The extravagant, dissolute life Prince Albert II of Monaco continues to bolster arguments of those who think that hereditary monarchies should not be allowed to exist in the 21st century.
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New revelations emerged this week in the French and British media, saying that Albert, the billionaire playboy leader of the tiny, Mediterranean city-state, directed his top adviser, Claude Palmero, to arrange lavish housing for his mistresses and to manage secret offshore investments.
In interviews with police investigating “Monacogate,” Palmero also revealed that Albert, 68, directed him to find a secret pied-à-terre within six months of his 2011 wedding to his long-troubled wife, Princess Charlene, according to a report first detailed in Le Monde. The Daily Mail said that the French media assumed that the bachelor pad would be used for the portly prince’s sexual assignments, with Albert reportedly asking Palmero in 2017 “to make sure his bachelor pad was ready because he was preparing to go there,” according to the Daily Mail.
MONACO – JULY 02: Princess Charlene of Monaco and Prince Albert II of Monaco leave the religious ceremony of the Royal Wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco to Princess Charlene of Monaco at the Prince’s Palace on July 2, 2011 in Monaco. The Roman-Catholic ceremony follows the civil wedding which was held in the Throne Room of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco on July 1. With her marriage to the head of state of Principality of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock has become Princess consort of Monaco and gain the title, Princess Charlene of Monaco. Celebrations including concerts and firework displays are being held across several days, attended by a guest list of global celebrities and heads of state. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
“He trusted me. Whom could he have approached with such requests, other than me?” Palmero told police, according to the Times U.K. An accountant, Palmero managed Albert’s estimated $2 billion private fortune as well as assets owned by the House of Grimaldi, the family that has ruled Monaco since the 13th century and are among Europe’s glitziest royals.
For Albert personally, Palmero arranged for the purchase of an $8 million apartment in Knightsbridge, a posh district of London, to house Nicole Coste, a former airline stewardess with whom Albert fathered a son before he was married, the Times reported. Palmero said he also arranged for money to be supplied to Tamara Rotolo, a New York estate agent with whom the prince had a daughter in 1992.
Palmero said he set up the trust funds for Albert’s mistresses and their children so that Charlene wouldn’t find out about them. He also was involved in the destruction of compromising photos of the prince and helped him and his sisters, Caroline and Stephanie, hide their wealth in offshore Panamanian bank accounts, the Daily Mail reported.
“In a curious twist of irony,” Albert brought all this scrutiny on himself, according to Le Monde. Palmero had long been Albert’s trusted right-hand man. But the prince fired Palmero in 2023 and filed criminal complaints against him, alleging breach of trust, embezzlement, forgery and money laundering.
In response, Palmero opened up to police during multiple rounds of questioning. “By launching such proceedings, Albert opened a Pandora’s box,” Le Monde reported. “The man who had stood by his side for 20 years knew all the princely family’s secrets, especially those regarding the financial assets he managed.”
Other family secrets made it into the media last year, courtesy of secret notebooks that Palmero maintained and excerpts of which were published in Le Monde and Libération, another French newspaper. Palmero also spoke to Le Monde, explaining, “This whole affair revolves around the corruption I’d been denouncing with increasing force for years.”
The Guardian reported last year that Palmero’s allegations were “shocking,” even to people accustomed to the lifestyles of the super-rich in Monaco, which occupies just 514 acres along the French Riviera.
The notebooks also reportedly described how Albert gave his much-younger wife, Charlene, a generous allowance of $1.6 million a year, lending credence to rumors that he paid her to stay married to him. But even with that allowance, Charlene, 47, routinely overspent, according to news accounts.
Palmero’s disclosures about Albert and Charlene’s finances represent the latest twist in the couple’s rollercoaster marriage. Back in 2022, a French gossip magazine alleged that Albert paid Charlene $12.5 million to stay with him.
Albert is the oldest child and only son of the late Prince Rainier II and his American wife, Princess Grace, who was better known as the radiant 1950s Hollywood star Grace Kelly. He’s a distant cousin of Britain’s King Charles III and Prince William and Prince Harry. Before marrying Charlene in 2011, Albert’s playboy reputation grew over his scandalous affairs, including with a German topless model and multiple other women.
Charlene is a former swimming champion who represented South Africa at the 2000 Olympics. That’s the year she met Albert. They didn’t go public as a couple until 2006, then became engaged in 2010 and married in 2011 in a lavish $100 million celebration that was considered Monaco’s “biggest party in 55 years,” the Daily Mirror reported.
MONACO – JULY 02: Princess Charlene of Monaco wipes away a tear as she and Prince Albert II of Monaco leave Sainte Devote church after their religious wedding ceremony at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco on July 2, 2011 in Monaco. The Roman-Catholic ceremony followed the civil wedding which was held in the Throne Room of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco on July 1. With her marriage to the head of state of the Principality of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock has become Princess consort of Monaco and gains the title, Princess Charlene of Monaco. Celebrations including concerts and firework displays are being held across several days, attended by a guest list of global celebrities and heads of state. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Three years after marrying Albert, Charlene gave birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella. But the reported unhappiness in their relationship continued and has long been the subject of fascination, the Daily Beast has reported. Charlene allegedly tried to flee Monaco three times before the wedding, at one point seeking sanctuary in South Africa’s embassy in Paris. She also wept openly on her wedding day.
Since then, Charlene has reportedly struggled to adjust to her new life in Monaco, complaining that she was subject to jealousy from the local high society. Charlene was absent from Monaco for much of 2021 and early 2022, staying first in South Africa and then at a clinic in Switzerland, recovering from what Page Six and other outlets reported was a long illness and exhaustion.
Since her return to royal duties, Charlene has made an effort to play the role of royal consort, according to the Daily Mail. She performed “admirably” during the recent state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte. Yet, Monaco’s royal family still faces dark times, amid “the Palermo affair,” Le Monde said.