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Day: 8 December 2022

Photos: Two Princes in Paris

by: Jessica Tatam
08/12/2022

Prince Albert II headed to Paris this week to conclude the centenary celebrations of his namesake, Prince Albert I, in the city where the “Explorer Prince” was born and died.  

Years of commemoration and celebration of the life of Monaco’s Prince Albert I (1848-1922) came to a close this week as his great-grandson and the Principality’s current ruler, Prince Albert II, travelled to Paris to pay homage to his esteemed ancestor.  

The centenary celebrations commenced in October 2020 and, in a nod to the man known as the “Explorer Prince”, have taken place across Germany, Norway, Spain, Portugal and finally France.  

Paris was the fitting location to conclude this dedication as Prince Albert I was born and died in the city, and was extremely fond of his birthplace. Indeed, some of his most important work began there, including the creation of the Oceanographic Institute and the Human Palaeontology Institute; both continue on this day. 

On the morning of Tuesday 6th December, Prince Albert II attended an unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Parisian former home of his great-grandfather on 10 Avenue du President Wilson. This was followed by a touching tribute at the Trocadero Gardens, located on Avenue Albert Ier de Monaco, whereby the plaque was jointly decorated in an act of homage and remembrance by Monegasque and French delegations.  

Festivities continued throughout Tuesday afternoon at the Academy of Sciences, with Prince Albert II attending a special session dedicated to his great-grandfather that was led by Chancellor Xavier Darcos. This was followed by a ceremonious unveiling of a bust of Prince Albert I, donated by Prince Albert II, and finally, a presentation on the Explorer Prince from the archives of the Academy. 

Wednesday 7th December’s events began with a tour of the Maison Zola/Dreyfus-Médan Museum, in recognition of Prince Albert I’s involvement with the Dreyfus affair, and his support of both Alfred Dreyfus and Emile Zola.  

Later in the afternoon Prince Albert II made his way to the UNESCO premises and was joined there by UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. A lecture entitled “Science at the Service of Humanity: Prince Albert I of Monaco and his Work” was presented by Erik Orsenna from the French Academy. While the French President, Emmanuel Macron, was unable to attend the invitation due to a prior engagement – the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana in the Republic of Albania – a representative from the Elysée was in attendance. 

 

Photo provided by the Monaco Palais Princier

AS Monaco begin mid-season tour with Sevilla draw

by: Luke Entwistle
08/12/2022

AS Monaco began their mid-season friendly schedule with a draw against Sevilla, with Philippe Clement’s men set to return to the Principality after a training camp in Benidorm. 

Like 13 other Ligue 1 teams, AS Monaco returned to training in La Turbie on 28th November, despite the ongoing World Cup in Qatar. Clement’s side have spent the majority of the time since in Benidorm in southern Spain, where they have trained with satellite club Cercle Brugge.

On Wednesday night, Monaco played their first friendly, aimed to prepare the side for the restart of club football.  As performance director James Bunce told Monaco Life back in November, Monaco would face some “big teams” before returning to Ligue 1 action against Auxerre on 28th December.

The first of those was Sevilla, who Monaco met at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. With numerous absentees due to the ongoing World Cup, it was the chance for some of the academy players to state their claims for more playing time, although due to his non-selection with Les Bleus, Wissam Ben Yedder lined up alongside Kevin Volland to form a familiar attacking line.

Ben Yedder, captaining Monaco against his former side put the ball in the back of the net but was adjudged to have been offside. But the Principality side did take the lead thanks to Gelson Martins just before the hour mark after some good work by Félix Lemarechal.

Sevilla leveled through a lobbed effort from Pedro Ortiz, whose shot from over 30 yards out looped over Yann Lienard. Numerous academy products, including Soungoutou Magassa got their chance to shine, as did Cercle Brugge centre-back Jesper Daland, who has been integrated into the Monaco side during the eight-day-long training camp in Spain.

Monaco head back to the Principality on Thursday and will prepare for matches against Empoli (16th December) and Fiorentina (17th December). Les Monégasques then play against Leeds United at Elland Road on 21st December. It is unclear exactly when Monaco’s World Cup players will return to the club. Ismaïl Jakobs, Krépin Diatta, Takumi Minamino, and Breel Embolo were all knocked out of the competition this week but will have a period of rest before returning to the fray.

 

Photo by AS Monaco