TOM LEONARD: What a new Netflix series on Monaco’s royals may NOT tell you about their past scandals

‘Gossip was invented in Monaco,’ its late ruler Prince Rainier III once said.

And surely, the juiciest story to come out of the tiny Mediterranean Principality is that his family – the House of Grimaldi – has lived for centuries under a witch’s curse.

For according to legend, back in the 13th century, Prince Rainier I kidnapped and raped a beautiful maiden who – in order to exact revenge – became a witch and cast a generational curse on his family: ‘Never will a Grimaldi find true happiness in marriage.’

A quick audit of the scandalous private lives of the Monaco royals over the centuries certainly doesn’t provide much in the way of domestic bliss. But the most obvious sign that the fabled curse might have something to it came in 1982.

Then, Grace Kelly, the wife of Rainier III and former Hollywood superstar, lost control of her car and plunged to her death down a mountainside. She was just 52 years old. The news was shattering.

Now, four decades later, members of the latest generation of Grimaldis have promised to lift the lid on their scandal-plagued family.

‘Gossip was invented in Monaco,’ its late ruler Prince Rainier III (pictured with Grace Kelly) once said. And surely, the juiciest story to come out of the tiny Mediterranean Principality is that his family – the House of Grimaldi – has lived for centuries under a witch’s curse.

According to legend, back in the 13th century, Prince Rainier I kidnapped and raped a beautiful maiden who – in order to exact revenge – became a witch and cast a generational curse on his family: ‘Never will a Grimaldi find true happiness in marriage.’ (Pictured: Grace Kelly).

Two of Rainier III’s grandchildren – Prince Albert II’s nephews Andrea and Pierre Casiraghi – are set to produce a series of historical drama films in a collaboration with Netflix. Pierre’s wife and the husband of Albert’s niece Charlotte Casiraghi are also on board.

The project – due to start filming next year – is seen by many as a cynical bid to emulate the streaming giant’s huge success with The Crown, about the UK’s royal family.

And, just as with The Crown, questions will surely be asked about the historical accuracy of what we end up seeing on screen.

So far, we know that the first film will tackle the family’s dramatic origin story – starting when pirate Francois Grimaldi and his men captured the castle on the Rock of Monaco in 1297.

He died without an heir, leaving his cousins – led by the ‘cursed’ Rainier I – to take over the tiny principality, smaller than New York’s Central Park, on an outcrop off the South of France.

But that’s only the beginning – as the plan is to continue the Grimaldi story ‘through generations’, producers say.

Though quite how many generations that will span to, is surely up for debate.

For unless Netflix viewers are in for a complete historical whitewash, the Grimaldis may not want to explore the implications of the family curse too close to the present.

Indeed, such is the salacious private life of Monaco’s current prince, Albert II, that Buckingham Palace’s embarrassment over The Crown would be nothing on the ructions that a no-holds-barred Netflix treatment could set off in the world’s glitziest tax haven.

Prince Albert, now 65 and the only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, took over the principality on his father’s death in 2005.

Now, members of the latest generation of Grimaldis have promised to lift the lid on their scandal-plagued family. (Pictured: Rainier III and Grace Kelly on their wedding day in 1956).

The project – due to start filming next year – is seen by many as a cynical bid to emulate the streaming giant’s huge success with The Crown, about the UK’s royal family. (Pictured: Grace Kelly in her wedding dress).

By then, however, he’d long had a reputation as something of a playboy.

Despite a shy and awkward demeanor, he was often seen in his youth with models at glamorous events and was even romantically linked to both Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell.

Then, in 1987, just five years after his mother’s death, the former Playboy Playmate Bea Fiedler sensationally claimed she’d had a son with the prince following a one-night stand in Munich during which, she said, ‘he tore my panties off with his teeth’.

Albert refused to acknowledge the child, even taking a paternity test which proved inconclusive. But the reputational damage had been done.

Nearly two decades later, in his 2005 accession speech, the prince promised to ‘clean up’ Monaco’s dubious financial reputation and be guided by ‘morality, honesty and ethics’.

Less than a month later, however, those brave words sounded all too hollow when Paris Match magazine published a jaw-dropping 10-page exposé detailing another alleged love child, conceived with a former flight attendant from Africa.

Alexandre, born in 2002, was the fruit of an affair with glamorous Nicole Coste from Togo, whose phone number Albert had requested after she served him on a 90-minute Air France flight from Nice to Paris.

This time, legal documents showed Albert had already privately acknowledged Alexandre.

And after Albert was reported to have told a friend, ‘If I listened to all the claims, I would have more children than anybody else in the world’, some wondered quite how many more offspring there were waiting in the wings.

