Royals Who Have Been Plagued By Secret Baby Gossip

It would be easy to think of falling in love with a prince or princess as the start of a fairy tale, but the most dedicated royal watchers know the reality is way more complicated than that. Like many other young people, members of European royal families are expected to date a few different candidates before settling down. However, different from other youths, these high-ranking members of the upper crust face extra pressure to figure out how to know for sure if someone is the one. The only issue, of course, is that royals who date around too much leave pesky rumors in their wake. Over the years, many royals have faced drama about royal love children.

Naturally, the vast majority of this gossip is totally false. Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, is rumored to have fathered at least three kids outside of his marriage — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Elizabeth herself has posthumously faced rumors concerning the parentage of her second son, the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Even Camilla, Queen Consort, is rumored to have given a secret baby up for adoption in Australia. These allegations, however untrue, are made all the more interesting by the cases of royal love children who have actually existed. Prince Albert II of Monaco has admitted paternity of two secret babies, while Prince Laurent of Belgium has recognized just one. Even the British royal family has covered up secret kids — leading fans to wonder if there are more.

Prince Albert II of Monaco's love children, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Grimaldi, were born to different mothers in two different decades. Jazmin was born in 1992 — nine months after her mother, Tamara Rotolo, went on a beach vacation to Monaco. Rotolo enjoyed a brief fling with Albert and tested positive for pregnancy upon returning home. She was initially shocked when the prince failed to claim paternity of their daughter. It wasn't until 2006 that Albert admitted that 14-year-old Jazmin was, indeed, his daughter. But by then, the prince had also taken responsibility for another child born out of wedlock — a son, Alexandre Coste.

While Jazmin had been born after a brief encounter, Alexandre was the product of a years-long romance between Prince Albert and his ever-feuding ex, Nicole Coste. Photos show that after Alexandre was born in 2003, Albert visited his son on several occasions. However, it was not until 2005 that the prince publicly confirmed paternity of Alexandre. Leading up to the big reveal, Alexandre's mother pressured Albert by sending the photos of the prince and his baby to the French tabloid, Paris Match, for publication. The births of these two children — who remained secret for years — led many royal fans to question Albert's morality.

Rumor has it that Prince Albert of Monaco fathered a third secret love child, but as of this writing, the prince has failed to recognize the child involved. According to court documents filed in Italy (via The Telegraph), a Brazilian known as Mariza S. met Albert in Rio de Janeiro in 2004. At the time, she apparently believed that he was a Canadian lawyer. She claimed to have embarked on a romantic trip with him throughout Europe before eventually becoming pregnant. When Mariza reached out to Albert to share the news, he allegedly ghosted her.

Per her claims, Mariza did not know who Albert was until she recognized a photograph of him on a tabloid. The knowledge of his identity, she said, eventually emboldened her to file a paternity claim in Italy. Beyond requesting that Albert undergo a DNA test, Mariza asked the Monégasque prince to read a handwritten letter from her daughter. According to the Daily Mail, the document read, "I don't understand why I grew up without a father, and now that I have found you, you don't want to see me."

Rather than taking the DNA test and dispelling these pesky rumors once and for all, Albert filed for sovereign immunity. The court accepted his request, leaving questions about the case unanswered. Albert's team, though, has remained firm in its denials of paternity, labeling Mariza's case a joke.

Throughout his life, Prince Philip's godson, Max Boisot, faced rumors that he was actually a secret royal baby. Max's mother, Hélène Cordet, had been a close childhood friend of Philip's, and when she experienced financial problems in her adult years, she published a sensationalistic book that made bizarre comments about her kids' potential paternity. What's more, Philip didn't seem too bothered by Cordet's lack of discretion, and took her kids under his wing. He paid particular attention to Max — born in 1943 — even paying his tuition at the prestigious Gordonstoun School. Some royal watchers even thought that Max resembled Philip with his light hair and regal mannerisms. Palace courtiers tried to keep Philip away from Cordet to prevent tongues from wagging even more.

