FROM FINANCE CHIEF TO FIRED EMPLOYEE

Largely viewed as one of Albert’s closest confidantes, Claude was privy to the secrets of the royal budgets as well as the inner workings of one of the world’s richest royal families.

He was fired last year after he was implicated in a financial scam dubbed The Rock Files.

In 2021 a website called Dossiers du Rocher (The Rock Files) accused Albert’s entourage of corruption. Among them were the so-called “G4”: Claude, Albert’s then-chief of staff, Laurent Anselmi, his lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, and President of the Supreme Court, Didier Linotte.

The anonymously run website, which follows developments in Monaco’s lucrative property market, published a string of unverified emails implicating the men in fraud.

Claude, who was seen as the kingpin, was accused of embezzling palace funds and registering himself as the official owner of much of the royal family’s property portfolio, notably in Paris.

He claims he acted with the royal family’s approval so they could avoid French taxes, but the palace disputes this.

Claude was fired after Albert launched an internal investigation into the allegations.

The matter is currently being investigated by French authorities and the former financial high-flyer could face jail time if the matter isn’t settled out of court.

But he insists he did nothing wrong. “I’m neither corrupt nor a thief, all implausible things of which the royal family, to whom I’ve devoted myself for two decades, is now unjustly accusing me,” he told Le Monde.

He tried to sue the palace for unfair dismissal, but when that didn’t work he released the diaries.

Prince Albert and his wife, Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene, come in for lambasting, as do Albert’s sisters, Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie. Even the kids aren’t spared.