MONACO: Prince Albert II of Monaco was proclaimed ruler of the tiny but wealthy Mediterranean principality in a day of celebrations yesterday.
But even as the people welcomed their new sovereign, enthroned during a solemn Mass, many were still wondering how many unrecognised children he had waiting in the wings.
One week after he admitted he was the father of a 22-month-old child living in Paris, the prince refused to deny other paternity claims. Appearing on French television before yesterday's ceremonies, Prince Albert admitted that other women had come forward to claim he had fathered their children.
But he stopped short of an outright denial, saying only: "These claims will be answered in due course." The scandal overshadowed yesterday's celebrations in Monaco, a tiny state with a population of just over 32,000.
Until recently Prince Albert had been the only one of Prince Rainier's three children to have avoided embarrassing the family.
The only son of Rainier and the actor Grace Kelly, who gave up Hollywood for the life of a princess before dying in a car crash in 1982, he has taken part in the past five Winter Olympics as a bobsledder and had largely kept his private life private.
Then Nicole Coste (33), a former Air France flight attendant from Togo, revealed she had had a five-year affair with the prince that resulted in the birth of her son, Alexandre. Other women have also claimed secret affairs.
In his TV interview the prince said Alexandre was not in line to the throne and that any future heir must be the result of a civil and Catholic marriage.