However, while fans found entertainment in Max and Philip's relationship, the former did not. As a young man growing up in Great Britain, Max found the rumors surrounding his paternity to be relentless. He eventually moved to China, where he worked as an economics professor at the EuroChinese Business Centre. Even so, Max had to tell the press, "I have heard these rumors all my life. But they are ridiculous," as reported by the Daily Mail. "My father — my real father — lives in Paris, and it is silly to say otherwise. All this goes back to [Philip and Cordet's] childhood friendship and there's nothing more to it than that."

Over the years, rumors about Prince Philip's commitment to the late Queen Elizabeth II have rotated through the gossip mills. The popular television show, "The Crown," hinted at the prince's infidelity in multiple episodes — with one accusing him of carrying on with a professional ballerina. However, in real life, no extra-marital affairs concerning Philip have ever come to light. Despite this, there are at least two living adults who claimed to be Philip's children — an American woman named Colleen Wensley-Garcia and an Australian man called Andrew Battenburg.

According to court documents obtained by 7News Australia, in 2024, Wensley-Garcia filed a lawsuit requesting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) release documents about her paternity. According to Wensley-Garcia, the organizations are in possession of a birth certificate that would prove Philip was actually her father. She claimed that the documents would also show that her real name was Grace Victoria Mountbatten. No evidence supports these allegations.

As for Battenburg, he is a self-proclaimed lord who insists that everyone refer to him with that title. Adopted in Australia in 1962, Battenburg claimed to have received a secret letter from England when he was 21 proving that Philip was his father, according to New Zealand outlet Stuff. However, the Aussie has yet to produce the document or otherwise prove its existence. Ultimately, it's very unlikely that either Wensley-Garcia or Battenburg were Philip's children.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla's romance was certainly one for the ages, but a man in Australia claimed their love story was actually even more complicated than most fans believe. Simon Charles Dorante-Day claimed he was Charles and Camilla's secret love child. According to his allegations, which he revealed to ITV's "This Morning" in 2021, the king and queen first met in 1965 when they were teenagers. According to the Daily Mail, he supposed they first connected at Winston Churchill's funeral. Apparently, they went on to enjoy a brief teen romance that resulted in a son. Per Dorante-Day's story, Camilla gave birth to him in Australia, before passing him off to a couple for adoption. Dorante-Day has also claimed that his adoptive grandparents used to work for a royal household in the U.K.

While this is certainly an intriguing story, there is no evidence to support any of Dorante-Day's allegations. Charles and Camilla are understood to have met in 1970 — five years after the date of Dorante-Day's birth. What's more, the names of Dorante-Day's grandparents do not appear on the lists of any palace events from that time period. Nonetheless, Dorante-Day insists on his version of events. As he shared on "This Morning," his hair resembles Camilla's, and his son, Liam Dorante-Day, really does have an uncanny resemblance to the late Queen Elizabeth II. That being said, the palace has never responded to Dorante-Day's claims, and he remains firmly outside of the line of succession.

King Charles III has two children, Prince William and Prince Harry, but one woman in Canada claimed that the monarch has another son on the other side of the Atlantic. British woman Janet Jenkins worked at the U.K.'s embassy in Montreal for years. Royal experts largely accept that she and Charles were lovers between 1976 and 1980, as letters between the two, which were later published by CBC News, show the relationship was lighthearted rather than serious. "My new private secretary is horrified by the idea of ladies in hotel rooms during foreign visits," Charles wrote. "I can see that I shall just have to get married as soon as possible ... I still think my solution of marrying a girl from each Commonwealth country is the best one."

While it's generally believed that Charles and Jenkins had a liaison before the former's marriage to Princess Diana in 1981, there have been rumors of a secret love child. Jenkins has done her best to fan the flames of these rumors, and in 2000, she even spoke to the National Enquirer about the affair. "Neither of us thought of using protection," Jenkins told the tabloid (via the New York Post). Eventually, Jenkins fell pregnant and named her child Jason Jenkins. A friend of the family's explained, "Janet's son is the spitting image of William. They look like brothers, and I believe they are."

