Latest news with #Albert
GMA Network
4 hours ago
- Sport
- GMA Network
Albert Capellas parts ways with PMNFT, Carles Caudrat takes over
Philippine Men's National Football Team head coach Albert Capellas has parted ways with the squad and will be replaced by recently appointed assistant coach Carles Caudrat. The Philippine Football Federation announced the development late Saturday, just less than two weeks before the Philippines' match against Tajikistain in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on June 10. "My wonderful journey as head coach of the Philippine National Football Federation has come to an end and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have been part of it, especially the players and all the staff involved, the Director of National Teams Freddy Gonzalez, and the President John Gutierrez," Capellas, who was appointed as head coach in September 2024, said in a statement. 'Together, we have enjoyed an inspiring journey and have proven that Filipino football has a promising generation of young players with the potential to bring great pride and success to the country. I am sincerely grateful for the time we have shared and for the support and kindness I've received from the entire Filipino football community. I will always carry these memories with me and wish the Federation and the team continued growth and success in the years to come. With gratitude, Albert Capellas.' According to Gonzalez, Capellas stepped down due to personal reasons. 'Personal reasons have led to Albert's departure. Out of great respect for him, we will not elaborate. We are grateful for his service, and wish him well. I continue to consider him a friend,' Gonzalez said. 'As with all things in life, change happens and one must always be prepared to handle unexpected turns. We move on, and keep pushing forward. Albert left us with a blueprint to follow and we thank him for bringing Carles on board, enabling him to be the interim head coach and provide continuity for what Albert has started. Now is the time to focus on the match with Tajikistan and push to be top of the group and focus on qualifying for the Asian Cup.' With Capellas at the helm, the Philippine men's team reached the semis of the ASEAN Championships last December, which along the way included a historic win against Thailand in five decades. Cuadrat, meanwhile, has worked with the national teams of Saudi Arabia and El Salvador, and top European clubs Barcelona Youth, Galatasaray and Midtjylland. Recently, he steered East Bengal FC to their first trophy in over a decade. —JKC, GMA Integrated News
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A chemistry company is harnessing AI to develop new beauty products and stay on top of trend cycles
Albert Invent is a digital platform that uses AI-driven analysis to assist chemists with research. The platform integrates data from electronic lab notebooks to speed up product development. This article is part of " How AI Is Changing Everything: Supply Chain," a series on innovations in logistics. Cosmetic chemistry, or the science of making beauty products, is a complex process that requires understanding how ingredients interact with each other and with the skin. With so many variables to consider — safety, shelf lifespan, texture, and appearance — the process of blending ingredients for face creams, eye shadows, lipsticks, and other cosmetics can be time-consuming for chemists, who typically conduct independent research to figure out which compounds and minerals can work together to create a safe, effective, and sellable product. Albert Invent, based in Oakland, California, seeks to simplify this process for chemists with its digital platform called Albert. The company's CEO, Nick Talken, said Albert enables chemists to research and develop safe, high-performing products without the need to refer to the notebooks and spreadsheets where they typically store data. Since Albert integrates data that's already been stored in electronic lab notebooks and laboratory information management systems, chemists can come up with test-worthy formulations in less time. How AI can help chemists develop safe and effective cosmetics Albert is trained on more than 15 million molecular structures, Talken said. When chemists — from companies like the adhesive and cleaning supplies manufacturer Henkel, the Teflon-maker Chemours, and the chemical manufacturing company Nouryon — use the platform, they can look up which permutations of molecules will work best to achieve a specific goal. The platform was designed to capture the kind of information that chemists typically track in notebooks or on spreadsheets, such as the materials and substances they might use, their compositions, and processing steps. When a chemist asks Albert for input on which other substances