Clearing the Record

I had not wanted to talk about this, wasn't going to, but stories like these do tend to spread so, now that we are in the final countdown to the happy occasion I will speak my peace and lay the matter to rest. It all started when L'Express ran a story claiming that secret "sources" they trusted told them that last week Charlene had found out some terrible secret about Prince Albert that sent her over the edge. Her father sent her a one-way ticket to South Africa and she was about to board a plane for home in Nice when she was stopped by French police, taken back to Monaco and calmed down. Afterwards, supposedly to calm the fears of the Monegasque the two went on a stroll through the principality just to show everyone that everything was okay. The Palace immediately denied the story of course and demanded to know who the "source" was that said such a thing to defame the Sovereign Prince days before his wedding. Of course, the "journalistic integrity" (as if such a thing existed anymore) of L'Express meant no information was forthcoming. Obviously though, one does not have to be a genius to tell that this tall tale stinks to high heaven.

In the first place, the story probably cannot confirm their "facts" because almost no facts are given. There is no exact timeline for one thing (that has changed) and it first came out when Charlene was in Greece for the opening of the Special Olympics. They also never said what the "secret" was that sent Charlene running. They imply (without actually stating of course) that it was an illegitimate child -yes, another one. However, the fact that Prince Albert, a foot-loose bachelor for many decades now, is not exactly pure as the wind-driven snow is hardly news to anyone on planet earth. Charlene knows about his two children, any allegations in this area would not be news, not be anything to be shocked over. Furthermore, on what grounds would the French police stop Charlene for getting on a plane in Nice? The French Republic is not exactly Stalinist Russia, police have to have a reason to stop someone. The Prince of Monaco may be an effectively absolute monarch inside his tiny realm but he cannot give orders to the police of foreign nations -that's just ridiculous. In short, nothing about this story makes any sense at all.

However, I cannot say I am totally surprised. Unfortunately, I fully expected something like this to happen. Prince Albert II, like any high-profile, public figure these days, has people who dislike him, people eager to take advantage of him and at least one with absolutely no life who spends every day slandering him in the most ridiculous fashion out of childish spite. I will mention no names because I don't want to "feed the trolls" as they say in 'Internet Land' but I would bet dollars to navy beans I know exactly who leaked this idiotic story and exactly who the "source" is that made it public. This is no more than an effort to get money, attention and most of all to spoil a happy occasion, not just for the couple and the House of Grimaldi but for all the people of Monaco who are collateral damage in this instance. It is utterly disgraceful and I will leave it at that.