Photo: Robert Eringer, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, Tamara Rotolo, in Monaco, December 2005.
With Christmas (2005) approaching, the pressure was off—temporarily—for Prince Albert to appoint Philippe Narmino chief of judicial services.
Tamara Rotolo, the mother of Albert’s illegitimate daughter, had decided to visit Monaco for the Christmas holidays with Jazmin Grace Grimaldi.
Prince Albert’s spymaster, Robert Eringer, neither encouraged nor discouraged Rotolo, but agreed to meet with them should they appear.
And so it was they met on December 26th in Fusion, a sushi restaurant over a popular sports bar called Stars & Bars. Eringer gifted both with silver trinkets from Tiffany.
Mother and daughter had suffered a difficult few months with paparazzi hanging outside Jazmin’s school, and uncertainty about her status even while the Prince openly acknowledged siring Nicole Coste’s son, Alexandre, who arrived on this earth long after his daughter.
Mother and daughter felt left out, ignored and hurt. Especially Jazmin. All she wanted in the whole world was to meet her father.
The first question Jazmin wanted to ask him: “Do you have asthma?” That was because Jazmin suffered from asthma. As it turned out, the answer was yes—the Prince told Eringer later: He suffers asthma around cats and, as a child, he had suffered asthma in cold weather.
The Prince telephoned Eringer at ten-to-six the following afternoon. He was going for a haircut, he said, and would drop by M-Base afterwards--in about forty-five minutes--for a dry martini.
Eringer mentioned that his daughter Jazmin was in Monaco. He suggested the Prince meet her for the very first time, alone, without her mother present, in the privacy of M-Base. Eringer explained that this simple gesture would go a long way toward finalizing a solution.
“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” the Prince replied.
Eringer suggested they talk it through over martinis.
Scared off, the Prince never appeared, nor called, and when Eringer phoned looking for him at eight o’clock he claimed to have been waylaid by some friends and now had to change clothes for the ballet at ten-thirty. He said he’d call with a view to meeting afterwards, but never did.
That evening the Prince missed the perfect opportunity to meet his adorable daughter—and to stave off a showdown that would take place two months later.
On December 30th, Eringer drove Tamara Rotolo and Jazmin across the Italian border for lunch in Bordighera at Garibaldi in the old village. This was where he discerned that Rotolo suffered a drinking problem. Red wine, Fernet-Branca, and Grappa—she consumed every drop of alcohol in sight. And when they dropped down to Bar Centrale for hot chocolate, she ordered another Fernet-Franca. Back at M-Base late afternoon, Tamara drank a Pastis followed by a whole bottle of wine, leaving her daughter Jazmin upset and embarrassed.
As Rotolo drank, she grew mean and surly, taking nasty verbal swipes at her daughter, who finally took refuge in a bedroom. Eringer distracted Rotolo and went back to see Jazmin, who was crying.
“Does this happen a lot?” he asked.
Jazmin tried to be protective of her mother. “We’re getting help,” she replied diplomatically.
Eringer returned to the living room. Rotolo was drunk, and saying ugly things about Albert too tasteless to be repeated here.
On New Year’s Eve, Eringer telephoned the Prince’s lawyer, Thierry Lascoste. Special circumstances had come to light through Tamara Rotolo’s visit in Monaco, Eringer told him, and should be considered before final agreement.
“Like what?” The Croc demanded.
Like, Rotolo seemed to have a serious drinking problem. On the basis that the Prince should care about--and have some input into--his daughter’s well being, Eringer proposed a provision in any final agreement that Rotolo seek counseling. Or that Jazmin be enrolled in a European boarding school like Le Rosey in Switzerland.
It was the last thing Lacoste wanted to hear, and although the Prince told Eringer he thought this to be a good idea, he spoke (as usual) from both sides of his mouth, because he instructed his lawyer to do the exact opposite. According to Lacoste, Albert had told him, “I do not want her in Europe.” Consequently no such provision was ever requested.
Moreover, the Prince and Lacoste had tacked on a new condition to any financial agreement: The Prince would not recognize Jazmin as his daughter until her 18th birthday.
Eringer knew this was going to be a deal-breaker. Recognition by her father was what Jazmin wanted most. So he could only shake his head at the insensitivity shown by a father to his own daughter, and also at the shameful stance taken by Prince and lawyer.
Up until the previous April, Albert had blamed his alienation from Jazmin on Prince Rainier, who had ordered him, from day one, to ignore his paternal obligations. (And even when sued after hiding out from his obligation, instead of undertaking a paternity test and negotiating child support, the Prince through his lawyers pled immunity and lack of jurisdiction, and managed to get the case quashed on procedural grounds rather than substance.)
Now, with Rainier dead and gone, Albert had nobody but himself to blame.
Except that Albert’s tendency, Eringer found, was to blame everyone but himself.
Part of the Prince’s mindset may derive from royal protocol, which dictates that the Sovereign is always right and can do no wrong.
But remove such protocol, and strip away the glibness and superficial charm, one is left with disturbing observations about Albert’s disordered personality:
Not genuine, neither promises.
Pathological lying i.e. no problem lying easily.
No conscience (lack of shame).
Incapacity for love.
Poor behavioral controls: A belief of being entitled to every wish, without concern about the impact on others.
Irresponsibility/unreliability. Unconcerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams; oblivious or indifferent to the devastation caused.
No acceptance of blame, but the casting of blame on others.
Parasitic lifestyle: poor work ethic, exploitation of others.
A need for stimulation.
Promiscuous sexual acting out of all sorts.
These are the behavioral descriptions of a sociopath.
And, collectively, they fit Prince Albert as perfectly as the glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot.
Coming Next: Wishy-Washy
Ask Eringer anonymous questions at:
http://formspring.me/Eringer