On Retainer to Prince Albert of Monaco
January-April 2005
In mid-January, the Prince was
in Sweden dog-sledding with the newest addition to his entourage, a Swede named Stig Carl-Magnus
Carlsson, who had apparently paid for Bruno Philipponnat’s recent vacation
in the Bahamas (an entry fee to Albert's social orbit).
Clown # 1.
Clown # 1.
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Carlsson |
Carlsson’s past, we’d
already learned, was rather murky. At the Prince’s request, we were to delve deeper into it.
On
January 21st, I had an extraordinary email exchange with MING, which
he initiated.
MING wrote: “I have pretty much dropped out of everything
for the moment. [There is] no interest
in the suggestions of an old military guy like me now. After twenty-three years in the military
that’s enough.”
I
wrote back: “Now wait a second, old
soldiers are not really supposed to fade away…”
To
which he replied: “I KNOW. BUT THIS ONE IS DONE.”
To
which I replied: “Either your caps key
is stuck or you really mean it.”
MING
replied: “I REALLY MEAN IT.”
Two
possibilities:
Either MING had figured out I was playing him, and wanted to hold up a white flag—I’m done, leave me alone.
Or he believed his email was being monitored, and he wanted those monitoring to know he was done.
Either MING had figured out I was playing him, and wanted to hold up a white flag—I’m done, leave me alone.
Or he believed his email was being monitored, and he wanted those monitoring to know he was done.
On
February 4th, I briefed the Prince in London—a late morning session
in his Dorchester Hotel suite.
Dipping
into the breakfast trolley, I began with my Charvet shirt experience in Paris
one month earlier, and how CIA's LIPS carelessly put the DST onto me.
“The
French may one day stop me on my way to Monaco through Nice airport,” I
said. “I should probably make my role as
your intelligence adviser known to them.’
The Prince worried that this might leak to
Prince Rainier.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “My relationship with my father is very complicated.” But he agreed to the necessity of this.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “My relationship with my father is very complicated.” But he agreed to the necessity of this.
Moving
on, I identified three main targets on which CIA had chosen to focus in their
cooperation with us. The Prince
acknowledged and approved. (I still hoped to pursue these initiatives despite LIPS's disapproval.)
Next,
MING:
The FBI investigation has accelerated as MING continues to travel
almost non-stop. On the heels of scuba
diving in the Maldives in early autumn he took an unexplained trip deep inside
Russia followed by a visit to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in late autumn, then
spent Christmas holidays in the British Virgin Isles. He arrived in Malibu in early January and
pretends, in email to me, to be there still, though he is actually in Whistler,
Canada.
“What should I do if he calls
me?” the Prince asked.
“Whatever
you would normally do,” I replied. “Act
naturally.”
On
Stig Carl-Magnus Carlsson:
He has left a trail of failed businesses behind
him. He is a habitual bankrupt who lives
a precious lifestyle at the expense of his investors. Be wary—he will probably
use your name to lure potential investors into new companies. His so-called “Internet company” in
Shanghai—China Internet Ventures Ltd—does not actually do anything other than
act as an introduction service for people desiring to do business in China.
I
recommended the Prince exert caution about associating himself with conmen like Carlsson—or risk having his name used as a means to dupe
potential investors.
The
Prince requested we dig deeper on Carlsson.
“Did
investors lose money?” he wanted to know.
I pointed out to the Prince (again) that Bruno Philipponnat—his gatekeeper as aide-de-camp—was not doing
his job, keeping riff-raff away, but was instead establishing inappropriate
closeness to those who wanted to ingratiate themselves with the Prince, often
for his own financial gain.
I also briefed the Prince on Steven Saltzman and a particular videotape in his possession:
A trusted
informant passed me disturbing news about two persons very close to the Prince
who were part of what I would later come to know as the Paris Clique.
Thierry Lacoste (Clown # 2), a lawyer known to the Prince since childhood, son of Nadia Lacoste, who for many years handled media relations for the Palace.
