Prince Albert of Monaco net worth: Ex-accountant claims French royal made payments to mistresses and illegitimate children

On January 22, 2024, Prince Albert's former accountant alleged that the reigning Prince of Monaco bankrolled his mistresses and his illegitimate children unbeknownst to his wife. Claude Palermo reportedly kept a detailed account of the royals' spending in his notebooks.

Speaking to two French newspapers, Le Monde and Libération, Palermo claimed that Prince Albert had allegedly bought Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, his illegitimate daughter, an apartment in New York worth $3 million and was also paying kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre Coste, his son with his mistress Nicole Coste.

Prince Albert allegedly bankrolled his mistresses and his illegitimate children (Image via @PPBermingham/X)

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Prince Albert has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. Prince Albert has been married to Zimbabwe swimming champion Charlene Wittstock since 2011 and the couple are parents to twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, born in 2014.

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Prince Albert, one of the richest monarchs in the world, has an estimated net worth of $1 billion

Prince Albert of Monaco, the richest country in the world, allegedly had a secret account in a French bank under the name AG for Albert Grimaldi to pay for his former mistresses and their children without his wife's knowledge.

According to The Daily Mail, Palermo alleged that the Prince paid his illegitimate children Jazmine Grace, aged 31, and Alexandre Coste, aged 20, $612,000 annually each. He also bankrolled his former mistress Nicole Coste's fashion business, including a shop in Knightsbridge.

Palermo reportedly recorded these allegations in his notebooks. Excerpts of these notebooks made their way to the two French newspapers, which then delved deep into the allegations.

Palermo was unceremoniously let go in 2023 after two decades of service to the Grimaldi family following the corruption and embezzlement allegations against him. As per The Daily Mail, the accountant vehemently denied these claims, saying:

"I never took a cent. This is a 100 per cent denial. I am neither corrupt nor a thief, all improbable things of which the princely family, for whom I devoted myself for two decades, unjustly accuses me today."

Speaking to LeFigaro about his decision to let go of one of his most trusted lieutenants, the Prince said:

"As I've said: if trust is broken, then it's impossible to continue working together."

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“I have no control over the princess’s spending”: Palermo's notebooks also recorded Princess Charlene's extravagant spending

While Prince Albert's payments to his mistresses and illegitimate children were excessive, Princess Charlene's expenditure greatly worried the former accountant. According to the NZ Herald, the Princess allegedly spent $1.5 million on her Corsica holiday home renovations.

She also allegedly paid her chef around $445 every day from petty cash, and her family greatly benefitted from her husband's amassing wealth, receiving an allowance that amounted to hundreds of thousands of euros.

In December 2019, Palermo claimed that the Princess, aged 46, had allegedly spent $27 million in her eight-year tenure as a royal, even though her allowance was limited to $13 million.

“It’s crazy!” Palmero wrote at the time. “I have no control over the princess’s spending.”

Princess Charlene's spending worried Calude Palermo (Image via Getty Images)

According to the Daily Mail, the Prince denied Claude Palermo's allegations with regards to his spending, saying:

"The attacks that Mr Palmero makes against me and against the state of Monaco and its institutions show his true nature and the little respect . . . he has for the family and the principality."

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Born to Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly, Prince Albert, aged 65, became the reigning monarch of the Principality of Monaco after his father died in 2005.