Charlene and Albert break cover and put on a united front at Monaco's Saint Devote celebration amid financial scandal which sees Prince accused of sending 'secret payments' to mistresses

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have been engulfed in a financial scandal

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene broke cover to put on a united front and celebrate Saint Devote in Monaco last night after the royal family was engulfed by a financial scandal.

Allegations about the royal couple’s finances were sensationally released by their former accountant, Claude Palmero, to French newspapers this week.

Mr Palmero, 67, was in charge of palace finances for more than two decades before being unceremoniously let go last year.

In a staggering set of allegations, Mr Palmero claimed Princess Charlene hired illegal migrants on less than £90-a-day while her personal spending allowance rocketed to more than £1million-a-year.

On top of that, it has also been alleged that Prince Albert kept a separate bank account to pay his former mistress and the children he’s had out of wedlock.

Last night, the prince and princess attempted to put a humiliating week that overshadowed Charlene’s 46th birthday behind them by kicking off Monaco’s Saint Devote celebrations.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene broke cover to put on a united front and celebrate Sainte Devote in Monaco last night

Prince Albert II of Monaco, Princess Charlene, their children Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, flanked by Melanie-Antoinette de Massy

The royals stepped out with their nine-year-old twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.

Melanie-Antoinette Costello de Massy, the daughter of Prince Albert’s cousin, Baroness Elizabeth Ann de Massy and Charlene’s right-hand woman was also in attendance.

All eyes were on the the Monaco royal family as they lit some foliage alight and watched a boat go up in flames for the traditional ceremony marking the legend of Saint Devote which takes place every year on January 26 & 27.

There was a touching moment captured on camera as Prince Albert crouched down to speak to his young children, whose beaming faces were lit up by the brightness coming from the flames.

As Princess Charlene cast a watchful eye over her young children as they carried fire, a tender moment between the twins was also captured as they played with each other while the boat lit up.

Albert missed last year’s celebrations after testing positive for Covid-19.

Princess Charlene, who marked her 46th birthday on Thursday, appeared to be in good spirits on the back of a tumultuous week for the Monaco royal family.

Devastating, detailed financial information has been provided by Mr Palmero, who spent more than two decades at the heart of the royal family.

He kept notes in a series of five fat notebooks, and excerpts from these have now made their way into two French newspapers.

There was a touching moment captured on camera as Prince Albert crouched down to speak to his young children, whose beaming faces were lit up by the brightness coming from the flames

All eyes were on the the Monaco royal family as they lit some foliage alight and watched a boat go up in flames

Prince Jacques leans back and laughs as his twin sister Princess Gabriella helps set a boat alight

The twins share a sweet moment with their parents behind them as the boat goes up in flames

Prince Albert holds on to his two children as they watched the torched boat during the annual festivities

Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella play with each other and speak to their mother, Charlene

Princess Charlene marked her 46th birthday this week. The palace shared this photo and wished her a happy birthday

According to Mr Palmero’s notes, Princess Charlene, who is 20 years younger than her husband spent four months in a hospital in 2021/2 for ‘deep fatigue’ and was routinely given an allowance of around £1.2 million a year – but still managed to overspend.

In 2017, she reportedly needed more than £500,000 to pay off a substantial overdraft.

Two years later, the speed at which Princess Charlene apparently burned through money so worried the Prince’s accountant that he wrote in his notes: ‘It’s crazy! I have no control over the Princess’ spending.’

Charlene, a former swimming champion who was raised outside Johannesburg by her photocopier salesman father and swimming coach mother, poured nearly £2 million into renovating a holiday house in Corsica and redecorating her office, Mr Palmero said.

He also claimed she rented another house on the French island where she spent time apart from Albert.

Mr Palmero’s notes also show that on one day in April 2016, she asked for £60,000. On another occasion, in 2020, Palermo recorded a one-off payment to Charlene from Albert of £171,000, plus £4,200 in cash.

Meanwhile, Charlene’s family, in particular her brother Sean with whom she runs a charity, were also benefiting from the spectacular largesse of husband Albert, with Sean receiving £786,000 to buy a house in 2022. He now runs a coffee shop in Monaco.

Princess Charlene of Monaco hired illegal immigrants on less than £90-a-day while her personal spending allowance rocketed above £1million-a-year, Prince Albert’s former accountant has claimed. The couple are pictured in November

According to Le Monde, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi (pictured), 31, Albert’s love child with Rotolo, receives £73,000 every three months – despite not being part of the royal family. Palmero noted she was given £4,200 for her 18th and a flat in New York worth £2.6 million seven years later

He also noted that the palace was paying for kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre (centre), 20, Albert’s son with Coste (left). The Prince acknowledged paternity of Alexandre in 2005

The entries in Palermo’s notebooks seem to suggest that Prince Albert’s chaotic personal life has drained his riches.