And Lacoste’s good friend, Steven Saltzman (Clown # 3), an American and son of Harry Saltzman, one of the original James Bond movie producers.
This pair of jokers was said to be waiting in the wings for Albert to inherit the throne so they could enrich themselves.
Furthermore, Saltzman was said to possess a videotape he had made at the Prince’s 40th birthday party inside a Paris striptease-club in which a young woman is seen to perform a sexual act upon him.
Saltzman had taken to showing this video at select parties around Monaco, saying, “This is what I have on your Prince.”
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Thierry Lacoste |
Thierry Lacoste (Clown # 2), a lawyer known to the Prince since childhood, son of Nadia Lacoste, who for many years handled media relations for the Palace.
And Lacoste’s good friend, Steven Saltzman (Clown # 3), an American and son of Harry Saltzman, one of the original James Bond movie producers.
This pair of jokers was said to be waiting in the wings for Albert to inherit the throne so they could enrich themselves.
Furthermore, Saltzman was said to possess a videotape he had made at the Prince’s 40th birthday party inside a Paris striptease-club in which a young woman is seen to perform a sexual act upon him.
![]() |
Steven Saltzman |
Saltzman had taken to showing this video at select parties around Monaco, saying, “This is what I have on your Prince.”
“I
was not undressed,” the Prince told me, adding that he would confront Saltzman
about this.
I didn't ask whether he was dressed or not, so I guess it was a confirmation.
I didn't ask whether he was dressed or not, so I guess it was a confirmation.
During the course of breakfast the Prince spit three times into his linen serviette—a ritual, perhaps, unique to royalty.
Finally,
I gave the Prince a written report from Italian sources.
He took it elsewhere in his suite to read while sitting upon the throne.
He took it elsewhere in his suite to read while sitting upon the throne.
I arrived in Monaco next day,
noting that concierges at my apartment building, Shangri-la, would go on heightened alert when they saw
me (or my deputy), believing, correctly, that the Prince’s presence was
imminent.
On
February 7th, I lunched with LIPS in Monaco in advance of our meeting with the
Prince the following evening, at which LIPS would brief on Sri Lanka and
Slovenia, where the Prince had scheduled trips planned. In return, I was told, CIA would have some questions for
the Prince to explore with his hosts.
Alas, no such questions materialized, rendering LIPS Clown # 4.
Alas, no such questions materialized, rendering LIPS Clown # 4.
Once
LIPS (mercifully) departed, I provided to the Prince the addendum he had requested on Carl Carlsson.
I had personally spoken with Stanley Berk—of California, USA—an investor in Carlsson’s business
venture, Scoop.
Berk told me the following:
Berk told me the following:
Once Carlsson had the money
from his investors, he engaged in inappropriate behavior, spending rampantly on
personal items and selling securities in Scoop to cover personal debt. His actions set the business back, and it ultimately
failed. Berk and his fellow investor,
Stephen Grayson, filed a complaint in court alleging breach of contract and
fraud, saying that Carlsson made promises with no intention of performing.
I suggested the Prince make Phillipponnat aware of this, a nice way of getting his aide-de-camp to realize he would potentially embarrass himself and the Prince, too, if he continued to allow Carlsson access to the royal court.
(Three months earlier, Philipponnat had called the hosts of a New Years Eve party the Prince planned to attend to insist they invite Carlsson, supposedly at the Prince’s behest.)
I suggested the Prince make Phillipponnat aware of this, a nice way of getting his aide-de-camp to realize he would potentially embarrass himself and the Prince, too, if he continued to allow Carlsson access to the royal court.
(Three months earlier, Philipponnat had called the hosts of a New Years Eve party the Prince planned to attend to insist they invite Carlsson, supposedly at the Prince’s behest.)
The Prince suggested that I make his aide-de-camp aware of
Carlsson’s poor character and business transgressions.
Dutifully, I phoned Philipponnat and left a
message for him to call me.
He never did.
When I later mentioned this to the Prince, he replied, “I don’t think he wants to hear your message.”
He never did.
