I visited the Princely Palace on Friday 17th, and I enjoyed my time there. There were lots of steps to climb up, and in the heat the journey to the palace wasn't that fun! I thought the area around the palace was fascinating, it looked perfect - everything was clean and neat, there was not a trace of litter on the pavements and roads.
Even though the Princely Family are not a family I follow closely, I still found it interesting learning about their family history and the history of Monaco as I did not know much about either beforehand. On the audio guide there was a welcome message from Prince Albert, and I haven't really heard him speak so I was quite surprised by his accent when he spoke English as he sounded very American (though I guess that's from Princess Grace).
You couldn't take photos inside the palace, which was a shame because there were a few rooms that I really liked. I was surprised at how small the rooms were in comparison to the other royal palaces that I have visited. I have heard of Prince Albert I before but didn't really know what he looked like, and after seeing portraits of him at the palace, the first thing that struck me was that his eyes were very similar to Queen Victoria's. I know nowadays there is a Hanover connection with the Grimaldis, but I don't think there was then. It was also interesting to read about the history of Monaco itself, as I hadn't realised that it used to have other colonies or that it first officially belonged to the Grimaldi family in the 1500s.
Below are some photos of my visit (only of the outside of the palace):