work well with a particular ingredient, the system offers feedback on possible substance combinations and predicts the physical, toxicological, and visual properties of new compounds before they are synthesized in a lab. This AI-driven analysis gives formulators the opportunity to determine whether a concoction is safe and effective to produce, or whether they should scrap the idea, in minutes. Albert Invent partnered with Nouryon, which owns a collection of formulation strategies for the personal care industry (think cosmetics, hair care, and skincare products) that have been cleared as effective and safe. The result: a digital platform for developing new cosmetics formulations, called BeautyCreations. Instead of employing the traditional product-development methods of trial and error and real-time experimentation — methods that can typically take anywhere from four to six weeks — Nouryon's chemists can use BeautyCreations to look through the company's existing formulations for hair and skincare products and filter for results that match their desired safety standards and marketing claims, all while adhering to stringent development timelines. David Freidinger, the vice president of personal care and pharma at Nouryon, said this technology has enabled the company's chemists to develop new products from almost anywhere in the world. It's also improved the speed and quality of Nouryon's internal product development, as the company can look at BeautyCreations data to better understand market trends and prioritize development initiatives accordingly. An AI tool for chemistry beyond cosmetics Arthur Tisi, a former CTO and chief information officer who advises private equity and portfolio companies on digital technology strategies, said that the molecular AI technology behind Albert could be of use to other data-heavy industries in the future. "The ability to 'digitalize' our technical expertise and make it available to customers 24/7 enables accelerated scaling and efficiency in customer support," Tisi wrote in a recent email to BI. He added that tools like Albert are powerful because they offer both product-formula data and consumer insights. Tisi said that in the future, the value of molecular AI will go beyond its speed benefits. He said that this technology has the potential to uncover certain chemical formulations that scientists might miss. Freidinger said industries that use reams of empirical data to create products or deliver services could benefit from AI tools like Albert to improve speed and quality. "The same technology that speeds up skincare development can revolutionize personalized medicine, where rapidly identifying the perfect molecular combinations could mean delivering custom-targeted therapies for individual patients, potentially turning fatal diagnoses into manageable conditions," Freidinger said. Meanwhile, Talken said that Albert has the potential to be used for inventing new polymers and batteries.
Mint
4 days ago
- General
- Mint
What baby names reveal about American and British society
A SQUALLING infant is put into your arms. As you admire this small person, you begin to wonder what the future has in store. Will she be shy or outgoing? Studious or lazy? Will she have an artistic streak or a rebellious one? As you ponder these questions, the doctor asks another, more urgent, one: what will you call the baby? Choosing a name is one of the first enduring decisions parents must make on behalf of their child. Their selection tends to reflect their values and hopes for their offspring. Those with an interest in science may opt for Albert or Marie; more literary types may be tempted by Agatha or Ernest. If you desire a child who is sturdy and traditional, you might plump for John; if you want a youngster to stand out from the crowd, you might go with Apple or maybe even X Æ A-Xii. Every parent knows living namesakes matter as much as past ones. In America Donald is a less popular choice than it was in 2010, given to just 414 children in 2023. As Taylor Swift has climbed the music charts, her first name has slid down the rankings, perhaps because parents fear their children will feel eclipsed by the star. Taken individually, each name selection is shaped by a constellation of factors, including family history and the baby's demeanour. (Judging from online forums, new parents worry deeply about whether or not their babies suit their moniker.) But, taken together, names can reveal broad social trends. Unlike surnames, first names are subject to the fashions and linguistic shifts of the time; they are manifestations of popular culture. For that reason, names are worthy of study. The Economist analysed the first names of almost 400m people born in America and Britain in the past 143 years. We looked at which were popular and their connotations; we considered how diverse the names were and the rate at which trends have come and gone. The results are striking. Our study revealed that the countries on both sides of the Atlantic are becoming more interested in money and power (see chart), as culture becomes more fragmented and dynamic. Historically, studying what a name evokes has been hard to quantify, but artificial intelligence offers a method of doing so. 