Prince Rainier III of Monaco began drawing up plans to remove his son Prince Albert from the line of succession in favour of Princess Caroline before his death, according to reports.
The former premier of Monaco, who died in 2005 aged 81, sought legal advice towards the end of the 1990s about how the line of succession would continue if the heir apparent, Prince Albert, was skipped over in favour of his older sister Princess Caroline.
French newspaper Le Monde reports that Claude Palmero, the man in charge of the Palace’s finances for more than two decades until he was ousted last summer, confirmed rumours that Prince Rainier was considering altering the succession laws in the years leading up to his death.
The report cites a 2001 letter written to Prince Rainier by Patrice Davost, who was head of judicial services in Monaco, which confirmed the contents of a meeting they had had to discuss how the Grimaldi name could be carried in the royal bloodline if Princess Caroline’s son Andrea Casiraghi eventually assumed the throne.
According to the newspaper, Mr Davost’s letter which is addressed to Prince Rainier reads: ‘I shared with you my research and thoughts on the following question that had been submitted to me: How to ensure the continuity of the Grimaldi dynasty, name and coat of arms in the event of your grandson Andrea’s accession to the throne, following Princess Caroline’s renunciation of her rights to the crown?’
Prince Rainier III didn’t think his son Prince Albert, whom he would often ‘belittle’ in public, was up to the job of becoming premier, Le Monde reports
The report also claims Rainier had concerns his son ‘was not up to the job’ of becoming premier and often publicly ‘belittled’ him, which led to Albert developing a stutter when he spoke in French.
Mr Davost told Le Monde he had, in fact, carried out a ‘discreet’ investigation as to whether Andrea could one day be crowned Monegasque premier – however he claimed Rainier told him it was in case Albert died.
The story, which Prince Albert has dismissed as ‘nonsense’ according to Tatler, is also recounted in Claude Palmero’s notebooks, which were released by the newspaper at the end of January. The newspaper claims Mr Palmero confirmed Prince Rainier was considering changing the laws of succession in Monaco in favour of Princess Caroline.
The ‘secret notebooks’ of Mr Palmero, who was in charge of the Monegasque Palace’s finances for more than 20 years until he was unceremoniously ousted by Prince Albert last summer, were released in a dossier by Le Monde and contained startling claims about the Monegasque royal family’s finances.
According to several sources including the Palace’s former accountant Claude Palmero, Rainier drew up plans to skip out Albert from the line of succession in favour of Princess Caroline
A former top lawyer in Monaco confirmed Prince Rainier III had discussed the complexities of Princess Caroline’ son Andrea Casiraghi (pictured with Elisa Sednaoui in 2018) taking the throne with the Grimaldi name
In addition to the explosive claims about the question over succession, the entries detailed extortionate costs spent by Prince Albert’s wife Princess Charlene, who has a general spending allowance of more than £1 million per year.
Apeaking to Tatler, one of the journalists who broke the story has revealed Charlene has a ‘crazy desire to spend money’ which is granted by her husband to keep the peace.
Gérard Davet, an investigative reporter at Le Monde said: ‘Prince Albert says yes to everything. Charlene is very lonely in he palace; so her best friend is possibly the Prince’s money’.
He added that the only person to ever put their foot down on Charlene’s spending was Mr Palermo, who filed several lawsuits against Prince Albert after he was ousted last year, including for defamation and unfair dismissal.
After Mr Palermo was walked out of his office by a Colonel who worked at the Palace and handed his severance letter, the Prince publicly accused his loyal ally of more than 20 years of corruption – which Mr Palermo flatly denies.
Speaking about Albert’s treatment of Palermo, an unnamed journalist in Monaco said: ‘Albert is a weak person… ‘I think his heart is in the right place, but he avoids confrontation.’
Journalists in France and Monaco have claimed Prince Albert of Monaco, 65, is a ‘weak person’ who dislikes confrontation as questions about the royal family’s finances keep coming
Princess Charlene has a ‘crazy desire to spend money’ according to the journalists, with her husband allegedly saying ‘yes’ to whatever she wishes to buy
They speculated that the Prince’s disposition was due to experiencing ‘a lot of’ confrontation when his late father, Prince Rainier III, was alive.
FEMAIL has contacted the Monegasque Palace for comment.
Among the explosive claims uncovered in the dossier were allegations that Princess Charlene hired illegal immigrants on less than £90-per-day to work for her, despite her personal spending allowance skyrocketing to £1 million-per-year.
Mr Palermo’s records suggested that ‘illegal migrants’ made up much of Charlene’s full-time personal staff of eight – something the accountant expressed concerns about.
‘Her Serene Highness the Princess makes people work for her who are not compliant,’ Mr Palmero warned Prince Albert, also referring to ‘a moonlighting Filipino woman who ties up dogs in the shower.’
Prince Albert of Monaco is alleged to spend money in order to ‘keep the peace’ within the royal family
In a letter written in January 2017, he said another employee from the Philippines had been ‘illegal for five years’, despite solely being on a one-month tourist visa.
‘He gets paid 100 euros a day [£85] which is off the scale,’ Mr Palmero wrote.
In December 2014, Charlene gave birth to Prince Jacques, and Princess Gabriella, and immediately placed them in the care of illegal immigrant nannies.
‘Update on the hiring of nannies…We are completely illegal (even their tourist visa expired on January 7)’ Mr Palmero wrote on January 15th of that year.
‘They are not only in an illegal situation, but one entered with a false passport, Mr Palmero added.
Despite this, Mr Palmero released almost £600,000 to celebrate the children’s birth and baptism.
On one day alone in April 2016, Charlene asked for the equivalent of £66,000, and this was ‘definitely too much,’ said Mr Palmero, especially as she also planned to rent a second villa on Corsica.
‘Isn’t that a lot?’ asked the accountant, who was concerned that the Princess was taking money from funds that were ‘undeclared’ in terms of tax.
‘These practices are dangerous,’ Mr Palmero warned.
‘They are not only in an illegal situation, but one entered with a false passport, Mr Palmero added.
The former chief royal wealth manager in the Mediterranean tax haven claims he desperately tried to rein in Charlene’s ‘dangerous’ spending, and at one stage blocked the South African-born 45-year-old from taking on new staff.
The books also allege that Albert spends millions every year from a secret French bank account to pay his former mistresses and love children – with Jazmin Grimaldi, 31, and Alexandre Coste-Grimaldi, 20, receiving allowances of £344,000 a year each.
This was while Charlene was pouring £826,000 into redecorating her holiday villa in Calvi, on the island of Corsica, along with £860,000 to decorate her office back in Monte Carlo.
Charlene was paying her personal chef the equivalent of £250-a-day from petty cash, said Mr Palmero, while her South African family were also receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
In February 2017, the accountant also released the equivalent of more than half-a-million pounds to pay off the Princess’s overdraft.
In December 2019, an alarmed Mr Palmero noted that Charlene had spent ‘around 15 million euros [£13m]’, over eight years, despite her allowance being ‘7.5 million euros’ [£6.4m]
This was while Charlene was also putting a combined sum of almost £2million into the holiday villa in Calvi, and her office redecoration.
‘It’s crazy!’ Mr Palmero wrote. ‘I have no control over the Princess’s spending’.
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