The Weight of the Rock
Balancing truth and folklore
Once again, and it does happen from time to time, the global media affixes its eyes on the ancient Rock around which the storied Grimaldi Principality has grown. This time, the “scandal” (a favorite word across linguistic traditions) does flow under the title of Dossiers du Rocher. The Notebooks of the Rock! The timing of this latest fixation is curious. It comes while Beatrice Borromeo (wife of Prince Albert’s nephew Pierre Casiraghi) is directing a documentary about the origins of Grimaldi rule over the Rock. The show is a production of Astrea Films, Borromeo’s company, in partnership with Dimitri Rassam’s company, Chapter 2, and all of this is going on while Rassam’s marriage to the Prince’s niece Charlotte Casiraghi is allegedly on the rocks–excuse the pun. These coincidences give the saga of the Notebooks of the Rock all the elements of a bestselling thriller, or even an Emmy-nominated Netflix series! But instead of Ozark…instead of Jason Bateman…the Notebooks are about the very-much real-life Grimaldi Prince Albert. The Notebooks are at the center of ongoing legislation in the French and Monegasque courts, and they now might reach as high as the European Court of Human Rights. Last summer, Prince Albert fired his accountant, Claude Palmero, accusing him of embezzlement. In response, Palmero denies the charges. Evicted from his office, Palmero left the palace with his Notebooks (financial logs compiled by his own hand) and he now accuses the Prince of money laundering. It all comes at the same time that Monaco emerges from the Moneyval report with less than glowing colors: while not exactly under the red flags, Monaco still, according to the report, has a bit of work to do in the global fight against the financing of terrorism. This, shall we say, pink-flagged Moneyval report comes at an opportune time for a media that loves to recall the time when Monaco was “a sunny place for shady people!” Those words, attributed to W. Somerset Maugham, have, it seems, a permanent seat in the folklore of the principality…despite the 21st century Prince’s efforts to dispel such notions. Albert wants Monaco to operate on friendly and trustworthy terms with other democratic nations. He wants Monaco to be seen to operate “above board” and no longer to be perceived as a safe haven and byword for nefarious characters.
I should probably stop calling them the Notebooks. Go instead with the more common term, dossiers. The media loves that word! We love it too! It’s so dramatic! It recalls for me the Steele Dossier in the Trump-Russia saga. Calling it a “dossier” just makes it sound so mysterious and interesting! To the uninformed eye, of course, the Palmero Dossier looks like a jumble of French (redacted) emails…communications about bank accounts, shell companies, and even succession law. What is in the Dossiers du Rocher? Doesn’t everyone want to know? The Dossiers are the subject of a substack with more than 2K followers. The first post was on 4 November 2021, titled (in translation): “Corruption in Monaco.” Sensational stuff!
Once upon a time, my head was easily turned by conspiracy theories, but age and experience have taught me to remain calm and present in the face of overly simplistic media coverage. It’s important to remember the motives behind that kind of media coverage. It is meant to pull you into the rabbit hole, to get you lost in fantasy until it is no longer possible to think clearly. It is meant to elicit emotions…strong emotions! It wants you to feel righteous indignation. This is how the Kremlin propaganda stirred up American hearts and influenced the American presidential election. Obviously, Monaco is a smaller stage than United States politics, but just because the geographic region is more compact does not mean the psychology is different. Monaco has always been an alluring place. It is not only its beaches and sunshine that draw the interest of the world. It’s not just the memory of Grace Kelly that draws the fascination of royal forum lurkers. Neither Charlene nor Charlotte can be held responsible for the enduring obsession. No…all of that is part and parcel; it’s on the surface. But Monaco’s appeal runs deeper. It is rooted from long ago. Pirates and princes in the 14th century battled over the Rock for its geopolitical and economic advantages…a fortress and port at the heart of age-old geopolitical conflict. Prince Albert spent a good part of 2023 traveling around France and Italy to highlight spots where his Grimaldi ancestors had made some impact. While Albert looks outward from Monaco, the world is (again and again) looking into it…because we can’t help it. Monaco draws us in. The winding, narrow, dark, ascending streets are endlessly attractive. Monaco is often remarked upon for its size, but I think that entirely obscures the more critical point. Monaco is appealing because it is so small, and yet so rich. I’m not talking about the money in its bank accounts. I’m talking about the richness of detail that flourishes in Monaco. The devil is in the details? Yes, that’s true, but the “devil” is not just the delight. It’s also the distraction. Fascination is a double-edged sword. It delights you but also tricks you.