'What word follows…" is the problem large language models (LLMs) were made to solve. These models, trained on enormous corpora of text, can reveal clusters of associations. So we enlisted an LLM to provide the top five connotations of all popular names. Our prompts—more than 30,000 of them—produced 7,439 unique descriptors, including 'purity", 'warrior" and 'socially awkward". (Ironically the most popular description was 'unique", tied to 12,124 different names.) Using those connotations—and a list of synonyms—we could look at what traits parents seem to prize. The results include etymological and historical meanings, but they also reflect what people think of names in the current moment. Sophia, for example, is still linked to wisdom, as David is to king. Taylor traditionally means 'cutter of cloth". But the llm shows that now, thanks to the world's biggest pop star, people associate that name with versatility, professionalism and creativity. When it comes to traits, our study found that parents increasingly care about appearances. (Surprisingly, brains are becoming less fashionable for children. Names associated with cleverness—such as Raynard—are down six percentage points from 2000.) Names associated with beauty became more popular in recent decades. Almost 30% of names in England and Wales bear that connotation; over 30% of names in America do, too, up 3.2 percentage points from 2000. Parents especially care about highlighting this trait for their daughters. Every girls' name in the top ten—including the top three (Olivia, Emma and Charlotte in America and Olivia, Amelia and Isla in Britain)—connotes 'elegance" or some variation thereof. Of the top 100 boys' names in America, only one, Beau, carries associations of handsomeness. If beauty is desired in girls, brawn has muscled into male names: 70% of boys in America and 55% of boys in Britain have a name that evokes powerfulness. (The most popular boys' names in America, Liam and Noah, are associated with strength.) Another category that has gained prominence since 2000 is wealth, as parents buy into brands that evoke prosperity, such as Aston and Audi, disregarding King Solomon's advice: 'A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches." Even though almost a third of Americans and nearly 40% of Britons profess no religious affiliation, names from scripture have endured. In some cases, this is probably because people do not realise the origin of the name in question. Even so, names with religious links remain popular: roughly 15% of those in America have them. For boys, Elijah, Jacob and James are among the chosen ones; for girls, Abigail, Hannah and Sarah are revered. In Britain, such names are seeing an upswing. In 2023 Muhammad was the most popular name for boys in England and Wales, given to more than 4,600 infants, or 1.7% of boys. Unsurprisingly, in both countries name trends have been shaped by immigration. In America the pool of names shrank after the Immigration Act of 1924, which capped the number of people allowed entry; it expanded once limits were loosened in 1965. At that point, there were 10,841 names in America. By 2023, the last year in our data set, there were 28,945 unique ones given to five or more people, compared with 22,680 in 1990, despite fewer children being born. Yet historical names data probably tell only a partial story. In the past, migrants coming to America and Britain often felt pressure to adapt or discard names that sounded too foreign; as both countries have become more ethnically diverse and tolerant, the range of names has grown wider. Today many parents proudly select a name that preserves their cultural identity, seeing it as a statement of belonging rather than an obstacle to integration. In America names linked to Spanish, such as José and Diego, have surged in popularity, as have names linked to Arabic in Britain—Eesa and Sami, for example. Other factors have contributed to the greater range of names enjoyed by children today. In 1948 nearly a third of American children received one of the 20 most popular names; today parents may prefer to pick something more individualistic than conventional. The vogue for 'dictionary names"—ie, words from the dictionary such as Crimson or Summer—has deepened the pool, as has the use of surnames as first names (Archer, for instance). What did you just call me? Yet the internet has probably