When I later mentioned this to the Prince, he replied, “I don’t think he wants to hear your message.”
In
early March, the Prince traveled to Moscow with the fellers—Munsch (Clown # 5), Haskins,
Carlsson—and Gocha Arivadze (Clown # 6), who rented a brothel for the night to celebrate Albert's birthday.
The Prince, as such,
ignored our reporting on Carlsson and Arivadze, and doubtless did not heed our
advice regarding security concerns while traveling in Russia.
It is a dead certainty that the FSB would secretly record activities in his bedroom, which, depending on the nature of such activities, could one day lead to blackmail.
It is a dead certainty that the FSB would secretly record activities in his bedroom, which, depending on the nature of such activities, could one day lead to blackmail.
Munsch,
in particular, was hard to lose. The
Prince had loaned him a cell phone years before that he’d never returned, and, more recently, given
him a key to his private Monte Carlo bachelor pad.
So whenever Munsch was in Monaco, he simply
let himself in.
(Now I knew why others around Albert referred to him as Dr. Mooch.)
(Now I knew why others around Albert referred to him as Dr. Mooch.)
When
I spoke to the Prince by phone on March 19th, he told me, “Munsch
came in at 5:30 in the morning stone drunk and woke me up.”
It
was a mystery to me why the Prince put up with these clowns and all their clownish antics.
The
Prince and I attempted to meet, but he was off to the Rose Ball Gala that
evening.
“After
that?” I asked. It was not unusual for
us to meet late at night.
“After
that I hope to get laid.”
We
managed to meet the next day, mid-afternoon, the Prince in a navy blazer and red tie contrasted by my polo knit (tails out, of course) and blue denim.
I
brought the Prince up to date on a number of issues.
What’s
the latest, he wanted to know, on Operation
Hound Dog?
I had gone passive on it, inundated by more important matters.
But the Prince was very keen to know what others had to say about him behind his back so I intended to appease him by prioritizing that operation.
But the Prince was very keen to know what others had to say about him behind his back so I intended to appease him by prioritizing that operation.
“Dad’s
sick,” the Prince said.
He
told me his father had always wanted to gather the family in a caravan for a road-trip across the United States.
“You
should surprise him with a cross-country trip this summer,” I suggested.
It
was not to be.
Two days later the Prince
flew to his father’s intensive care bedside from Italy.
Prince Rainier would never leave the hospital.
On Easter Sunday, the old man miraculously bounced back from death. But the end was only days away.
Prince Rainier would never leave the hospital.
On Easter Sunday, the old man miraculously bounced back from death. But the end was only days away.
The
Paris Clique ringleaders—Lacoste and
Saltzman—made their existence in Monaco known as Prince Rainier lay dying.
Word was, they intended to create a “kitchen cabinet” to advise and influence the Prince from behind the scenes.
Word was, they intended to create a “kitchen cabinet” to advise and influence the Prince from behind the scenes.
Munsch
ensconced himself in the Prince’s apartment throughout the ordeal, and when the
Prince finally suggested he move elsewhere, Munsch (Albert told me) “pretended not to get the
message.”
Prince
Rainier passed on April 6th at 6:25 in the morning.
A new era had dawned.
Rainier
had never prepared his son for the role he now faced as Sovereign ruler of
Monaco—perhaps because he thought himself immortal, or maybe he had tried and
given up. He certainly must have known that his son surrounded himself with clowns.
(When Rainier was incapacitated from illness six months earlier, Albert had made several decisions. Decisions all reversed by Rainier after he regained his health.)
(When Rainier was incapacitated from illness six months earlier, Albert had made several decisions. Decisions all reversed by Rainier after he regained his health.)
The
Prince was “low, numb, and overwhelmed,” according to a close friend.
However
“complicated” their relationship, the Prince unquestionably lost “his closest
friend and mentor.”
The
Prince took calls from Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and even the
Queen of England.
The CIA and SIS
conveyed condolences to the Prince through me.
A drink in Paris with Nicolas
Sarkozy was postponed, along with a state visit to Slovenia.