Here is an example: an article in the Monaco Tribune, title: “Prince Albert II: ‘Dossiers du Rocher’ broke camel’s back.” It quotes from Prince Albert’s interview in Le Figaro newspaper, back in July 2023. At that time, Albert had recently fired his Estate Administrator, Claude Palmero. His reason, he said, was the broken trust. (The substack leaks had begun in November 2021.) “What has become known as the Dossiers du Rocher was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the prince told Le Figaro. “The Dossiers brought to light, via the internet, certain activities of people who were working with me. As I said: if the trust is broken, it is impossible to continue working together.” Around the same time, Albert also let go of his chief of staff, Laurent Anselmi. Another person Albert cut ties with was his longtime lawyer, Thierry Lacoste. All of these men are implicated in the Dossiers substack. I’m taking Prince Albert at his word: the Notebooks brought things to light, trust was broken, and he needed to clean house. He first consulted with his sisters, Princess Stéphanie and Princess Caroline, about the matter. Then he commissioned an external audit. In spite of tackling this head on, it seems the media is determined to keep spinning the cycle. Point de Vue, a publication which normally takes a soft angle toward Monaco, ran an article about the Dossiers. Several members of the Princely Family were put on the cover: Albert front and center, with Caroline, Stéphanie, and Charlène positioned around him…the women smiling, glamorous and pretty, while he is bespectacled and looks grim; and up, above his head, a tiny photo of Charlotte Casiraghi and Dimitri Rassam. The cover seems to speak of turmoil in paradise: a rift (alleged) between the sprightly couple (that is, Charlotte and Dimitri) and (translating from French) the Storm in Monaco, and the word “scandal” (again, translating) in bold. Dramatic? Melodramic? In short, it’s exciting stuff, meant to draw you in! Inside the magazine, there are several pieces touching on the activities of the Princely Family. We see a beautiful hug between Stéphanie and Charlène at the Fight AIDS Monaco football event. We see Gad Elmaleh and Charlotte’s son, Raphaël, at a Monaco basketball game. We see Charlotte and sister Alexandra at the Chanel fashion show. Then there is the article about the Casiraghi Rassam marriage, and finally: “Scandal in Monaco: The Prince faces his accuser!” The article details its interview with two journalists from Le Monde newspaper who have immersed themselves in the rabbit hole of the Dossiers. These journalists, Fabrice Lhomme and Gérard Davet, gained access to Prince Albert and found in him a sympathetic personality. Lhomme explicitly talks about his sympathy for the prince’s unique predestined role and rather shy personality that only reluctantly plays the media game. Lhomme and Davet also interviewed Palmero extensively. In summary, Palmero stands accused of corruption and embezzlement, and he is fighting back in the courts. Davet tells PDV that Palmero uses “very strong words,” that he is a proud man, a proud Monegasque, who intensely denies the charges against him. In 2005, the year that Albert became sovereign, Palmero was given absolute trust in the management of the princely funds. Davet describes his role as like a “minister of state” behind the scenes…not the literal minister of state, but rather, a power behind the throne, so to speak. Intriguingly, it is said that Palmero was never trusted by the prince’s sisters, who are alleged to “despise” Palmero. Davet and Lhomme are focused on the “human side” of this story much more than the bottom line. They repeat often that Palmero is from an old Monegasque family and that he came into this role in succession of his father, who was Prince Rainier’s Estate Administrator. (We’ll try not to draw a parallel to Jane Austen’s characters Wickham and Darcy!) But they also mention their opinion that Palmero does not seem entirely forthright. He holds back. His reserve is grounded, of course, in legal necessity, but Lhomme adds his opinion that Palmero’s reserve is perhaps grounded partly in a fear of a total breach. While Prince Albert considers that the trust between them is already broken, and that there is no going back, the journalists seem to wonder if Palmero still feels a paradoxical or nostalgic sense of loyalty. Does he regret the break? Does he wish he could go back? The whole saga, Davet surmises, definitely has the making of a series like The Crown or Succession! Here, we are reminded of The Rock, the documentary in progress about the origins of Grimaldi rule in Monaco. Some say that while history does not repeat, it does sometimes echo, and while “rabbit holes” are fun and exciting, full of adventure and fantasy, it is important to come back to the surface, to breathe, to regain calm and gravitas. The “devil” is in the details, but the truth lies in the big picture.
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