also contributed to a splintering of popularity. As we studied which names were chosen from year to year, we found that the speed at which trendy names come and go is much faster today than it was even half a century ago. The jumps and dives in popular names are more evenly spread, too. This may be because the internet furnishes parents with more information and sources of inspiration than ever before. Jennifer Moss, the founder and boss of a website, says near-real-time popularity data are driving faster churn in names, as parents see a name racing up the charts and avoid it, rather than risk having a child share a classroom with five Olivias or eight Noahs. Parents also use internet genealogy services to uncover names that are so old as to be nearly out of use. Discovering an obscure Scottish great-grandmother, for instance, can inspire parents to revive her name or surname for a child's first name. In America no name has come close to matching the Linda boom of 1947, set off by Jack Lawrence's song of that name and Linda Darnell, a popular actress. The name was given to nearly 100,000 girls—or 5.6%, up from 3.4% the preceding year. The Linda spike is remarkable for another reason: in percentage terms, no names are nearly as popular now as Linda was then. Popular culture still plays a role in provoking fads. The early 1990s saw a craze for Kevin after the release of 'Home Alone", a hit Christmas film. In the 2000s scores of parents named their daughters Emma, following the choice of Ross and Rachel in 'Friends". In the 2010s 'Game of Thrones" led to a surge in the number of girls being named Khaleesi, after the show's warrior queen. (Few have turned to the character in recent years: Khaleesi went on a genocidal rampage in the show's penultimate episode in 2019.) But these waves are weaker today than at any time in the past century. Parents short on inspiration can trawl through millions of films, songs and tv shows in search of an unusual gem. Or they can consult a list of names that are 'going extinct", such as Barbie (the blockbuster film failed to change its association with being a bimbo) and Homer (which may now be more tied in the public's imagination to the lazy character of 'The Simpsons" than the poet who wrote the 'Odyssey"). Royal names, such as Catherine and Albert, are also becoming less popular. However, parents may find that it is not their selection that will matter as much as the name conferred by future friends and detractors. 'A good name will wear out; a bad one may be turned," wrote Johann Georg Zimmermann, a Swiss philosopher. But 'a nickname lasts for ever".
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Princess Charlene Styles a Surprising Pair of Sneakers With Her Hermès Blouse at the Monaco Grand Prix
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Princess Charlene of Monaco is often admired for her style, and a weekend at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monte Carlo gave her the perfect opportunity to showcase her chic wardrobe. However, royal fans were surprised when Charlene opted to wear a pair of low-key sneakers with an Hermès blouse while meeting attendees alongside her husband, Prince Albert. The Monegasque Royal Family shared photos taken at the Grand Prix on May 24 on Instagram. In several snaps, Princess Charlene could be seen wearing a casual pair of tan sneakers with white soles. The rest of Charlene's outfit remained formal, yet laidback. The princess wore black pants with an Hermès "Guepards et Palmettes" Painter Blouse, which retails for $2,500. The Monaco Royal Family's caption explained, "Prince Albert and Princess Charlène graced the tribune of the Monégasque Association of Motor Disabled with their presence. Located on the outskirts of Monaco-Ville, this grandstand, specially designed for people with reduced mobility, offers one of the most beautiful views on the circuit. On this occasion, the Princier Couple offered caps signed by Monégasque pilot Charles Leclerc. A moment of sharing and kindness, greeted by all." On Sunday, May 25, Princess Charlene had the opportunity to wear more formal attire, and she did so with aplomb. While congratulating the winner of the Grand Prix, the former Olympian wore a Louis Vuitton Silk Scarf Shirt in red, with a pair of twill pants in the same color, via UFO No More. Charlene completed her perfectly coordinated outfit with a pair of Manolo Blahnik BB 70 Pointed-Toe Pumps in bright red suede, which retail for $865, and Louis Vuitton Idylle Flower Diamond Earrings. View Deal Later that night, Princess Charlene changed into a floor-length white gown featuring silver hardware to attend a gala dinner in honor of the Grand Prix. One thing is certain: whether she's wearing sneakers or evening gowns, Charlene remains a royal fashion inspiration.