The following year, in 2006, a former waitress from California, Tamara Rotolo, took a DNA test to confirm her longstanding claim that her daughter Jazmin, then 14, also belonged to the prince. Their affair, she said, had occurred when she’d been holidaying in France in 1991.

Prince Albert, now 65 and the only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, took over the principality on his father’s death in 2005. By then, however, he’d long had a reputation as something of a playboy. (Pictured: Albert and Naomi Campbell party together in 2002).

Despite a shy and awkward demeanor, he was often seen in his youth with models at glamorous events and was even romantically linked to both Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell. (Pictured: Albert with future wife Charlene, left, and Naomi Campbell).

In 2005, Paris Match magazine published a jaw-dropping 10-page exposé detailing an alleged love child, conceived with former flight attendant Nicole Coste from Togo. Alexandre was born in 2002. (Pictured: Albert with Coste and son Alexandre).

It was incredibly embarrassing for Albert, who had previously denied he was the father, leading to the collapse of Ms Rotolo’s 1992 court claim for child support.

Dubbed the ‘reluctant prince’, Albert had once coldly announced he would only ‘get married when Rainier [his father] dies’.

And in 2011, he finally did so, wedding South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock at a lavish ceremony costing a reported $55 million and boasting such guests as designer Karl Lagerfeld, actor Roger Moore and singer Shirley Bassey.

Charlene, who told Tatler magazine that she felt a ‘profound sense of destiny’ and went ‘weak at the knees’ on first meeting the prince, wore couture Chanel and Armani.

However, it soon emerged that the ‘reluctant prince’ appeared to have won himself an even more reluctant princess.

Footage showed her in tears throughout their wedding ceremony although she later insisted it was just the usual emotions of an overcome bride.

According to French news reports, Charlene had tried to flee back to South Africa at least three times in the weeks leading up to their nuptials, possibly after hearing that he had yet another love child.

In one breakout attempt, she was said to have gone so far as to ask for shelter in the South African embassy in Paris.

On another occasion, she was reportedly stopped by Monaco security en route to Nice airport. She was said to have been coaxed back with the offer of a deal whereby she only needed to hang around long enough to give her husband an heir. Though the runaway claims have been officially denied.

She gave birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella in 2014 – but the rumors of marital strife quickly resurfaced.

Dubbed the ‘reluctant prince’, Albert had once coldly announced he would only ‘get married when Rainier [his father] dies’. (Pictured: Albert with Coste in 2002).

And in 2011, he finally did so, wedding South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock at a lavish ceremony (pictured) costing a reported $55 million and boasting such guests as designer Karl Lagerfeld, actor Roger Moore and singer Shirley Bassey.

However, it soon emerged that the ‘reluctant prince’ appeared to have won himself an even more reluctant princess. According to French news reports, Charlene had tried to flee back to South Africa at least three times in the weeks leading up to their nuptials.

In 2019, she admitted in a rare interview that it was ‘sometimes hard to smile’. She found parenting exhausting, she said.

Then, in late 2020, there was renewed scandal about Albert’s love life when reports in the British and German press revealed he was being sued by a Brazilian woman in her mid-30s who claimed she’d also had a daughter by him.

The woman, identified in court papers only as ‘Mariza S’ and living in Italy, claimed he’d chatted her up in a Rio de Janeiro nightclub in 2004.

He’d told her he was a Canadian diplomat, she said, and that they’d enjoyed a two-week affair jetting around Europe during which she became pregnant. Albert was already in a relationship with Charlene at the time.

Mariza claimed she only realized Albert’s true identity when she saw a photo of him in the Press. His lawyers dismissed her allegations as a ‘sham’.

Meanwhile, a former aide to the prince cast doubt on the claim Albert had pretended to be a diplomat, saying that the overweight and balding prince relied on impressing women by revealing his royal identity.

When Charlene was later spotted with a punky new half-shaven hairstyle, it was widely interpreted as a show of defiance at her husband’s alleged infidelity.

The impression that she’d had enough was reinforced with a vengeance a few months later when she travelled to South Africa in spring 2021 for charity and conservation work. No sooner had she arrived than she announced she’d contracted a serous sinus infection from a prior surgery, rendering her unable to fly back to Monaco.

As the months went by and Charlene spent their 10th wedding anniversary alone, Prince Albert was forced to publicly insist his wife ‘absolutely’ had a medical problem.

But sceptics smelt a rat and, in the August, Albert flew out to South Africa for a cringing show of unity, with the pair posting Instagram pictures together.

In late 2020, there was renewed scandal when reports revealed Albert was being sued by a Brazilian woman who claimed she’d also had a daughter by him. When Charlene was later spotted with a punky new hairstyle (pictured), it was widely interpreted as a show of defiance.

