Princely Couple Visit Nepal

There Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco slipped away from New Zealand and have been making a short visit to Nepal where they have checked in on a school in the Himalayan country (formerly the last Hindu monarchy in the world) which was built by Monaco Aide et Présence and which is now one of the best schools in the country. The Sovereign Prince will then lay the corner stones for some more schools to be built by the Nepal-Monaco Cultural Association and visit some other clinics and workshops built with aid from France. But wait! I know what you're thinking: Nepal had a revolution, they tossed out their terrible king and the Maoists took over (Maoists so hard-core they even freaked out the Red Chinese) so surely they have spread the wealth around and made sure there are no more poor in Nepal...right? Yeah, not so much, seems they still need a great deal of help from wealthy western nations where capitalism holds a little sway. Imagine that. Message to Nepal - It's not working. Just tell the King you're sorry and ask him to come back, we won't tell anyone, we'll just pretend the whole thing never happened. Okay? Good. Moving on then...

Croatian Visit

Readers may remember that in 2009 HSH Prince Albert II visited the Adriatic country of Croatia. On Tuesday the courtesy was returned when President Ivo Josipovic and First Lady Tatjana Josipovic visited the Principality of Monaco where they were greeted and welcomed by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. The Princely Carabiniers turned out to provide a guard and honor with all appropriate pomp and ceremony in the Cour d’Honneur of the Princely Palace. The Prince and the President (both wearing their Croat-Monegasque friendship pins) inspected the guard and then retired to discuss increasing the diplomatic and other ties between Monaco and Croatia as well as (who could guess) discussing how they could cooperate in environmental protection. Afterwards the two couples had lunch (as this was only a day visit there was no formal state banquet). This visit also comes at a time when many in Croatia have been pushing to join the European Union so it is not unusual they the Croatian President would seek to strengthen ties and be as friendly as possible to all western European countries. The small Catholic country of Croatia has been around a very long time but most recently only gained independence in 1991 after a very costly war of independence.

Princely Visit to Georgia

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco arrived in the south Caucasian Republic of Georgia on Sunday for an official visit that will end today. The Sovereign Prince has for some time now made it a matter of policy to strengthen ties with East European countries and peoples. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and other dignitaries were on hand to greet the Prince at the airport and the President escorted the Prince to several sites of cultural interest in Mestia, including one right up my alley in the area known as Lanchvali where the traditional style of that part of town (which goes back to the Middle Ages) is being restored. The Prince visited many areas where the Georgians proudly displayed their rich and ancient heritage, including something we're always fond of here at Mad for Monaco, some groups of very colorful folk dancers. At the end of the day, the Prince went to take in a musical at the Opera House in Batumi.

The next day, again with President Saakashvili acting as travel guide, the Prince visited Kvareli where he was given a demonstration of new techniques introduced there for the harvesting and processing of grapes and, as he is known to do, Prince Albert got involved himself in lending a hand with preparing some wine (which Georgia is known for) which the monarch of a country on the borders of France and Italy would not be totally unfamiliar with. The President also conducted Prince Albert to Dmanisi to visit an archaeological site (something of interest to the Prince as it would have been to the first Prince Albert of Monaco) and then to a meeting with the members of the National Olympic Committee of Georgia. Afterwards, the Prince was off to the Georgian National Museum in Tiblisi where he had been asked to speak. It was a busy day but the Prince also made it a point to make time for a very special visit to the home of the late Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili -a name not everyone will remember but all will certainly remember his tragic fate. That was the young Georgian athlete who was killed in a practice run at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, which stunned the world, caused a re-work of the event in question and a wave of sympathy directed toward the nation of Georgia. The Sovereign Prince met with the parents of the late athlete and presented them with a special medal of honor in memory of their son. It was a very touching scene.

Prince Albert poses with a group of Georgian folk dancers

Some very striking Georgian dancers performing for the visiting Prince

Prince Albert II presenting the medal of honor to the parents of Nodar Kumaritashvili

Monaco-Serbian Friendship

HRH Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia, HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco, HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco and HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia

The House of Grimaldi and the House of Karađorđević have been good friends for some time now and it was good to see Serbian royal couple at the recent princely wedding. The Serbian Crown Prince is, I think, probably the most impressive non-reigning royal around today. He has been very successful in forging close ties with the existing Serbian government and the Orthodox Church and has done a great deal of good for the Serbian people. He has stayed out of politics but has been very active in advocating for a constitutional monarchy in his long-suffering homeland. Serbia will be a great deal better off when they finally correct past injustices and make Alexander their King. I'm sure the Prince and Princess of Monaco would be happy to attend his coronation.

Egypt and Monaco

Everyone is well aware of the turmoil and tumult that is currently gripping Egypt. The North African nation has been suffering under a succession of presidents (military dictators) ever since the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy in 1953. The Muhammad Ali dynasty had ruled Egypt and the Sudan since 1805, first under the Ottoman Empire, then the British Empire and finally as an independent kingdom. The last official King of Egypt was King Fuad II, but he was only a child and had a nominal reign of only a few days. The last effective King of Egypt was King Farouk and he was actually pretty good friends with the late Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Like many royals he had vacationed in Monaco, which probably lowered his reputation in the eyes of religious fundamentalists but was not uncommon in an era of greater glamor and tolerance than most today would be familiar with in the region.

