Words: Harry Shukman
When AA Gill visited Monaco he said it was a “mangrove swamp of avarice”, a greasy hellscape devoid of “taste and a sense of the collective good”. It was “deeply depressing, so comprehensively devoid of any amusement, expectation or glamour, so utterly tacky, witless, empty and sad”. Psychological research tells us that geography affects personality, so is it any wonder that the House of Grimaldi, the family that rules the naff microstate of Monaco, is said to be cursed?
Talk of the 700-year-old Grimaldi curse has been revived this summer as Prince Albert II, the philandering monarch, and his marriage to Princess Charlene is rumoured to be on the brink. She has not been seen publicly in Monaco since January, when she decamped to her home country of South Africa for a “conservation trip” in aid of the endangered white rhino. She missed her ten-year wedding anniversary with Albert, 63, who in vain has tried to dampen rumours of an impending split with the claim that doctors have advised Charlene, 43, from flying back to Monaco after complications from a “serious” ear, nose, and throat infection. Last month, Albert said his wife had an operation and was “resting”.
The Grimaldi Family in 1973. Prince Albert is second from right, arm-in-arm with his mother
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