MONACO: EX-PALACE ACCOUNTANT CLAUDE PALMERO HAS A THIERRY LACOSTE PROBLEM

Claude Palmero chose an interesting man with whom to proclaim his innocence. Thierry Lacoste. In July, the two former intimates of Prince Albert II appeared together at a press conference and portrayed themselves as victims of a judicial vendetta in Monaco. Two months later, Lacoste was taken into police custody. And now the former lawyer, childhood friend and longtime confidant of Prince Albert finds himself caught in a criminal investigation involving allegations of corruption and influence peddling surrounding one of Monaco's most controversial property developments: the Esplanade des Pêcheurs. Investigators believe Lacoste traded upon his extraordinary proximity to the prince for the benefit of private interests. We have no doubt, having investigated Lacoste—andPalmero—and discovered a pattern of corruption. The arrest creates an awkward problem for Palmero, who—of course—is under investigation himself. His July press conference with Lacoste was supposed to be a counterattack. They described themselves as targets of a judicial campaign and pointed toward a small group of people whom they blamed for their exclusion from the Palace. Lacoste presented his campaign as a matter of principle. Palmero complained about the manner in which Monaco's justice system was treating him. It was quite the performance. Now one of them has been hauled into police custody and charged with serious crimes. Which left me pondering the latest news about the other. So I checked for an update. CLAUDE PALMERO… …wasn't merely Prince Albert's bean-counter. He was administrator of the assets of the Sovereign and the princely family. His father had performed a similar function for Prince Rainier (until a scandal got him ousted). Claude Palmero consequently occupied a position of almost unparalleled financial intimacy with the Grimaldis. He knew where the money was. He knew where it went. He knew the structures through which it moved. He knew the property deals. He knew the players. And he played the players to his own personal advantage. And he knew the secrets. For more than 20 years. Then Albert fired him in June 2023. Escorted from his office by the Palace Guard—and told to not come back. Read about it here… Palmero Booted from Monaco Palace And—just like that—Claude Palmero discovered transparency and shape-shifted into… a 'reformer.' PALMERO IS A CRIMINAL DEFENDANT In January 2026, he was charged with violating the secrecy of an investigation after procedural documents relating to cases in which he was not a party were reportedly discovered during a search of his home. Then, in March, following a complaint by the princely family, Palmero was charged again, this time over alleged violation of professional secrecy and invasion of privacy relating to confidential material that found its way into the press. WE KNEW PALMERO This is where our perspective differs somewhat from that of journalists who discovered Claude Palmero after his dismissal and trumpet his claims. We knew about him two decades ago. While operating an intelligence service for Prince Albert, we investigated and reported on precisely the networks of influence, questionable characters and entrenched interests surrounding the Palace that Palmero now professes to find so disturbing. Back then, Claude Palmero wasn't standing outside that establishment blowing a whistle. He was inside it. Deep inside it. He was one of the most entrenched insiders in Monaco. And when our intelligence reporting began putting a spotlight on relationships around the Palace and various ministries, Palmero did not join us on the barricades demanding transparency. Quite the opposite. Which is why his subsequent reinvention is laughable. The question therefore isn't simply whether Palmero's accusations against others are true. There are more interesting questions. What did Claude Palmero know? When did he know it? What did he do about it? And perhaps most importantly: What did Claude Palmero tolerate while Claude Palmero remained powerful? Because for more than two decades he wasn't some helpless functionary watching Monaco's machinery from the pavement. He was sitting inside the engine room—and directing a fair amount of it. For years: Palace insider. Keeper of secrets. Participant in the very dirty system surrounding Prince Albert. Then: June 2023. Abruptly fired. After which came revelations, accusations, interviews, and the transformation of Claude Palmero into a supposed crusader against the very establishment in which he had spent decades flourishing. BACK TO LACOSTE Twenty years ago, Lacoste was one of the people who helped turn Prince Albert against his own intelligence service. That intelligence service had been reporting uncomfortable information about people surrounding the prince. Including Thierry Lacoste. Now Lacoste himself is a criminal defendant in Monaco. The war consuming Monaco is not a struggle between reformers and corrupt insiders. It is a struggle among insiders—men who operated within the same small ecosystem for decades. So forget Claude Palmero's campaign to rehabilitate Claude Palmero. Forget the victimhood. Forget the carefully cultivated image of the 'courageous' former insider finally telling Monaco how Monaco really works. We already knew how Monaco worked. We reported it to Prince Albert 20 years ago. And people around him—notably, Palmero and Lacoste—persuaded Albert not to listen. Thierry Lacoste's predicament now makes Palmero's protestations even harder to swallow. Standing beside an accused man and declaring that both of you are victims of the system may have looked impressive in July. It hasn't aged well. The Spymaster of Monte Carlo, Amazon Step inside the gilded world of Monaco—where breathtaking beauty masks a labyrinth of corruption, intrigue, and espionage. In this electrifying true story, American Robert Eringer is summoned by Prince Albert II—son of Hollywood legend Grace Kelly—to create Monaco's first-ever intelligence service. Reporting directly to the prince, Eringer built an extraordinary operation: cultivating secret relationships with the CIA, MI6 and 18 other foreign intelligence services, and key figures on U.S. Senate and House intelligence committees. He arranged meetings for Prince Albert with CIA Director Porter Goss and FBI Director Robert Mueller III. He led operations targeting money-laundering networks, exposed mafia influence, and uncovered deep corruption at the highest levels of Monaco's government. But when the time came for action, Prince Albert's courage faltered—and a promised 'new ethic' for Monaco crumbled under the weight of old-world power plays. Set against the dazzling backdrop of the French Riviera,Spymaster of Monte Carloreveals how truth, loyalty, and power collide in the shadows behind a royal façade.