of a sore point to deal with Albert’s illegitimate kids when #3 was created during her relationship with him and she wanted to leave him over it.
Either way, Nicole is also sounding a bit catty here.
Dont care how she feels about Charlene but to kick her and take potshots at her when she is obviously unwell is seriously in bad taste. Let’s hope karma doesn’t come round and kick this ‘lady’ in the arse.
She has every right to be raise hell for as long as she pleases. No child deserves to be treated the way that so called “lady” of yours treated that child. Some of you white women have a lot of nerves twisting yourself into pretzels to defend Charlene. She wasn’t ill when she put that child with the servants. Shrme took out her frustrations on him. Charlene is sick, it’s not Nicole’s problem. She didn’t cause her ailments. But Charlene scarred her son- as if black boys aren’t traumatized enough.
Nicole sounds delusional to me.
Opportunistic, lying, out for something.
Here’s the thing: I’m Black and I believe Black women…except this might be the one exception. I truly, honestly believe Albert might be paying Nicole (or asking her) to do this mess.
I wish I could remember where….but somewhere legitimate (not just a tabloid) made it sound like Charlene hadn’t lived in the Palace for YEARS. So how on earth was Charlene dictating where Alexandre was to sleep if she wasn’t even in the Palace? Moreover, the fact that this news broke now….of all times (not just this, but when this was first announced)….is interesting.
Look, it’s not hard to believe a 30-40 year old white woman from South Africa is racist (and she very well could be racist, and yet I still don’t see how she would have the power to do what she did). And I think Albert knows this….and considering the timing I wonder if this is a cudgel being used against her. I really sort of believe that Charlene and him had an agreement to let her divorce him after 10 years and let her retain some sort of custody (even though usually the custody goes straight to Albert)…but he decided for some power trip reason to not let her go.
I think this was at the time of Charlene’s wedding? I’m guessing she did stay at the palace in the run-up to the wedding. And maybe that was the only time she could – she seemed ready to run, so perhaps Albert gave a blanket order not to contradict what she says?
If I’m wrong about timing, I’m also having a harder time believing Charlene had the power to move the boy without Albert knowing and approving. Which doesn’t absolve her, but does pose the question of – why is Albert off the hook?
We’ve heard the stories of how snotty Caroline and Stephanie are to Charlene. I, too, have a hard time believing that Charlene wields any sort of power over palace operations.
Duplicate comment
Yeah, what I’m mostly getting from all this is that the adult Grimaldis are all trashy assholes and that their court is a nest of vipers – like the Windsors but without the pretense of respectability.
I’m going to blame most of this dynamic on Albert. He marginalized his eldest child, married a woman who clearly wasn’t on board with being a good stepmother to that child and also wasn’t all that enthusiastic about marrying him, fathered another child during that relationship, marginalized that child as well, and is now managing the publicity around his wife’s illness terribly. If he was a decent human being and had any sense, he’d stop commenting about Charlene, give Nicole whatever money or privilege would convince her to stop speaking about Charlene to the press, and concentrate on being a better father to all his children.
No matter whatever a person has done, I am not okay with “you have serious health issues, you’ve done something to deserve it.” I say this as someone who watched her abusive mother die from ALS.
Very interesting, all of you commentators! Never entered my mind that the affair with Nicole could be ongoing. Could he have used Alexandre as a threat? As in divorcing you and marrying Nicole, thus making Alexandre the heir and Prince Jacques out? This would be emotionally devastating to anyone, especially one trying to recover from a serious illness. This threat would be enough to keep her from leaving him.
I don’t know . . . doesn’t seem like much of a threat to me. If I were Charlene, I might welcome such an outcome?
But wouldn’t that be a gift in Charlene’s eyes? Removing her son from being heir means it’s easier for her to leave Monaco with both kids and quitting that bitch.
Exactly.
But what if the only reason she had this pregnancy was to fulfill the contract? Wouldn’t she feel blindsided now?
Another thought; how does she explain to Jacques 10 years from now, that she prevented him from his birthright? Wouldn’t that be his decision ?
I doubt it. Charlene may not want a title and would be happier without it but I doubt she wants her son to lose his birthright.
I don’t know who’s advising her, but this ain’t a good look. It’s ok to not like her, but don’t act like her “misfortune” couldn’t happen to you, you had to force the man to acknowledge his kid. Shhhhhh……
Damn, she did not mince words. No doubt to her feelings on Charlene. Not even pretending to be nice.
