A former air hostess from the West African state of Togo has claimed that her 20-month-old son is the illegitimate lovechild of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

In an interview published by the weekly magazine Paris-Match, Nicole Coste, 33, said that she met the prince on a flight from Nice to Paris in July 1997 and began a long affair during which "I fell very much in love with him".

The couple split up briefly, because Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, objected to the relationship, but got back together. Rainier died a month ago and Albert has succeeded him as monarch.

Mlle Coste told the magazine that she fell pregnant in December 2002 and Albert agreed to undergo a DNA test which proved his paternity of baby Alexandre, who was born in Paris on August 24, 2003. The magazine published photographs of the prince with the child, who is of a much lighter complexion than his mother, in his arms.

"Albert signed the certificate of recognition," Mlle Coste told Paris-Match. "He did that out of respect for me, while ordering that the certificate could not be officially lodged with the town hall until his father's death."

But she said that she had never been given a copy of the document.

"I was never given any paper, all I have is the serial number of the certificate," she said. "Several times I asked for a certificate from the lawyer... I was told 'later'," she added.

"I appeal to his heart and think that he will understand his son's interests... I only wish that he recognises his responsibilities - I am not a gold-digger."

Monaco's royal family declined to comment on the paternity claim, although its lawyer, M. Thierry Lacoste, told the AFP news agency that a legal strategy would be determined in the next few days. "You have to ask why this affair is coming out right now," he added.

The fact that Prince Albert has never married or recognised a formal heir became a matter of political concern during his father's final years, casting doubt on his succession and even on Monaco's continuing independence from France, which depended on unbroken succession.

A legal solution was found to the dilemma in 2002 with a law providing for a reigning prince to pass the throne to his siblings and their descendants - meaning that his elder sister, Princess Caroline, is now the heiress presumptive, followed by her elder son.

Under the Monegasque laws of succession, baby Alexandre could not succeed to the throne unless Albert and his mother were to marry, which would automatically make him the heir apparent.

It is not the first time that Prince Albert has been subjected to paternity claims. A former California waitress says that her 13-year daughter, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, was the result of a two-week affair with Albert in Monte Carlo in 1991.

Tamara Rotolo filed a paternity suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in 1992 in which she asked a judge to order the prince to provide a blood sample. Albert's lawyers argued that the case did not belong in the court and it was eventually dismissed.

American newspaper reports suggest that Albert has never denied his possible paternity of the child but was not willing to undergo a test while his father was still alive.

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