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
The prince, his money manager and the corruption scandal rocking Monaco
TUCKED ONE STREET behind Monte Carlo's historic harbor, which is famously dotted with champagne bars and anchored by the storied casino that was the backdrop to multiple James Bond films, the Monaco police station may be the most unglamorous building in one of the world's most glamorous settings. Gray and boxy, it looks more like student housing on a university campus than a bulwark of security for the global elite who flock here as much for its aura of protective secrecy as its shimmering scenery. But over two days this February, in the police captain's office with a window facing up the rocky slope toward the palace, a dapper 68-year-old suspect in a corruption scandal rattled one of Europe's most storied royal families and shook the foundations of a tiny country built on polished appearances, ironclad confidentiality and tightly choreographed power. The suspect, Claude Palmero, has salt-and-pepper hair and wears wire-rim glasses. If he looks like an accountant, it's because he is, and he now finds himself at the center of the alleged corruption scandal. For much of his adult life, Palmero was the financial gatekeeper for Prince Albert II, Monaco's ruler for the past two decades and the son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, the Oscar-winning actress formerly known as Grace Kelly. A devoted sportsman, environmentalist and philanthropist, 67-year-old Albert has a fortune that has been conservatively estimated at more than 1 billion euros, and by all accounts he historically paid little attention to how it was managed. Instead, he entrusted it to Palmero as his administrateur des biens. That role, which Palmero inherited from his father, empowered him to manage Albert's private fortune, including by orchestrating quiet cash transfers when requested by the prince or others in the royal family. Palmero oversaw not only Prince Albert's private fortune but also assets held by the Crown, from prime real estate to a vast array of collections—including cars, stamps, coins and artworks, as well as financial holdings. But the relationship turned sour in 2023, after a leak of hacked documents implicated Palmero in a number of alleged corruption and influence-peddling schemes. In a casual text message that belied the chaos that was to come, Albert in May of 2023 wrote to his longtime money manager: 'I am now more or less obliged to speak out…to 'blow the whistle' a little bit to signal the end of recess and try to reassure many people here at home." He fired Palmero weeks later. Albert also initiated a broader shake-up at the top of the principality. Dozens of insiders left their posts, including some of Monaco's most influential power brokers. The move kicked off a wave of recriminations and more damaging leaks, including from notebooks Palmero meticulously kept about the prince's private activities. French newspapers ran some contents of the notebooks, highlighting Albert's financial support for his children born out of wedlock and their mothers, as well as the spending of his wife—Princess Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer—and other members of the royal family. (Monaco is a principality, not a kingdom, though the public widely refers to its ruling dynasty as a royal family.) In September 2023, Albert ratcheted up the feud further by filing a lawsuit—along with his sisters—against Palmero, accusing him of breach of trust and theft. The charges were later expanded to include forgery, use of forged documents and money laundering. According to people close to the prince, it was the first time in over 700 years of the Grimaldi dynasty that a ruler filed a criminal complaint against a Monaco resident. The February interrogations at the police station, spanning two full days, were part of the continuing investigation that is discreetly winding its way through Monaco's courts. Palmero has been questioned about Panamanian holding companies, Swiss bank accounts and secret payments made to keep the prince's private life exactly that—private. During questioning, he was not even allowed to use the bathroom without a guard escort. Palmero has denied the allegations. Prosecutors have interviewed him on multiple occasions but have not brought any charges. Palmero's defense can be boiled down to this: All of his activity was designed with the best interests of the prince in mind, including cleaning up the messes made by Albert and other members of the royal family, who paid little attention to their finances and spending. In February, for example, Palmero was asked about a roughly $15.9 million transfer he made to a company called Étoile de Mer. Palmero referred the officer to a letter addressed to the prince's legal team, explaining that the funds had ultimately ended up with a company used to cover expenses tied to Nicole Coste, the former Air France flight attendant and onetime lover of Prince Albert, as well as their son, Alexandre. The prince 'wished for the utmost confidentiality so that this situation would not become known to his wife," the