Nicole has gone after Charlene in the French tabloids several times over the years. After the twins were born she said that her and her son had had a close and happy home life with Albert before the twins arrived (intimating that they were living together as “spouses”) and complaining that now he wasn’t spending as much time with them. (I paraphrased her comments from memory so ……) .
I feel bad for Nicole because I believe she trusted Albert, but I would never ever leave the twins alone with her. Probably not with Auntie Charlotte, either.
This was a comment to someone at a “party.”
Who knows what else was said.
What was the lead up?
It was a party so….🍸🍸🍸
No such thing as off the record for some tabloids.
Just sayin’ – it wasn’t an interview.
They made a whole story out of 2 sentences.
🤷🏻♀️
Well, Nicole Coste, apparently, has a habit of doing this. Getting excited about something (like, for example, the prospect of her son possibly being legitimated as Albert’s successor, all those years ago), then shooting her mouth off a little *too* much, getting reprimanded for it, and falling out of the spotlight for a while.
I don’t know if people in Monaco like her more than they like Charlene, although I don’t think that’s actually too far off mark here. I don’t know what sort of karma Charlene is reaping, bc it seems like the only thing that we know of that she actually did to Nicole Coste was move her son to the servant’s quarters. That’s bad, but unless she’s made a habit of doing that in the subsequent years, what could Charlene have possibly done to deserve the situation that she’s in right now, for Nicole Coste to say this? This just seems like an incredibly cruel thing to say, and completely unnecessary. No one deserves what Charlene is going through.
Is she mad because Albert didn’t marry her instead?
Yes.
Alexandre looks like his grandfather. Albert II’s genes skipped his son and went right on to his grandbaby.
I have a hard time believing that the palace staff would take such an order as in placing the prince’s son in the servants quarters. I’m sure Charlene is treated more like a child and does not run the staff. Albert would be furious and most likely tells the staff not to take her seriously. If I worked at the palace and Charlene told me to do that I would confirm with the estate manager who would confirm with Albert. If it was a regular household then I could see Charlene doing this but not in a palace.
Was this woman drunk when she made these comments? It says “she told me at a party”. It sounds like she was trashed and just let it all out without understanding who she was talking to or where it would be printed. SMH
I read that some friends of Charlene’s were upset that Albert has phrased his “explanation” to deliberately mislead people into thinking that Charlene may be undergoing mental illness or addictions or both, when her friends said that because of her ent illnesses, Charlene has not been able to swallow whole food for half a year or longer, and has lost half her weight, and is indeed fighting for her health if not her life. The friends explicitly denied mental health/addiction illness. They expressed concern for Charlene, and anger, consternation and disbelief at Albert. My thoughts after reading that were that, just an instant thought, that if he were done with her, and she had given him all that she could, he was positioning himself in the world’s opinion to be shed of her without looking bad himself. Me, I think that ship has sailed. He looks pretty cold an individual to me. I pray for Charlene and hope she heals, in more ways than one, and if she wants out, finally makes it.
Kid is 18 so she probably isn’t getting child support anymore. She is probably getting paid for these interviews and is looking for a book deal of some sort.
As a Black woman, if my child’s white stepparent moved them to the servants’ quarters, there would be no end to the interviews I would give. I wouldn’t care whether or not the individual was sick or in recovery from something serious. Alexandre was 8 years old when this allegedly happened. You don’t think the kid was traumatized by that?
I agree Charlene grow up in a country that Black lives did not matter. The fact she put the bi-racial child in the servant quarters. Albert had not denied it, he just mad that it came out. How were Nicole his mistress, Albert were not married to Charlene when started dating Nicole. Why does know body call, his first child mother his mistress. Why is Nicole the mistress?
I don’t doubt Charlene might be racist, but it isn’t true that black lives don’t matter in South Africa. Apartheid ended in the early 90s, and the country has been led by the black majority since then, as it should be. As I said, that doesn’t mean Charlene isn’t racist but not all white South Africans are. My husband was born there and lived there until his early teens. He is not racist at all and he and his family were thrilled when Apartheid ended and Mandela became President.
“Apartheid ended and Mandela became President.” —are you implying racism was over because apartheid ended and Mandela became president?
Why the hell doesn’t it bother anyone that they call the staff rooms, “servants quarters?” Even Nicole says it so easily. It is messed up.
Honestly, she sounds like a jerk. Albert sounds like a jerk. Charlene may very well be a jerk also, but she’s the only one who hasn’t had a voice in this saga, and I’m side-eyeing all of this. It sounds like she couldn’t even get herself out of a marriage she didn’t really want, so how much control did she really exert over sleeping arrangements? We’ll probably never know, so speculating at length seems pointless, but I feel uncomfortable with the fact that she’s “away,” she’s been “away” for some time, but there’s a ton of stuff coming out from other people about her while she’s “away.”
