‘Camille, the result of Princess Stephanie’s affair with her bodyguard, is filmed getting a tattoo’
It’s still decorated exactly as it was when she died in a car crash when he was 24.
“When my father talked to me about the job he said, ‘You will be alone in that room and you have to be ready for it psychologically and emotionally’,” he recalls.
At one point, he is accompanied on his private jet to the UN. “You have to mind your Ps and Qs and I’ve learnt to be quite good at that,” says Albert of diplomacy.
“We are a small country and we have limited influence so we are neutral. Monaco’s neutrality is one of our main attributes – the role of small countries is to act as go-betweens between big nations.”
Viewers will also see an intriguing encounter with his niece Camille Gottlieb, child of his sister Stephanie’s affair with royal bodyguard Jean Raymond Gottlieb.
She is one of the most downto-earth people on the programme, which is perhaps unsurprising as, after she was born, her mother joined the circus when she fell in love with elephant trainer Franco Knie. She is filmed at Monaco’s only tattoo parlour – beloved by rich rebels – getting a tiger tattoo on her arm. “It can be a little weird sometimes, to be the grand-daughter of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, the daughter of Princess Stephanie,” she muses. “We are the royal family so we have to do a lot of things for Monaco so that’s good for us. “I like watching reality shows – I loved Geordie Shore. But I don’t think my uncle would like us to do a reality show here. It is very cool growing up in Monte Carlo. Everyone knows everyone else. We have a lot of security.”
That is another aspect of why the rich love Monaco. Because so many people were taking big money in and out of the casino, security had to be really tight. There’s one policeman for every 70 residents – a ratio seven times bigger than in the UK – and 900 CCTV cameras. Crime, unsurprisingly, is rare.
“If you ask most people their main reason for moving here, I think the overwhelming majority would say it is the security, the safety aspect,” says Prince Albert.
Even Monaco’s small prison, where only half the 70 rooms are in use, is unlike any other. There’s netting over all outside areas to avoid helicopter escapes while the cook makes entrecôte steak for the prisoners – feeding them well ensures they don’t rebel. This, after all, is a society where money is all. Supercars jostle for prime position outside the luxury Hotel de Paris and yachts get ever bigger. Having a boat is about the only way to have a guaranteed sea view; new properties are being built all the time with land even being reclaimed from the sea.
THOSE who serve the rich laugh at their foibles. One hotel worker describes how a rich Russian client loved a sushi meal so much he had another flown by private jet to his wife in Moscow. Another describes how a client insisted duvets and sheets be removed from the bed – they wanted it covered in pillows instead. Workers in the harbour talk about how clients want ever bigger boats to outdo their pals. In the meantime, the principality has to keep a constant stream of events running to ensure the rich citizens and visitors are continually entertained – those Monaco coffers need to remain full.
There’s yacht week, the Grand Prix, balls and casino events, all to keep this gilded toytown afloat. As one wealthy resident, film producer Monica Bacardi – a scion of the drinks empire whose name she bears – says of the place: “It is a bubble, a pink bubble. It is very small, very safe and what looks like a lot of candies. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel… whatever it is your heart wants.”
●●Inside Monaco starts on BBC Two on June 8 at 9pm.