Prince Albert II of Monaco is to legally recognise a second child born out of wedlock, according to a book to be published this week.

The playboy ruler's second lovechild is reported to be a 14-year-old girl named Jazmin Grace who is the daughter of a former waitress from California.

"Albert and Tamara Rotolo met on the Cote d’Azur in July 1991 where Tamara had come with her husband on holiday.... She was married, Albert was careless," the authors quote a friend of the Prince as saying.

"Less than four weeks later, in August 1991, Tamara told Albert that she was pregnant."

The authors, Lena Lutaud and Thibault Dromard, are both journalists at France's Le Figaro newspaper.

Jazmin’s mother Tamara Rotolo became pregnant after a brief liaison with the Prince during a holiday in 1991, the authors write in The Underside of the People Press.

"Described as a mature, pleasant and intelligent young girl, Jazmin Grace was born in March 1992 in Palm Springs, California," the authors continue.

The child's second name appears to be a reference to the Prince's late mother, Princess Grace, the former Hollywood film star Grace Kelly.

Later the same year Mrs Rotolo filed a paternity suit in a California court citing the Prince as the father, but the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in the affair.

Officials in the small Mediterranean state refused to comment on the claim, but the book quoted an unnamed friend of the Prince, who said "there are no more hidden children".

Last year - shortly after inheriting the princedom from his late father, Rainier - the Prince confirmed that he is the father of a boy, Alexandre, who was born in August 2003 to Nicole Coste, an air hostess from Togo.

According to Lutaud and Dromard, Albert, who at 48 is often referred to as Europe's most eligible bachelor, is preparing to confirm his paternity in the coming weeks, and his lawyer is in negotiations with the girl’s mother.

Discussions between the two parties centre on what strategy the Prince should follow once he has recognised Jazmin Grace, according to the book. Albert is anxious that his daughter remain out of the headlines, and not "give in to the temptation to become a star".

Albert has been linked in the popular press with a succession of girlfriends, but, like his sisters Caroline and Stephanie, has regularly resorted to the French law courts to protect his privacy.

According to Le Parisien, the ruling Grimaldi family was awarded more than €500,000 (£343,000) last year alone by judges enforcing France’s strict rules against press intrusion.

An illegitimate child cannot accede to power in Monaco, unless the Prince marries the child's mother. Under a 2002 succession law, Monaco’s throne will pass to Princess Caroline if Prince Albert dies without legitimate offspring.

However after Alexandre was recognised last year, the Prince’s lawyer made clear that he has the right to inherit his father’s wealth. Prince Albert’s fortune was estimated recently at $1 billion by Forbes magazine, which placed him sixth in its list of the world’s richest people, ahead of the Queen.

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