King Farouk had many enemies among Arab nationalists for his friendship with the British. What was unfair about this was that it was not really true and the British had little love for him because he was seen by them as not friendly enough. However, the British Empire was fading fast and the United States was the new super-power in the western world and the United States (especially the CIA) was convinced that King Farouk had to go! A military coup brought down the King and he suddenly found himself homeless and with few friends. Where did he turn? To the sunny Principality of Monaco of course where Prince Rainier III was good enough to give him a safe haven. When his Egyptian citizenship was revoked and the former King became a 'man without a country' in 1959 Prince Rainier III came to the rescue again and made Farouk a citizen of Monaco. Later the King moved to Rome where he ultimately died in 1965.

Princess Ferial and her father King Farouk of Egypt in Monaco for the wedding of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III

The same Princess Ferial of Egypt (alongside King Juan Carlos of Spain) in Monaco for the funeral of Prince Rainier III

Russia and Monaco

The Principality of Monaco and Russia have had relations since HSH Prince Charles III of Monaco signed a number of agreements with HIM Czar Alexander II of the Russian Empire. This coincided with the rise in prominence of the casino at Monte Carlo which attracted a large number of Russian aristocracy and members of the Romanov Imperial Family. The Prince and the Czar signed a number of treaties dealing with the law, legal status of Russians in Monaco and the extradition of criminals from Monaco back to Russia. In 1858, when Prince Charles III established the Order of St Charles it was Czar Alexander II who was the first foreign royal to be honored with the decoration. In 1877 a consulate was set up in St Petersburg with Chevalier Jean Plancher appointed by Prince Charles III as the first Monegasque consul to the Russian court.

However, these warm relations came to an end with the horrific Bolshevik revolution and Monaco never established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. For the communists, Monaco represented everything they abhorred most; a country famous for lavish wealth, vacationing capitalist businessmen and an effectively absolute monarchy with an established religion on top of it all. If anything needed to be done between Monaco and the USSR it was handled through the French embassy in Moscow or the Soviet embassy in Paris.

That all changed with the fall of the USSR and the admittance of Monaco into the UN in 1993. Consular relations were established between Monaco and the Russian Federation in July of 1996 and in 2002 HSH Prince Rainier III appointed the first honorary consul of Monaco in St Petersburg. The following year HSH Prince Albert II traveled to Russia to open the consulate. In 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin began negotiations to establishing full diplomatic relations between Russia and Monaco. On July 11 of that year this milestone was reached when the Russian Ambassador to France, Alexander Avdeyev, was appointed as the first Russian Ambassador to Monaco. Full diplomatic relations were established on April 10, 2007.

The Russian ballet has long been popular in Monaco with the Russian ballet of Sergei Diaghilev performing regularly from 1911 to 1929. This was interrupted by the Soviet era but the new era of friendship has brought a number of Russian dance and musical groups to Monaco on tour. Former President and current Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prince Albert II reportedly enjoy a very good relationship and business, trade, tourism and cultural exchanges between Russia and Monaco are strong and only seem set to grow in the future.

Monaco and Vietnam

HIM Emperor Bao Dai and HSH Prince Rainier III

Although the countries are extremely dissimilar, Monaco and Vietnam do have some things in common and have had ties many may not be familiar with. Both, for quite some time at least, were part of the community of nations under French protection; albeit under very different circumstances. The first major meeting between the Monegasque and Vietnamese nations came about in an unofficial way when, following World War II and the start of the political wars in Indochina, the last Vietnamese Emperor, Bao Dai, came to France and resided mostly on the southern coast. Emperor Bao Dai, like his mother and many others, was very fond of gambling and was often to be seen at the grand casino of Monte Carlo where, it was said, his losses befitted someone of his exalted rank.

Did Emperor Bao Dai and Prince Rainier III ever meet? I could not say. One would presume such an illustrious visitor would have met with the Sovereign Prince and yet the Vietnamese Emperor was not visiting in an official capacity and was usually trying to keep a low profile so, perhaps not. It is also at least within the realm of possibility that Rainier III might have met the former Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tan in Germany where both served with the French army at the end of World War II. In any event, the Emperor was such a loyal patron of the roulette wheel in Monte Carlo that his mother, the Empress-Dowager Tu Cung, reportedly had to sell some family antiques to pay his debts (the Emperor in France later had to do the same for his mother in Vietnam).

In recent years AMADE, the charitable organization founded by Princess Caroline, has worked with other groups to establish schools in a number of locations around Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, still known as Saigon to most of the world, and once called the “Paris of the Orient” during the days of French colonial rule. The Prince Albert II Foundation has also been at work in Vietnam lately. In 2007 the Principality of Monaco and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam established formal diplomatic relations for the first time when Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Le Kinh Tai presented his credentials to HSH Prince Albert II at the Princely Palace on March 5.

Monaco and Vietnam have both been members of the community of French-speaking languages since 1970 and Vietnam is the 55th country accredited to the Principality of Monaco.

HSH Prince Albert II and HE Le Khinh Tai