Day: 13 May 2018

As an expat, no matter which city I’m invited to a dinner party, the question inevitably comes around to: So what do you do?

“I just stay home with the children,” I reply. Wait, did I say “just”?

Not only was I supporting my husband and our family business in Monaco, but I was also playing a big part in its design and advertising strategy, using my extensive connections to create new accounts, and on top of that I was taking care of the FIVE children living with us at the time. So what’s up with “just”?

I think we can all agree that there’s no such thing as “just” when it comes to raising children, so why do we moms undermine ourselves when it comes to what we do?

True, you can feel both isolated and intimidated being a mom in Monaco. It’s not easy to simply start talking to other mothers at the playground at Place des Moulins, and there are some moms, you know the ones – they drop their kids off at school looking like they’ve just come from a photo shoot – who make you touch your own hair to see if it’s even brushed. It can be real confidence crusher, even more so when your husband is often travelling or at home but always working.

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Going through a divorce changed me as I learned the hard way that you do not divorce the same man that you married. The devil might have taken refuge in my body post-breakup, but I am now becoming more and more sure of myself. I pulled out my old meditation books and was reminded that power is not given to you, you have to claim it.

So I have taken my power back, and I will no longer sit at a dinner party and say, “I am just a mother.” I am so much more and I can see that now.

In Monaco, there are several Facebook forums for women professionals and entrepreneurs, as well as for business workshops and networking. Have a look at Monaco Mums, Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises de Monaco and Louise Morelli’s amazing new business Gently to Sleep.

Good luck to all you mothers out there in a similar situation. Remember, in order to change something, something has to change and regardless, you are always more than “just” a mom.

Renate Mjelde has spent the last 20 years between Monaco, the South of France, NY and London, living through her love of literature, art, philosophy and brand building – and, of , course, her 4 kids and cocker spaniel. Article first published May 13, 2018.

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Prince Albert was awarded the Medal of Honour of the Ellis Island Honour Society by Nasser Kazeminy, the society’s President, on Friday, May 11, in New York.

The medal rewards those who embody the “Spirit of America” in its values of tolerance, fraternity, diversity and patriotism. Officially recognised by the US Senate and Congress, this is one of the most prestigious honours in the country.

Ellis Island covers about ten acres south of Manhattan and at the end of the 19th century and until the mid-20th century, the island was the main entry point for immigrants to North America.

Several members of Prince Albert’s maternal family immigrated to the US from Ireland via Ellis Island.

The island welcomed nearly 12 million immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, between 1892 and 1954, the year of its closure.

After long years of neglect, Ellis Island was transformed in the early Nineties into a museum and now only welcomes tourists. Four million of them flock there each year, alternately visiting the Statue of Liberty on “Liberty Island” and then Ellis Island.

In the afternoon, Prince Albert headed to Philadelphia to inaugurate the “Kelly House”, the family home of his mother, Princess Grace, and her three siblings Peggy, Kell and Lizanne.

“She seemed to have a very happy childhood, and it was a lot of games, a lot of fun things that were happening there,” Prince Albert told PEOPLE Magazine, “and it felt like a real family home. It was a real place of gathering and rejoicing.”

Albert also said that visiting Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore with his mother and two sisters, Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie “was always a great experience”.

“It was a sense of freedom that probably wouldn’t have had in other places. In those days it was not even talk of any security, so we would run off with our cousins on the beach or on the boardwalk. And when we needed to be picked up we called home and someone would come and pick us up.”

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Far from being just a nostalgic display of historic racing cars as a taster for the FI event in two week’s time, Monaco’s Grand Prix Historique, which ran from Friday, May 11, until Sunday, May 13, provided a welcome opportunity for several long-retired Formula 1 drivers to get back behind the wheel and relive the experiences of several years ago.

Among the nine drivers who took part in a parade on Saturday at 1:45 pm, were Mika Hakkinen, Eddie Irvine, Riccardo Patrese, Thierry Boutsen, and John Watson. The show was repeated at 1:25 pm on Sunday afternoon.

The veteran drivers reportedly had to listen to a safety briefing in which they were warned to take it easy: “The important thing is to participate in a nice parade, no problems, to have fun, and the owners of the cars will be happy to recover their property in good condition.”

Mika Hakkinen, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix in 1998, drove a McLaren from 1973 while Eddie Irvine got behind the wheel of a 1977 version of the same make. The reunion of old cars and veteran drivers ended in a late lunch and celebrations of long-past experiences on the most famous and best-loved of Formula 1 circuits: Monaco.

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A 1993 McLaren Formula One car raced by the late Brazilian world champion Ayrton Senna sold for €4.19 million at an auction in Monaco on the eve of the Historic Grand Prix.

The auctioneers did not say who the buyer was for the Ford Cosworth-powered MP4/8A car, with the €4,197,500 price including the buyer’s premium. Bonhams said it was sold after a “lengthy and spirited bidding exchange”. Early media reports said the buyer was Bernie Ecclestone, but he later denied the report. The former Formula One supremo has an extensive collection of historic racing cars.

The McLaren was the last Formula One car raced in the Monaco Grand Prix in May 1994, and took Senna to his record sixth win in the Principality.

Bonhams said the fully-functional car, with the original V8 engine and gearbox, was the most historically important Formula One McLaren had ever presented at auction. Senna’s first Monaco car, a 1984 Toleman-Hart TG184, also sold at the “Les Grandes Marques a Monaco” auction for €1.6 million.

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The Department of the Environment has participated in the fifth meeting of the working group on the Paris Agreement, the first step in a crucial year in the fight against climate change.

The purpose of the meeting is to develop the rules for the implementation of the Agreement to be finalised for consideration and adoption by the Conference of the Parties at COP24. The latter will be held in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.

Nearly 200 countries, including Monaco, met in Bonn until May 10 for a session devoted to the continuation of work on various components, including new guidelines for national contributions; new guidelines on adaptation rules, procedures and guidelines for the Enhanced Transparency Framework, a global balance sheet, and procedures to ensure the smooth functioning of the Committee to facilitate implementation and promote compliance with the Agreement.

The Agreement provides for a first global stocktake in 2023, but the international community encourages states to submit revised commitments by 2020. For the Paris Agreement to be implemented in practice, many decisions are expected at COP24.
In order for the Paris Agreement to become operational by 2020, COP24 must complete two processes in 2018: the definition of all its operating rules and the first assessment of the efforts announced by the signing States.

The issue of climate is now being discussed around the world to accelerate the consideration of climate risk by the economic, industrial and financial sectors. Summits and conferences, high-level working groups, sectoral initiatives and the publication of reports are all proliferating. All help to encourage investors and businesses to reduce the carbon footprint of their businesses.

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