The impression that she’d had enough was reinforced when she travelled to South Africa in spring 2021. No sooner had she arrived than she announced she’d contracted a serous sinus infection, rendering her unable to fly back to Monaco.

In the August, Albert flew out to South Africa for a cringing show of unity, with the pair posting Instagram pictures together.

According to respected French gossip magazine Madame Figaro, however, few back home in Monaco were convinced.

It noted the ‘strained embrace’ and miserable look on the face of a woman rumored to have been looking to buy a house in Johannesburg.

Rumors only intensified when, in November 2021 Princess Charlene finally returned home to much fanfare, only to then leave again within weeks and miss the National Day of Monaco celebrations.

Prince Albert told the Press she was being treated at a medical facility. He was photographed waving to crowds with their two young children, holding up sad-looking handwritten banners telling their mother they missed and loved her.

By May last year, Charlene was back with her family, telling a local newspaper her health was ‘still fragile and I don’t want to go too fast… the path has been long, difficult and very painful’.

As of now, the 45-year-old princess is still Monaco with her family, but there were new clouds on the horizon this year when in March a French magazine reported the couple were in the process of separating.

The claims were officially dismissed as ‘malicious rumors’ – but only time will tell.

And if all that wasn’t enough for one family, Prince Albert isn’t the only recent loose cannon in the Grimaldi armory.

His sisters Caroline and Stephanie – once described as the ‘Kim and Khloe Kardashian of the 80s jet set’ – have both provided the sort of scandal that the family might not want dramatized by Netflix.

After dating various celebrities including actors Rob Lowe and Anthony Delon, Caroline married French playboy Philippe Junot when she was just 19, only to end the marriage less than two years later.

In November 2021, Princess Charlene finally returned home. Prince Albert told the Press she was being treated at a medical facility. He was photographed waving to crowds with their two young children, holding up sad-looking handwritten banners.

Prince Albert isn’t the only recent loose cannon in the Grimaldi armory. His sisters Caroline (pictured) and Stephanie – once described as the ‘Kim and Khloe Kardashian of the 80s jet set’ – have both provided the sort of scandal that the family might not want dramatized by Netflix.

After dating various celebrities including actors Rob Lowe and Anthony Delon, Caroline married French playboy Philippe Junot when she was just 19 (pictured), only to end the marriage less than two years later.

Her second husband, Italian socialite Stefano Casiraghi, with whom she had three children, was killed in a powerboat accident. And she separated from her third and final husband, Prince Ernst of Hanover, after a decade of marriage – though they never formally divorced.

By comparison with little sister Princess Stephanie, however, Caroline appears something of a wallflower.

In 1995, Stephanie broke with royal tradition to marry her former police bodyguard Daniel Ducruet, with whom she had two children.

However, when photos emerged the following year of him cheating on her with a woman who once held the title of ‘Miss Bare Breasts of Belgium’, Stephanie was left heartbroken.

She later moved in with a married circus trainer, only to leave him to marry an acrobat, Adans Peres, 10 years her junior. Their union only lasted 10 months.

The only other occupant of the car which her mother Grace fatally crashed, Stephanie’s life – like that of her siblings – seems destined to attract attention for all the wrong reasons.

But while royal watchers around the world might have been shocked at these various revelations – here in Monaco, the Grimaldis’ subjects have long had the measure of them.

Albert’s father, Rainier III, enjoyed a 10-year-old love affair with French film actress Gisele Pascal, whom he’d met as a student in the 1940s before he married Grace Kelly.

There had been talk of a wedding, but the relationship collapsed in disrepute after his meddlesome sister, Princess Antoinette – who was trying to position her own son as heir – spread rumors that Pascal was infertile.

Meanwhile, Rainier III’s mother, Princess Charlotte, had at one point taken an infamous jewel thief named Rene ‘the Cane’ Girier as a lover after her marriage broke down amid whispers that her husband was gay. (She met Rene after moving to the Grimaldi estate outside Paris and turning it into a rehabilitation centre for former convicts.)

Albert’s father, Rainier III, enjoyed a 10-year-old love affair with French film actress Gisele Pascal. There had been talk of a wedding, but the relationship collapsed after his meddlesome sister, Princess Antoinette (pictured) spread rumors that Pascal was infertile.

What’s more, despite being the heir presumptive, Princess Charlotte wasn’t even illegitimate – the daughter of a cabaret singer who met Prince Louis of Monaco, Albert’s great-grandfather, in a Paris nightclub back in 1897.

House of Windsor this most certainly isn’t.

Prince Albert II has always insisted he doesn’t believe in any curse and that the Grimaldis’ domestic problems are no different to those of any other family.

Sadly – with members of the family involved in production – it seems most unlikely that viewers of the upcoming Netflix films will ever get the chance to judge for themselves.