Prince Harry was famously the product of a very unstable marriage. His father, King Charles III, was notoriously unfaithful to his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, but that wasn't the full story. Diana also engaged in a number of romantic affairs throughout her marriage to Charles, including a dalliance with a redhead by the name of James Hewitt. Although Diana and Hewitt's relationship didn't last long, the story of their rendez-vous made waves with the public, especially because Hewitt and Harry shared a hair color. The resulting speculation was, of course, that Harry was perhaps Hewitt's son.

Despite the resemblance between Harry and Hewitt, the pair were not related. Harry is understood to be Charles' biological child. What's more, Harry has condemned the rumors about his paternity. As reported by the Independent in 2023, Harry told a British courtroom, "Numerous newspapers had reported a rumor that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born." The prince also noted that these false reports had impacted him emotionally. "They were hurtful, mean, and cruel," he stated. "I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories. Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so I might be ousted from the royal family?" The rumors left Harry in fear of losing his father in addition to his mother.

Some members of the public would love to kick the former Prince Andrew out of the British line of succession due to his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Interestingly, this could be possible, because at least one royal expert claimed that Andrew might not be Queen Elizabeth II's son with Prince Philip.

Biographer Andrew Lownie told Woman's Day that he has long suspected Andrew was not fathered by the queen's husband, but rather by an old friend of hers. "I think he's the child of Lord Porchester and Lord Porchester was like that. Also he's a narcissist, on the spectrum in some respect, and just not a very nice person," Lownie spilled.

Of course, the royal author admits that his allegations amounts to nothing more than speculation; he has no solid proof of Andrew's paternity. The biographer only has a bit of circumstantial evidence surrounding Andrew's birth, and even that is quite weak. "He was the favorite, he was spoilt. He has a very different character to Edward and Charles, and that's because I think he has a different father," Lownie mused. Of course, if these rumors were true, it would certainly be helpful to King Charles III, who has reportedly struggled with the challenge of removing Andrew from the line of succession. The illegitimate children of a monarch are not allowed to inherit the throne in Great Britain.

Although the British royal family has a reputation for taking its lineage seriously, there have been several cases of infidelity over the years. Inevitably, some of these dalliances have led to children, including a daughter born to Princess Anne's then-husband, Captain Mark Phillips. Indeed, in 1984, 11 years into his marriage to the Princess Royal, Phillips had a steamy affair with a New Zealand teacher by the name of Heather Tonkin. The extra-marital relationship resulted in a pregnancy, and in 1985, Heather welcomed a daughter, Felicity Tonkin.

At the time, Felicity's existence proved excruciating for Phillips, who did not want any sort of scandal to bring his royal career to an end. He quietly sent monthly deposits to Heather and hoped she would keep his secret. As time went on, though, Heather grew frustrated with the arrangement, and in 1991, she went public with the story. DNA tests proved that Phillips was Felicity's father, and the captain's royal marriage came to an abrupt end.

Interestingly, Anne's children have never acknowledged their half-sister in public, and reports indicate that they may have never even met her. Felicity was not invited to Zara Tindall's wedding to Mike Tindall, nor has she ever appeared on the guest list of any royal event. Ultimately, it seems that the royal family would like to move on from the entire scandal. 

For years, Belgian high society wondered whether King Albert II's son, Prince Laurent, had a secret royal love child. The rumors began in 2000 when the actor, Wendy van Wanten, gave birth to a boy named Clément Vandenkerckhove. Just months earlier, van Wanten had gone to some very high-profile events on Laurent's arm. The duo had even jetted to England together, where they had attended the royal wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. While van Wanten and Laurent never launched their romance to the public, they were secretly involved for years, leaving insiders to wonder about Clément's paternity.

In September 2025, royal watchers finally got the answers that they so desired. In a Flemish-language statement published by VRT News and translated to English by People, Laurent shared, "With this message, I acknowledge that I am the biological father of Clément Vandenkerckhove. We have spoken openly and honestly about this over the past few years." This admission left Belgium in an uproar, and newspapers speculated about whether Clément was on the cusp of experiencing a modern Cinderella story. The young man, however, has said that "fairy tales are just fairy tales," per the aforementioned report. He later added, "I want this behind me. I just want to be able to go have a beer with my dad." Instead, Clément became the center of a sensationalistic story.