He might be the leader of the smallest Kingdom in Europe but the reign of Prince Albert II Monaco has seen its fair share of scandals and controversies.
Today is Prince Albert’s 14th wedding anniversary – when he tied the knot with the then Charlene Wittstock in two lavish wedding ceremonies that cost a combined total £53million.
With a glittering 850-strong guest list that included Sir Roger Moore and Prince Edward, the religious ceremony on July 2 followed the civil nuptials a day earlier.
At the latter, Charlene stunned in an off-the-shoulder Armani dress boasting a six-metre train and studded with 40,000 Swarovski crystals and 20,000 mother of pearl tear drops.
But even on their wedding day, the controversies that tend to follow the Monegasque Royal Family appeared.
The couple’s uneasy kiss – and the fact that at one moment Charlene was in tears – perhaps betrayed the trouble that had already taken place and the further angst that was to come.
Days before the big day, rumours began to circulate that Charlene had tried to flee the country on three occasions with a one-way ticket to Johannesburg.
A Parisian news magazine reported that Charlene had been stopped at Nice airport after allegedly learning a ‘distressing’ revelation about her future husband’s private life.
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco share a kiss on the day of their marriage. Even at their wedding , the controversies that tend to follow the Monegasque Royal Family appeared
Albert and Charlene with their twins Jacques and Gabriella in 2022
Charlene and Albert wait to met Pope Leo XIV in May. Despite their fair share of scandals, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene remain respected among other Royal Families in Europe.
A senior Monaco detective claimed at the time: ‘Charlene had her passport confiscated so that the Prince’s entourage could persuade her to stay.’
The rumour mill in France went into overdrive. Charlene had, it was suggested, heard talk of an illegitimate child, allegedly conceived when she was dating Prince Albert in 2005.
But the Princess would go on to dismiss the ‘hilarious’ rumours. She said: ‘Why would he go through all this effort to have our dearest friends come join us, for us to be reluctant?’
And they spent the first night of their honeymoon in South Africa – the nation that Zimbabwe-born Charlene represented at the Olympics during her swimming career – in separate hotels.
During his years as a bachelor, Albert was known as the ‘playboy prince’ due to his string of romantic relationships with models and actresses.
He also fathered several love children – two of which the prince has acknowledged.
Meanwhile, Princess Charlene has been known to disappear from the public eye on multiple occasions, reportedly due to ‘deep fatigue’.
The princess took a prolonged medical hiatus in South Africa which saw her spend most of 2021 away from her husband and children.
Charlene sparked rumours when she was seen crying on her wedding day. She later said: ‘There were all the mixed emotions because of the rumours and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears’
Princess Charlene’s mismanagement of her money was criticised in the Press. She was routinely given an allowance of around £1.2 million a year – but still managed to overspend
During his years as a bachelor, Albert was known as the ‘playboy prince’ due to his string of romantic relationships with models and actresses
This meant she missed the seventh birthdays of her twins – Jacques and Gabriella – and her tenth wedding anniversary.
Charlene also travelled to a Swiss clinic that allegedly specialises in mental health and addiction issues.
SInce 2021, Charlene has been seen with the Royal Family.
Albert’s questionable financial practises have also been the subject of much scrutiny in recent years with Tatler going as far as to declare there was a chance the monarch might not have survived the scandal last year.
The rumours started in 2023 when Claude Palmero, 68, who looked after the Royal Family’s finances (including their investments, their properties and the main palace), was sacked after being targeted by a mysterious anti-corruption website.
A few months later, French newspaper Le Monde published Palmero’s ‘secret notebooks’, which claimed to detail reckless spending by the Royal Family.
It alleged 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 each.
According to Le Monde, Jazmin, Albert’s love child with U.S. estate agent Tamara Rotolo, receives £73,000 every three months – despite not being part of the royal family. Palmero noted she was given £4,200 for her 18th and a flat in New York worth £2.6 million seven years later.
Charlene sheds a tear on her wedding day. Princess Charlene has been known to disappear from the public eye on multiple occasions, reportedly due to ‘deep fatigue’
Albert’s questionable financial practises have also been the subject of much scrutiny in recent years
Prince Albert II, Princess Charlene, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella during the Army Parade, as part of the official celebrations marking the principality National Day in 2024
He also noted that the palace was paying for kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre, 20, Albert’s son with former air hostess Nicole Coste. The Prince acknowledged paternity of Alexandre in 2005.
Princess Charlene’s own mismanagement of her money was also criticised in the paper.
She was routinely given an allowance of around £1.2 million a year – but still managed to overspend, according to Palmero’s notes.
The speed at which the mother-of-two apparently burned through money so worried the Prince’s accountant that he wrote in his notes: ‘It’s crazy! I have no control over the Princess’ spending.’
After Albert sacked Palmero he was then questioned by police after Albert filed a lawsuit against him, resulting in an investigation into alleged ‘breach of confidentiality, invasion of privacy and receiving the proceeds of two offences’.
After losing his role in the palace, Palmero reportedly filed a lawsuit against the royal family, accusing them of abuse of weakness, attempted extortion and theft. He also contested his dismissal before a tribunal headed by Judge Linotte.
When the president of Monaco’s Supreme Court was pushed out, Palmero went to the European Court of Human Rights. He allegedly claimed that it wasn’t possible to get a fair hearing in the super-rich principality. The case is still ongoing.
Albert has denied all of Palmero’s allegations.
Albert and Charlene leave the Royal Palace as a newly married couple. Days before the big day, rumours began to circulate that Charlene had tried to flee the country on three occasions with a one-way ticket to Johannesburg
Despite the questions over their financial practises, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene remain respected among other Royal Families in Europe.
In May, the royals joined other Catholic monarchs including the King and Queen of Spain and Belgium for an audience with Pope Leo XIV.
Princess Charlene along with Queen Letizia of Spain and Queen Mathilde of Belgium are allowed to wear white in front of the Pope because of their faith.
They are each one of only seven women in the world who have ‘the privilege of the white’.
Called ‘le privilege du blanc’ in French or ‘il privilegio del bianco’ in Italian, the special tradition is extended solely to designated Catholic queens and princesses and is reserved for important events at the Vatican, such as private audiences, canonisations, beatifications, and special masses.
Normal protocol for papal audiences requires that ladies wear a long black dress with a high collar and long sleeves and a black mantilla.
