“HSH (
Her Serene Highness, Editor's note
) Princess Charlene wishes to buy dresses, I told her that there was no budget for that, private expense,” writes Claude Palmero.
The former property administrator of Albert II, made explosive revelations in Le
Monde
on Monday January 22.
And he obviously has scores to settle with His Highness.
Ousted on June 6, 2023, the accountant is notably accused of corruption and illegal taking of interests.
“I never took a cent,” retorts Claude Palmero in the columns of the evening daily.
This is a 100% denial.
I am neither corrupt nor a thief (…)”
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From his decades at the Palace of Monaco, the accountant kept five notebooks with corrosive contents.
These contain the smallest details of Claude Palmero's actions, but also the reactions of Prince Albert II to his requests.
And if we are to believe their content, Charlene of Monaco would be one of the biggest spenders.
According to Le
Monde
, the mother of twins Jacques and Gabriella from Monaco would have received an overall annual grant “close to 1.5 million euros” in 2023. In December 2019, Claude Palmero already noted that Charlene spent “approximately 15 million euros, for 7.5 million euros in endowment” in the space of eight years.
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“It’s clearly too much”
The accountant's notebooks are strewn with the princess's alleged excess spending.
The latter would have started in the first year of the romance with Albert II.
“Ch. Wittstock fees: they are currently taken from the “State budget” part, and this seems incorrect to me, wrote Claude Palmero in his notebook, in June 2010. They should be isolated and debited to SAS personally.”
The prince gives his agreement.
The following month, the property administrator asked for an allocation of around 700,000 euros, “to be taken from SAS”, for Charlene Wittstock.
But he hastens to add: “Be careful, however, not to increase allocations too much during times of crisis.”
If these writings are to be believed, the princess's expenses will only multiply.
After the birth of twins Jacques and Gabriella, in 2014, Claude Palmero released 683,000 euros to celebrate the births and baptisms of the children.
Two years later, Charlene of Monaco reportedly asked to be paid 77,000 euros in cash: “It's less than last year, but still clearly too much,” says Claude Palmero in his notebook.
When she wants to rent a second villa in Corsica, the accountant writes: “Isn’t that a lot?”
On February 1, 2017, Claude Palmero would also have paid 600,000 euros to compensate for Princess Charlene's overdraft.
He also deplores that the latter's expenses “far exceed the allocation”.
Expenses for his in-laws
When Charlene wants to buy a catamaran, he notes “AVOID” in capital letters.
And wince a bit when learning that the decoration of the ex-swimmer's office is estimated at one million euros.
On February 20, 2020, he further noted: “Provide Charlene’s personal account with 200,000 euros + 5,000 euros in cash.”
The following year, he opposed new hires requested by the wife of Albert II.
He emphasizes that the latter already has more than “8 people in its service”, more than “there have ever been”.
Not to mention what the princess spends to support her in-laws.
On December 14, 2022, he indicated paying 300,000 euros to Sean Wittstock, Charlene's brother, “for his house”.
Before correcting, a week later: “Sean W: it’s 3 × 300,000 euros.”
A sum for which Albert II gave his agreement.
Employees in an irregular situation
Another problem, according to Claude Palmero: employees in an irregular situation.
In 2012, he wrote that “HSH the princess makes people work who are not in compliance”.
He maintains in particular that the princess's personal chef is paid 300 euros per day, and that these funds are not declared.
“These practices are dangerous,” he warns in his notebook.
Among these illegal employees, there would also be “a Filipina under the table, who ties up dogs in the shower”.
But also “an illegal alien for five years who would have had a one-month tourist visa and never returned to the Philippines”.
“He is paid 100 euros per day, which is off the charts,” explains the accountant.
The governesses hired by Charlene of Monaco would themselves be among these employees.
“Not only are they in an illegal situation, but one entered with a false passport,” writes Claude Palmero.
In another place, he underlines, after the birth of the twins: “Point on the hiring of nannies… We are completely illegal (even their tourist visa expired on January 7).”
In this vitriolic article, the accountant also mentions the “secret payments” that Albert II allegedly made to his former mistresses and illegitimate children, but also the supposed estrangement between Princesses Caroline and Charlene.
The princely family is, moreover, not immune to new revelations.
The article in Le
Monde
is in fact the first in a series of four, all devoted to the content of these secret notebooks.