letter read, according to documents viewed by WSJ. Magazine. Police investigators also questioned Palmero about a $795,000 transfer flagged by auditors as 'suspect." He described it as reimbursement for years of unlogged spending on behalf of the prince himself, kept private 'for reasons of confidentiality" and his own sense of duty and discretion. Among the outlays Palmero claimed to have quietly absorbed: rent for the prince's Monaco bachelor pad, the salaries and housing arrangements for Coste's staff and assorted costs tied to Princess Charlene's private Monaco apartment, which he said were deliberately kept off the books to avoid leaving evidence that she sometimes stayed outside the palace. The commingling of funds was further complicated by Palmero's practice of investing alongside the royal family, which he said he could do because he has a personal fortune of more than $113.5 million, much of which came from an inheritance. In one instance, police pressed Palmero on why some $185 million—mostly in private-equity funds—was held in a company called Janus, which was owned by Palmero. 'Janus is a two-headed god," Palmero told police, implying that this was no coincidence. 'There were two people involved." At times, Palmero got exasperated by the questioning, saying of his former boss: 'He now pretends that for 22 years he knew nothing about the state or management conditions of his own assets? He is the sovereign of a state! So either he is lying to serve his own interests, or he should step down—because someone like that should not be allowed to manage anything! It's utterly ridiculous!" Some of the prince's allies agree with at least part of that assessment, suggesting the prince placed too much trust in familiar faces. Surrounded by old friends and advisers who echoed each other's views, he saw little cause for doubt. The scandal, they say, jolted him into seeing things differently. Prince Albert took the throne 20 years ago this July, promising to usher in a new era in which Monaco would stand for something more than immense wealth for its own sake. But the scandal is merely reinforcing to many outsiders the famous Monaco descriptor from Somerset Maugham: 'a sunny place for shady people." IN A STATEMENT TO WSJ. MAGAZINE, Jean-Michel Darrois, Prince Albert's lawyer, said the prince would not comment on the specifics of the scandal and the dispute with Palmero. 'Of course, this episode has been difficult," Darrois said. 'He has taken all necessary decisions and measures to address the issues, strengthen governance and ensure full transparency. The matter is now in the hands of the judiciary, in which he has complete confidence. His focus is now fully on Monaco's future." Palmero's lawyers dismissed the allegations, saying that his management of the family's assets had only ever been profitable. 'The false indignation of the princely family — especially Prince Albert's — inventing that their estate administrator of 22 years might have tried to appropriate their assets, is utterly staggering," they said. The lawyers described the barrage of lawsuits as a 'palace vendetta" aimed at silencing Palmero's fight against corruption. With no income tax for individuals and an obsession with privacy, Monaco is a magnet for billionaires, celebrities and high-net-worth expats looking to shelter fortunes in plain sight. Property prices regularly hit over $110,000 per square meter, making it some of the most expensive real estate on earth. The harbor in the sun-dappled Mediterranean hosts a parade of superyachts—floating mansions stacked with helipads and champagne decks, all moored just steps from the palace. And once a year, the entire city transforms into a high-octane playground for the Monaco Grand Prix, when Formula 1 cars scream through the narrow streets, watched from private terraces and luxury suites perched above the track. The principality's global status is largely the creation of Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, who ruled for over 50 years. In 1956, he married Grace Kelly, the Hollywood starlet whose image helped cement Monaco's mystique on the world stage until her death in a car accident in 1982. As their only son, Albert grew up under intense public scrutiny, groomed for leadership—but made to wait. Despite years of speculation, Rainier held onto power far longer than expected. Insiders were convinced he'd step down in 1997 as part of the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi dynasty. Then again in 1998, when he turned 75. Some were certain he'd pass the baton on the 50th anniversary of his reign in 1999. Each time, it didn't happen. Albert finally ascended the throne in 2005—at age 47—only after Rainier's death. Albert himself has always cut a different figure from the classic monarch. He's a committed sportsman—an avid tennis player and a black belt in judo. He has competed in five Winter Olympics as part of Monaco's bobsled team. He's also known for a colorful personal life, marked by a long history of romantic entanglements. A graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts, he was asked in 2021 by the student newspaper to name his favorite course. 