In 2019,Mr Palmero estimated Charlene had spent about £12.8million since marrying Albert in 2011.

Head of Monaco’s ruling Grimaldi dynasty since 2005, Albert is the only son of Prince Rainier III and former Hollywood star Grace Kelly.

He has two acknowledged love children: Alexandre, by former air hostess Nicole Coste, born in 2003; and Jazmin, by U.S. estate agent Tamara Rotolo, born in 1993.

In September 2020 another putative love child sent a letter. The teenager – aged 15 at the time – is being raised in Brazil and claimed in the handwritten note to have been conceived during a round-the-world love affair in 2004.

The matter was to come to court in Milan, but was dropped. A spokesman for the Prince said it was a ‘hoax’.

According to Le Monde, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, 31, Albert’s love child with Rotolo, receives £73,000 every three months – despite not being part of the royal family. Mr Palmero noted she was given £4,200 for her 18th and a flat in New York worth £2.6 million seven years later.

He also noted that the palace was paying for kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre, 20, Albert’s son with Coste. The Prince acknowledged paternity of Alexandre in 2005.

The books also allege that Albert spends millions every year from a secret French bank account to pay his former mistresses and love children – with Jazmin Grimaldi, 31, and Alexandre Coste-Grimaldi, 20, receiving allowances of $344,000 a year each. Albert, Jazmin and Alexandre are pictured in New York

Princess Caroline (left) and Princess Stephanie get £770,000 and £685,000 from the royal purse

In 2015, Alexandre’s mother persuaded Albert to back her fashion business, which was fronted by a shop in London’s Knightsbridge, Le Monde said this week.

Mr Palmero noted in 2015 that it was ‘on course [to cost] one million [euros] a year’.

Libération, another of the French newspapers to whom Mr Palmero spoke, said the Prince had an account at French bank BNP under the name AG for ‘Albert Grimaldi’.

The newspaper said the account was used to pay Albert’s former mistresses and their children without his wife knowing.

Prince Albert married Charlene in 2011. But Palermo notes that Coste ‘fears’ what Princess Charlene might do to her cosy financial arrangements upon the death of Prince Albert, which is why she had an apartment in London put in the name of their son Alexandre.

Among the more damaging allegations were that Charlene hired illegal immigrants on less than £90-a-day. The family’s lawyer, Maître Jean-Michel Darrois, has refuted Mr Palmero’s allegations.

‘Her Serene Highness the Princess makes people work for her who are not compliant,’ Mr Palmero warned Prince Albert, also referring to ‘a moonlighting Filipino woman who ties up dogs in the shower.’

In a letter written in January 2017, he said another employee from the Philippines had been ‘illegal for five years’, despite solely being on a one-month tourist visa.

‘He gets paid 100 euros a day [£85] which is off the scale,’ Mr Palmero wrote.

Prince Albert and Jazmin watch the Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament on April 19, 2018 in Monaco

Prince Albert II of Monaco kisses his bride Charlene after their civil wedding marriage ceremony in 2011

In December 2014, Charlene gave birth to twins, Prince Jacques, and Princess Gabriella, and immediately placed them in the care of illegal immigrant nannies.

‘Update on the hiring of nannies…We are completely illegal (even their tourist visa expired on January 7)’ Mr Palmero wrote on January 15th of that year.’They are not only in an illegal situation, but one entered with a false passport, Mr Palmero added.

Despite this, Mr Palmero released almost £600,000 to celebrate the children’s birth and baptism.

On one day alone in April 2016, Charlene asked for the equivalent of £66,000, and this was ‘definitely too much,’ said Mr Palmero, especially as she also planned to rent a second villa on Corsica.

‘Isn’t that a lot?’ asked the accountant, who was concerned that the Princess was taking money from funds that were ‘undeclared’ in terms of tax.

‘These practices are dangerous,’ Mr Palmero warned.

‘They are not only in an illegal situation, but one entered with a false passport, Mr Palmero added.

The financial scandal is the latest in a long line of scandals for Monaco’s ruling pair, who met at a swimming meet in 2000 in Monte Carlo.

Charlene, then an Olympic swimmer, told Tatler she wasn’t ‘in the emotional place’ for a relationship but ‘felt a profound sense of destiny’ when she met Prince Albert.

In September, Charlene dismissed the talk of marriage troubles – which date back to before her 2011 wedding to Albert – as ‘exhausting’.

Before their marriage, French media dubbed her the ‘Runaway bride’ for reportedly trying to flee Monaco before the ceremony (which she later dismissed as ‘categorical lies’).

The spectacular £53million wedding did go ahead in 2011, but Charlene was pictured crying after the ceremony. They welcomed their twins on December 10 2014, giving Albert two official royal heirs.