Reporters Seek Monaco Prince's Daughter

Student Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, the 14-year-old out-of-wedlock daughter of Monaco's Prince Albert II , walks outside St. Margaret's Episcopal school in Palm Desert, Calif., Thursday, June 1, 2006. Jazmin is the second out-of-wedlock child to be legally acknowledged by the 48-year-old bachelor prince who assumed the throne of the 700-year-old dynasty less than a year ago. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) (Nick Ut - AP)

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- People in this resort town already knew Jazmin Grace Grimaldi was an honor student, science fair winner and student of the month.

To that list of credentials, they now know she is the daughter of a prince.

Prince Albert II of Monaco acknowledged through his lawyer that the 14-year-old girl is his out-of-wedlock daughter.

Albert "officially recognizes a paternity that was legally established a few weeks ago," attorney Thierry Lacoste said in an interview published Thursday in France's Le Figaro.

The revelation sent hordes of reporters and photographers flocking to the desert two hours east of Los Angeles, where residents quickly responded protectively.

"Leave that poor girl alone!" a woman in a car yelled at those gathered across the street from St. Margaret's Episcopal School.

Police warned that they would be arrested if they set foot on school grounds.

At the end of the school day, a ponytailed blond girl in a school uniform was escorted to an armored sport utility vehicle registered to Los Angeles security expert Gavin de Becker's firm.

The girl didn't respond to reporters' shouted questions and left, seated in the back of the SUV with two bodyguards up front. The SUV was escorted by two sheriff's deputies on motorcycles.

The same SUV was later seen leaving a gated country club and resort community with waterfalls and lush landscaping. A security guard turned away a reporter requesting to visit the girl's mother, 44-year-old Tamara Rotolo.

Overnight, the pair have joined a long list of high-profile people to spend time in this area famous for its warm dry winter climate and lush golf courses. The area, which includes the towns of Palm Springs, Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage, has long been a playground for the rich and powerful, including former Presidents Eisenhower, Ford and Reagan.

Jazmin was not exactly anonymous in the community before Thursday.