'Wow, maybe human sexuality? No, no, no, [laughs] I don't know," he said. He went on to say political science and the arts were subjects that captured his interest. In the same interview, he noted that he held a job at Amherst, working briefly as an art library attendant. 'It was great to know what it feels like to earn a paycheck," he said. 'Not that I don't get paid in Monaco, but I don't really see my paycheck." That casual attitude toward money in many ways paved the way to today's scandal. In 2023, on another visit back to campus, Albert decided that he wanted to donate millions to fund a new residential building at Amherst—maybe name it after himself or Monaco. Palmero informed him that his investments weren't liquid enough to allow him to make the donation immediately, as the prince wanted, and that it would take weeks to assemble that much cash. Palmero said some in the prince's inner circle used the episode to try to convince him that his money manager was stealing from him. 'Either he believed that or he pretended to believe it," Palmero told WSJ. Magazine. Fueling Albert's suspicions was the lingering fallout from the Dossiers du Rocher leak two years earlier. Hackers had breached the inbox of Thierry Lacoste—one of Albert's lawyers and an old family friend—unearthing documents that were later presented as evidence of alleged corruption inside the palace and implicating top advisers, including Palmero. The prince had initially brushed it off, backing his inner circle. But when the French investigative program Complément d'Enquête aired a damning exposé about the leak, his patience snapped. Shortly after, the prince confronted his longtime moneyman and asked him to step aside. Palmero refused, and Albert then terminated him. Palmero, for his part, dismissed the corruption allegations as a calculated smear campaign tied to rivalries in Monaco's high-stakes real estate sector. Palmero was given one hour to vacate the office he had occupied for 22 years. On that day in 2023, he left the office with eight boxes and bags full of documents, according to police testimony from Salim Zeghdar, Palmero's successor. Afterward, the Carabinieri sealed the office. The prince and his associates scrambled to piece together his fortune. The day after Palmero's departure, they brought in specialists to break into Palmero's safe, hoping to find key documents outlining his financial affairs. But the safe contained only a handful of old documents dating back to the 1980s—nothing of substance, and certainly nothing that could help reconstitute the sprawling fortune of the Crown, according to people close to the prince. That discovery sparked panic inside the palace walls: How would they claw back the fortune and bring it under the Crown's name? And what if Palmero were to suddenly die? With so many critical documents seemingly still in his possession, the prince feared that massive pieces of the royal treasure could disappear forever—or end up trapped in legal limbo. 'Basically, I had no idea what assets I was supposed to manage," Zeghdar told police. 'Above all, I couldn't understand the relationships between the companies—at first glance, it looked like a multilayered structure designed to create total opacity." Palmero, for his part, denies all this. He claims the safe was opened illegally, behind his back, and says the official inventory is fiction. As for why he didn't assist in the transition, he says he had been placed on medical leave for depression, brought on by the pressure and what he describes as a campaign against him. Prince Albert ordered an internal investigation into where and how his assets had been invested—and brought in corporate auditors from Alvarez & Marsal to tear through the books. What they uncovered, according to people close to the prince, was downright alarming. IN SEVERAL CASES, Palmero appeared to have set up co-investment arrangements where he quietly took a stake alongside the prince and his family. According to people familiar with the internal investigation, Palmero would put in an amount of money, wait to see how the investment performed—and if it paid off, increase his stake a year later. If it didn't? He'd reduce or drop it altogether. Palmero denied changing the stakes after the fact and described the overall setup as a classic case of 'alignment of interests"—a financial principle where the manager invests his own money alongside the client's. 'It's a necessity," he said. 