2024 hasn’t started off in the best way for Albert of Monaco. And this time gossip has nothing to do with it. A four-part investigation by the French newspaper is shaking up the quiet life in the Principality The worldtriggered by the bombshell revelations of Claude Palmero, for over twenty years the administrator of the Grimaldi estate (in 2001 he took the place of his father André, another trusted man at court), literally “kicked out” from his office on the first floor of the Prince’s Palace following the accusation of misappropriation. Palmero has appealed and turned to the European Court of Human Rights, but in the meantime he has evidently decided to let the truth about him leak out. And here are two investigative journalists from The world, Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhommebegan to make public secrets and bombshell revelations contained in five notebooks full of allegedly compromising notes.
THE “SECRET NOTEBOOKS” THAT AGIT THE PRINCES OF MONACO
But what is in these notebooks? In addition to the detailed expenses of the royal family, where crazy figures and some extravagance emerge, it would emerge second The world also a chapter reserved for “Special Funds” which would have financed “parallel activities”, including investigations into people and businesses. But also details that risk seriously embarrassing Alberto and the entire house, such as the fact that between a Filipina housekeeper worked illegally or that the 300 euros per day salary for Princess Charlène’s personal chef was included among “undeclared funds”.
THE EXPENSES OF CHARLÈNE, CAROLINA AND STEPHANIE
The spotlight of the investigation The world are focused on the main figures of the Monegasque royal family. Starting with the prince’s wife, Charlene Wittstock who, according to the newspaper, in 2023 would have received an annual allocation close to 1.5 million euros, while for Alberto’s older sister, Carolina of Monaco, an allowance of 900 thousand euros was expected and for the younger one, Stéphanie, 800 thousands. But there would be no shortage of extra expenses and unexpected requests, like the 77 thousand euros in cash that Charlène asked Palmero in 2016 to rent a villa in Corsica or the 4,500 euros for the rental of a discreet apartment that the Prince wanted to have available a few meters from the Royal Palace. Speaking of houses, the former administrator revealed that the family asked him to register numerous real estate assets purchased in France to avoid taxation.
THE SECRET ACCOUNTS AND THE RESPONSE OF ALBERTO AND HIS SISTERS
From the documents that Le Monde came into possession of, other curiosities emerge, such as the alleged secret account from which the annuities that Prince Albert gave it to children born out of wedlockincluding Alexandre, with the former flight attendant of Togolese origins, Nicole Coste, recognized a few years ago by his father. Palmero would also have had access to special funds to pay an intermediary who made “compromising” photos and negatives disappear, while a former Monegasque policeman would have been “paid illegally” around 1500 euros a month” to obtain useful information”. But how do Alberto, Carolina and Stéphanie of Monaco respond to this mountain of accusations? Alberto II’s response is clear: “Mr Palmero, perhaps believing himself to be a director for life, challenged my decision to remove him in court, attacking me personally and in offensive terms. His attacks on me, on the State and on his institutions demonstrate his true nature and how little respect he actually has for the Principality.” He and his sisters have already filed a complaint against the former administrator of their assets for “breach of trust” and “theft of documents”.
HOW MUCH IS THE GRIMALDI FORTUNE
But Palmero is quite talkative in this period, so much so that he has also made other bombshell revelations to Libération journalists, to whom he reported how much the Grimaldi family’s fortune is believed to be. Prince Albert’s former accountant estimates it at around 2 billion euros, then went into detail adding that 258 million would be hidden in accounts in Switzerland and several offshore companies registered in Panama and other tax havens. Palmero, accused of corruption by the anonymous site Dossiers du Rocher, was fired in June 2023 and presented an appeal which was rejected by the Monegasque court: he is now waiting for the European Court of Human Rights to rule, because he claims not to have benefited from the “guarantees of a fair trial”.