Prince Albert's spymaster, Robert Eringer, and his deputy, Piers, felt that the Hereditary Prince was still unprepared for the role of Sovereign.
Continuing their briefing on March 2nd (2004), Eringer cautioned Prince Albert that upon the death of his father everyone from everywhere would come out of the woodwork to make power plays.
"Like who," the Prince challenged. "Hit me."
"Tamara Rotolo," Eringer replied.
It hit him harder than a slap across the face. The Prince recoiled with a grimace.
Tamara Rotolo was the American woman with whom the Prince sired an illegitimate daughter. She had tried to sue him in California for child support, but the judge dismissed the case citing lack of jurisdiction over the Prince.
Eringer had acquired photographs of the Prince's daughter, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, born March 4th, 1992, and he presented them to the Prince.
"Where did you get these?" Albert asked.
"You kidding?" said Eringer. "There's nothing I can't get. Rotolo is now suing her ex-lawyer for negligence over the way he handled her case. And she's trying to sue you again, this time in a French court. Would you like us to monitor this situation?"
Yes, the Prince wanted this situation monitored.
The technique Eringer intended to use: His insertion-oriented Book Model, which could also be applied to others. Simply put, Eringer would pose an operative as a writer--a book author. He would equip the writer/author with a fully backstopped legend, replete with "book contract" from a reputable publisher.
The subject of the book: Prince Albert of Monaco.
Eringer's "investigative author" would make contact with celebrity magazines such as Paris Match and the Italian Oggi, identify the journalists charged with digging up dirt on the Prince and his family, find out what they knew, what they were working on, and, if possible, determine the identities of their sources, who would then be approached in similar fashion.
Furthermore, Eringer's operative could then "leak" to these new media contacts information the Prince wished to see published.
The Prince decreed this plan brilliant and authorized Eringer to proceed.
Hence Operation Hound Dog was born.
Within two weeks Eringer set the basics in place: FLOATER would pose as an author contracted to write an unauthorized biography entitled Prince of Sport.
Phase One for FLOATER: Fully investigate the Rotolo matter while reaching out to the media.
FLOATER made his first pre-text call to Bruce McCormick (of Cody, Wyoming), who possessed photographs of Jazmin Grace Grimaldi. These photos derived from Christmas cards sent him years earlier by Tamara Rotolo. (McCormick befriended Rotolo after she ambushed the Prince with daughter in arms during his visit to Wyoming to commemorate Buffalo Bill's historic meeting with the Prince's great-great grandfather and namesake Prince Albert 1st, and Rotolo hollered to all who would listen that Albert was a "deadbeat dad" for not recognizing his child and paying child support.)
McCormick told FLOATER his photographs were for sale, that he'd turned down twenty-five thousand dollars and was looking for better offers. He added that Paris Match paid him twenty thousand dollars for a "comprehensive interview," and also that a "big name" freelance journalist was working on the Rotolo story.
Next, FLOATER made contact with the reporter charged with the "Prince Albert beat" at Paris Match: Intrepid correspondent Romain Clergeat, who agreed to meet the "author" in Paris at FLOATER's earliest convenience. Clergeat identified himself as the reporter who had interviewed Bruce McCormick.