Punishments handed out in Monaco for insulting the royal family are too severe, the U.N.'s human rights watchdog said Thursday, with those caught voicing criticism risking years in jail.

"The committee expresses its concern that public offense of the royal family remains a crime punishable by up to five years in prison," the Human Rights Committee said in a statement.

The son-in-law of a Monaco heiress gunned down in a Mafia-style killing has been charged with her murder paying hitmen for the brazen attack that has shaken the principality's super-rich.

Wojciech Janowski, 64, who had served as Poland's honorary consul in Monaco, is accused of masterminding last month's killing of 77-year-old Helene Pastor, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told a news conference on Friday.

Monaco's Prince Albert II isn't holding back the superlatives when he talks about the baby that his wife is expecting later this year — his first royal heir.

He told The Associated Press in an interview that he and Princess Charlene are "overjoyed," ''thrilled," and "very excited," and that the baby is due in December.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco announced Friday that they are expecting their first child, who will be heir to the tiny principality.

The 36-year-old South African former Olympic swimmer and her 56-year-old husband, whom she married in 2011, issued a statement expressing their "immense joy."

Monaco's royals on Friday accused those behind a biopic starring Nicole Kidman as their mother Grace of hijacking their family history, just days before the film premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.

In a statement, Prince Albert II and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie said the film did not accurately portray events involving their mother, the Hollywood actress who married Monaco's Prince Rainier III in 1956.

Charlotte Casiraghi, the eldest daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, has given birth to a son, the Riviera principality's royal palace announced on Wednesday.

Baby Raphael, a first child for unmarried Charlotte and a second for her Franco-Moroccan partner Gad Elmaleh, was born on Tuesday evening at Monaco's Princess Grace hospital.

Andrea Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is to marry his Colombian girlfriend on August 31, the royal palace announced Wednesday.

Casiraghi, 29, already has a child with the wealthy heiress and socialite Tatiana Santo Domingo, who gave birth to their son Sacha in London in March.

Just a day after Andrea Casiraghi and Tatiana Santo Domingo confirmed their late summer wedding date, Charlotte Casiraghi reportedly has her own good news to share: She's engaged and pregnant, writes People.

Charlotte and her boyfriend, Gad Elmaleh, are reportedly expecting their first child. The Monegasque noble, daughter of Princess Caroline, granddaughter of Grace Kelly and fourth in line to the throne, started dating French actor Elmaleh in 2012 after her split from Alex Dellal.

Prince Albert of Monaco and his sisters have denounced a new biographical film starring Nicole Kidman as their mother Grace Kelly as "glamorized" and "pure fiction."

In a statement, Prince Albert II and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie said the film's script did not accurately portray events involving their mother, the Hollywood actress who married Monaco's Prince Rainier III in 1956.

Prince Albert of Monaco has accepted an apology and damages from Britain's Sunday Times newspaper over an article suggesting his wife Princess Charlene was reluctant to marry him, lawyers said Tuesday.

The prince had launched libel action over a July 2011 article that suggested Charlene agreed to a sham marriage in exchange for payment, and that Albert had confiscated her passport to prevent her from fleeing Monaco so she would stay and marry him for appearance's sake.