Bloomberg's respected news magazine Businessweek released an article yesterday, "The Monaco Royals Whose Deals Have Brought Peril to the Palace Doors." The article looks at an investigation into alleged corruption and conflicts of interest in Monaco, including whether the Palace gave preferential treatment to the Casiraghi brothers on lucrative contracts, including real-estate deals and a passenger helicopter franchise. (Both Albert and the Casiraghis denied any wrongdoing.)
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The article is behind a paywall, but if you have a subscription to Bloomberg or Apple News+, you should be able to read it.
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
As an aside, the article contains this interesting bit on Sovereign Prince Rainier III:
[...] But in a twist of fate buried by time, and first reported recently by Le Monde, Albert’s reign was in doubt before it ever began.
As is so often the case with powerful leaders and their offspring, Rainier had a complicated relationship with his son. [...]
When he neared his 80s, after three packs of cigarettes a day and multiple heart surgeries, Rainier considered the future of Monaco. The constitution was clear: The ruler’s eldest male child born in wedlock was next in line to the throne. But Rainier met secretly with advisers and, according to a document reviewed by Businessweek, considered turning the country over to someone else. As one of the advisers wrote, the “longevity of the dynasty” was at stake.
Whom did Rainier consider as a potential successor? His grandson Andrea Casiraghi.
It may never be known why the late monarch changed his mind and chose his own son. It isn’t even clear whether Albert or the Casiraghis knew how close they were to a much different history. Albert discards the notion that his father favored Andrea as a “fable.”
“During his reign, Prince Rainier tirelessly prepared me to succeed him,” Albert said in his statement. “I would add that our entire family is deeply united around My wife and Myself, as it was yesterday behind Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, and as it will be tomorrow around Prince Jacques,” Albert’s son.
It would be interesting to know precisely what the "document" was and what it stated. Also interesting is that, regardless of how serious or unserious he may have been, Rainier III discussed the concept with advisers but, apparently, not with his own family. I also wonder why he thought of passing over not only Albert but Caroline.
For reference, the late prince was born in 1923, thus he would have been "nearing his 80s" in the early 2000s, when Andrea would have been in his late teens.