I don’t really care that Nicole is kicking Charlene while she is down because I do believe she felt done kinda way about Alexandre, and the servants quarters story is likely true. But if she thinks Albert didn’t sign off on that, she’s a fool. I also believe they are still carrying on an affair. But here’s what I know:
1. She had to take this man to court to establish paternity. He was perfectly fine to keep their relationship and resulting baby a secret. Ick. Good enough to fuck but not marry isn’t a pretty picture.
2. Instead of marrying her, making her Princess Nicole, and giving Alexandre his rightful place as the future Crown Prince of Monaco, he married a white woman (against her will if we believe the escape attempt stories), had babies with her, and their son is the future heir. Super disrespectful.
3. I’m really supposed to believe a man who could have a woman’s passport confiscated and blocked her exit from the country has no part in how his household is run? I don’t believe Charlene can do anything that doesn’t go through Albert. But he gets to make her the wicked stepmother while playing the passive, powerless husband. Bullshit.
So I’m going to side eye Nicole all day long for making all these excuses for a man who has done nothing but disrespect her while trying to blame it all on Charlene. I don’t believe for a minute she’s more accepted than Charlene in Monaco. I’m supposed to believe they are less racist than the UK, where they want to strip the 2 kids who are only 1/4 black of titles?
Drag Charlene all day, but spare me the Albert praise. It’s embarrassing to watch this kind of groveling.
Not buying what this piece of work is selling.
The infantilizing of awful white royal women is exhausting . I never understood the “poor charlene” “rescue charlene” trope. Nicole may not be as nice as Meghan but i believe her when she says this woman is racist and awful. She lacks tact that’s it. Not gonna act holier than thou and clutch my pearls when it’s a common thought to attribute karma to an enemy or awful person’s situation. Give me a break.
Exactly @livealot! I am astounded by the sheer volume of folks clutching their pearls and rushing to defend Charlene. If I had a child who was slighted by my ex’s spouse, girlfriend, or whatever in any way, trust and believe that I would be salty too and wouldn’t give a rat’s behind about their feelings. I am more inclined to believe Nicole because Albert didn’t deny her claims that Alexandre was placed in a servant’s quarters. As the saying goes, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!” Nicole may be tacky and uncouth as all get out, but I am more inclined to believe her. As a matter of fact, I remember her sharing this tidbit years ago. I suspect that it is being brought up again to provide some context as to why Nicole isn’t particularly fond of Charlene.
@livealot & @incognito08 I agree with you both. No sympathy for charlene.
this happened right before the wedding, the wedding where people suspected Charlene was about to run off and albert hold her passport? that wedding? that sus
if she was such a flight risk to albert, I don’t think she had any power or means to move anybody anywhere? and why now?
That young man looks positively princely!
If there is housing staff then there is likely a house manager who oversees the staff and that events are going on accordingly. That would include placement as well. So if came out that there was racist maneuvering then it would reflect upon Albert more so.
I become more skeptic the more inflammatory her accusations and opinions get. She seems like a bitter ex. All this over Awful Albert. SMH.
While I understand her sentiment towards Charlene and why she dislikes her, I don’t think this is something that should be said publicly. That’s something you share with your best friend while drinking a glass of wine, not with a tabloid.
While I can empathize with her position, she is blaming the wrong person. When a soon-to-be husband has a string of illegitimate children, a new paternity case, and invites one of the many illegitimate children to stay, the blame should be aimed squarely in his corner.
I think everyone is awful in this story. Nicole said though, that Albert got mad when he found what Charlene tried to do with Alexander, so I think we should believe her, she was not beyond trashing Albert when needed. I still side eye Albert, something is messy in this whole story. I’d like to hear Charlene talking, specially about this story. Not because I’m giving the benefit to the white woman, but we know the smearing campaign against Meghan and how royals can treat women badly, plus the fact that she was a run away bride and always looked sad or medicated makes this whole situation very, veeery bizarre. I don’t doubt that Charlene is unlikeable, I mean she has no charisma, but what was really happening behind the doors?
I feel this is another ‘Diana-Camilla’ situation, but this time ‘the Camilla’ had a previous son with the prince and is somewhat more well liked despite being polarising, and ‘the Diana’ was not very popular with the public. I just hope this story ends better and that Alexander at least develops a good relationship with his younger siblings.