File photo: Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen (C) holds up his trophy flanked by Prince Albert II of Monaco (R) and Princess Charlene of Monaco (L) on the podium after winning the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. Picture: AFP
The House of Grimaldi recently found itself in a precarious position after Claude Palmero, principal asset manager for the Monaco royal family for more than 22 years, spilled the beans on the family’s exorbitant spending.
This came after Palmero was sensationally fired from his position amid unverified allegations made on an anonymous website of financial impropriety at the palace, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported.
Now Palmero plans to sue the Monaco royals for €1 million (about R20 million) and granted a series of interviews to French publication Le Monde.
“This whole affair revolves around the corruption I’d been denouncing with increasing force for years,” he told the publication.
In a place the super-rich call home, even Palmero’s claims raised a few eyebrows.
Uncovering the contents of five black notebooks, what many found interesting were the spending habits of Princess Charlene.
According to Palmero, Charlene had an annual allowance of about €1.5 million. In December 2019, he noted she had spent “about €15 million in the past eight years,” the Guardian reported.
“It’s crazy!” the accountant wrote. “I have no control over the princess’s spending.”
What’s more, it was claimed Prince Albert routinely topped up his wife’s allowance, and she once requested money to renovate her holiday home in Corsica, as well as redecorating her office.
Le Monde also reported that Prince Albert, 67, gives his daughter Jazmin Grace Grimald, 31, about £73,000 every three months and pays for kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre, 20.
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