On the day Prince Albert was inaugurated as Monaco’s new ruler – Tuesday July 12th – I talked about him to a clutch of UK radio news anchors. Inevitably, they all began by asking about Nicole Coste and her child that had just been acknowledged by Albert. I tried to explain the true significance of this event. Beyond a short-term sensation, with headlines in the Daily Mail and Bild and those several pages in Paris-Match, its real importance was that it saw the Prince’s in-house enemies effectively relieved of a potentially powerful weapon. Whatever the dynamics between the couple which led to the disclosure at that particular time, and in that particular way, Albert’s public admission of paternity put those who may have hoped to manipulate him after his accession into a notably weaker position. In a pre-inauguration television interview he said that other claims of fatherhood would be “answered in due course”, which seems to show he realises that any other skeletons in the cupboard will have to be confronted with a similar readiness.

“He will need strength and determination”
From what I hear, the Prince has already got “the old gang”, as one insider calls them, on the run. Even before his inauguration he had enforced the resignation of his father’s team of advisors. In fact, accepted protocol allowed him to do this but such a move was inevitable. Many of these men were in their seventies and had records of opposing Albert on everything from admitting McDonald’s to Monaco (he won that time) to the necessity of taking serious steps to clean up the banking sector. Clearly, he is recruiting a new team of younger advisors who will support his more open policies for the Principality. In driving through these policies he will be able to count on the broad backing of the new Minister of State, Jean-Paul Proust. The former Prefect of Police in Paris is a man of different style and method from the clapped-out French diplomats who have often held the post in the past.

But what exactly are the Prince’s “more open policies”? He is fully aware that the Principality has been widely criticised for dubious aspects of its financial system and the “dysfunctions” (to quote a former judge) of its police and judicial institutions. Concerning the first of these, in the television interview mentioned earlier Albert promised to place “morality, honesty and ethics” at the centre of his action. Sounds good, but it won’t be easy. It will entail making sure that in future the Pedicones, Petrovs and Fogwells – to cite just three former residents of conspicuous financial shadiness – no longer get a ready welcome in Monaco. Then there must be an energetic attempt to find out exactly what’s going on with the some 60 billion euros held in the mini-state’s nearly five dozen banks. And what about the venerable system of prête-noms – of accounts held under substitute names – which scarcely suggests that transparency the Prince claims to want? On the law enforcement and judicial front there will be great resistance to reform which is also, for complicated reasons, likely to be regarded in Paris with some ambivalence. On the positive side, the Prince hopes to foster the development of Monaco as a centre for high-tech and medical research. To achieve his aims he will need great strength and determination. His opponents are increasingly (and unhappily) aware that these are qualities he is beginning to display after decades of self-effacement during his father’s reign.

“Reaction awaited”
Two final points. In an interview published some time ago François Chantrait, Director of the Monaco Press Centre, told me that “you can’t compare the Principality to your average western democracy. What we’ve got here is an ancient monarchy with its own customs, traditions and practices”. In the case of the Press Centre, this has meant an attitude which many visiting journalists have seen as evasive and unhelpful. This only makes it easier for rumour to flourish and that’s not what Albert needs. A shake-up at the Press Centre must be a priority. And lastly the zoo. We wrote in some detail a while ago about “Monaco’s animal gulag”, described by Virginia McKenna of the Born Free Foundation as “a slum among zoos ... really bad”. It was close to Prince Rainier’s heart along with his collection of classic gas-guzzlers (his son likes to drive an electric car, by the way). However, in the view of expert zoo-watchers it is a shameful stain on the Grimaldi reputation. Virginia McKenna is clear on the issue: “This is the moment to close it down and disperse the animals to places where they’d be properly looked after. We’d gladly help with that. Prince Albert’s reaction is awaited ... ”  

From Reporter 111 - Oct/Nov 2005

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