'The manager and the principal win and lose at the same time." Yet Zeghdar later told police that neither the agency—nor the prince himself—had any idea this was how things were being run. Even more startling, according to members of the prince's own inner circle, was the auditors' finding that Palmero had allegedly used palace funds to buy items far outside his mandate—including surveillance gear. Among the purchases: a secure server worth over $260,000 and three military-grade Black Hornet drones totaling $127,943. In his police testimony, Zeghdar said the drones 'must have been used to spy on people connected to the Dossiers du Rocher," referring to the hack of Thierry Lacoste's inbox—an allegation Palmero denied in his own interview with police. Palmero and a security consultant he worked closely with each told police that the prince was aware of all their activities. As investigators kept turning up what they saw as shady payments and financial loose ends, Prince Albert began weighing a dramatic step: filing criminal charges. His lawyers and PR team huddled over the pros and cons. This wasn't just a legal battle—launching a complaint against Palmero could blow the lid off some of the palace's most closely guarded secrets. Palmero knew a lot, including how much Albert had quietly paid to support children from past affairs and details of the hush-hush apartment he kept in Monaco. His communications adviser walked the prince through the worst-case scenario—tabloid frenzy and damage to his reputation. Still, Albert pressed ahead. On September 18, 2023, the prince and his sisters filed a complaint against Palmero that put the number of companies owned by members of the princely family in which Palmero held shares—directly or indirectly—at 47. Several months later, the warnings that the palace dirt could be leaked were realized. After Palmero's dismissal from the palace, police had searched his residences and seized the notebooks, which contained detailed accounts of the royal household's financial inner workings. They were returned to him in August, when Palmero picked them up in person from the station, and in January of 2024 Le Monde published a series of stories about their contents. At the center of some of the most eye-popping disclosures is Prince Albert's wife, Princess Charlene. Palmero's records describe unchecked spending, under-the-table staffing and what Palmero called a complete lack of oversight. Her office was redecorated at a cost of $1.1 million. Over eight years, Palmero wrote that she spent $17 million—despite receiving just $8.5 million in official allowances. 'I have no control over the princess's expenses," Palmero wrote in December 2018. She also employed off-the-books staff, including Filipino workers, one of whom had overstayed a tourist visa by five years. He noted in 2021 that Charlene had 8.5 personal staff—more than any other royal. Her brother, Sean Wittstock, received just over $1 million in payments toward a house, despite having no official role in the palace. Albert's private affairs were also quietly—but carefully—financed, according to the contents of the notebooks reviewed by WSJ. Magazine. His daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi was given an apartment in New York and received a quarterly allowance of $88,600. His son Alexandre, born to the former flight attendant Nicole Coste, received support through a shell company structure designed to keep the arrangement discreet. At one point, an alarmed Palmero warned the prince that his spending on Coste's fashion venture was 'trending towards [$1.1] million a year," according to the notebooks. The revelations were embarrassing and invasive, but little by little, the prince began piecing his fortune back together—including the fact that much of it was held at Reyl bank in Geneva. On June 28, 2023, Prince Albert and a team of advisers and lawyers traveled to the bank's offices. In the early afternoon, a lawyer representing Palmero handed over the keys to the safe at the bank. What they found proved crucial for Prince Albert's team: The papers helped identify a number of Panamanian holding companies, dating back to the 1980s, that belonged to the prince and his two sisters. It would take months, according to people close to the palace, to work out what all the companies owned. Still, after the visit to Switzerland, a large part of the royal family's fortune was now accounted for—and confirmed to be in Albert's hands. After numerous terse exchanges between lawyers on both sides, the palace was in control of nearly all of its wealth. It also agreed to transfer to Palmero a portion of the investment vehicle shares to which he said he was entitled—amounting to $3.2 million—and he also received a settlement related to the personal expenses he said he covered on behalf of the prince. But the financial disentanglement is not complete. Negotiations between the two sides are continuing. Even as Prince Albert has worked to reassert control over his financial affairs at home, he has carried on with the quiet choreography of state. Earlier in the spring, Prince Albert toured France to spotlight the Grimaldi family's historic ties to various northern regions. Albert and Princess Charlene also joined mourners at the Vatican for Pope Francis's funeral in St. Peter's Square. On July 19, all Monegasque citizens are invited to join Prince Albert and Princess Charlene for a cocktail party on the palace square to mark his 20 years on the throne. For his part, Palmero insists he will fight for as long as it takes to restore his honor, and has now taken his case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that he is a victim and cannot receive a fair trial in Monaco. He points out that Prince Albert is also officially the head of the judiciary. Write to Nick Kostov at
