Monaco’s commitment to animal welfare reached a new milestone as Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene inaugurated the Principality’s new state-of-the-art animal shelter in Peille.
On Monday 16th September, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene officially opened Monaco’s new animal shelter. The Princely Couple unveiled the commemorative plaque, with local and Monaco authorities in attendance. Abbé Pasquale Traetta performed the blessing of the facility.
The 1,675m² shelter, located in a protected natural area, will house up to 40 dogs and 50 cats, reflecting Princess Charlene’s dedication to animal welfare as the new President of Monaco’s Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA).
The project was first launched in September 2020 when Prince Albert and Princess Charlene laid the foundation stone. The SPA, which has been active in Monaco since 1903, had long sought a modern space that would allow them to care for animals in an environment prioritising well-being and respect for nature
See more photos from the inauguration in the gallery below. Photos credit: Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace…
Manuela Ruosi, the new Italian Ambassador to the Principality, was warmly welcomed at the Palais Princier de Monaco by Prince Albert II at the start of this week. Alongside the formalities of presenting her letters of credence, the Neapolitan diplomat enjoyed a serenade from the United States Sixth Fleet and an introduction to the Carabiniers du Prince de Monaco.
On Monday 16th September, Prince Albert received Italy’s new Ambassador to the Principality of Monaco at the Palace for a full day of activities and introductions.
The day began for Manuela Ruosi with a review of the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince de Monaco alongside Vincent Floreani, the Prince’s Chamberlain, before she was escorted to the Salon des Glaces for the formal presentation of her credentials to Prince Albert.
Ruosi has been in the diplomatic corps since 1992. Photo credits: Axel Bastello / Michael Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco
Also at the ceremony were: Yvette Lambin-Berti, Secretary of State; Christophe Steiner, Chief of Staff; Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; and Giuseppe Folino, Attaché in charge of Administrative, Consular and Social Affairs at the Italian Embassy in Monaco.
In the afternoon, the Prince invited the new Ambassador to join him on the Palace balcony to watch a special performance by the United States Sixth Fleet, held in the context of the Changing of the Guard.
The Italian diplomat joined Prince Albert on the Palace balcony to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Photo credits: Axel Bastello / Michael Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco
Ruosi, who hails from Naples, has been in the diplomatic corps since 1992. She first served as Deputy Director at the General Directorate for Cultural Relations’ Section for Cultural Events Abroad, followed by a stint at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See as First Secretary in 2000.
In 2011, she was transferred to the Italian Embassy in Tunis, before being brought back to Italy to work as Head of Office at the Directorate General for the Promotion of the Country System, Section for Cultural and Multilateral Cooperation (UNESCO) and Archaeological Missions.
She has also held positions as Embassy Counsellor and Head of Office at the Diplomatic Protocol of the Italian Republic before taking on the Ambassadorship to Monaco.
During his recent visit to the Rondine Cittadella della Pace international peace mission in Tuscany, Monaco’s Prince Albert II shared his hopes for a world of “tolerance, dialogue, trust, reconciliation and lasting peace.”
Over the weekend, Prince Albert headed to Tuscany for a tour of the Rondine Cittadella della Pace campus near Reggio Emilia. Founded in 1998, Rondine has grown from humble beginnings in the medieval town of the same name to become a wide-reaching international organisation dedicated to reducing armed conflicts and promoting a culture of peace worldwide.
Monaco has maintained a partnership with Rondine since 2015 and has lent its support to an array of globally minded projects, as well as acting as a sponsor to three students at the organisation’s World House, two of whom were there to meet with the Prince during his visit on Sunday 15th September.
Clearly impressed with the work being done by Rondine, Prince Albert said, “I am delighted to be here with you this morning and have taken great interest in visiting the campus facilities and listening to your explanations and testimonies. I am impressed by Rondine’s unique setting and by the creative tool it represents for supporting conflict transformation on a global scale.
I wish to commend Rondine for its exceptional initiatives and commitment, here in Italy and advancing peace worldwide… Rondine contributes to tearing down barriers, biases and misconceptions. We [the people of Monaco] welcome all initiatives promoting a culture of tolerance, dialogue, trust, reconciliation and lasting peace… I concur, ‘If war is a choice, peace can be too’. I would even add that, more than a choice, peace – like environmental sustainability – is a duty to humanity, and our responsibility.”
Prince Albert II of Monaco was full of praise for the work being done by the Rondine peace organisation. Photo credit: Axel Bastello / Palais Princier de Monaco
In 2023, Monaco became the third country to join Rondine’s Leaders for Peace Appeal, an initiative jointly launched by the organisation’s student body and the United Nations. The Principality was also a key sponsor of an event held in New York in December last year that promoted the ‘Rondine Method’ of fostering coexistence, dialogue, conflict resolution and peacebuilding between young people hailing from nations that have been or are still at war.
“My country will continue to work with Rondine as part of its ongoing commitment to support peace efforts around the globe,” added the Prince, in a speech following his tour of Rondine, which was conducted by Franco Vaccari, the organisation’s president. “In a world plagued by conflicts and where international law and multilateralism are eroding, building bridges between individuals and communities is more important than ever. Rondine is a remarkable organisation, and we are proud to stand by its side.”
La Verna
The Rondine Cittadella della Pace wasn’t the only stop on the sovereign’s itinerary. Prior to his visit to the peace project, he spent the afternoon of Saturday 14th September in the Tuscan province of Arezzo, exploring the La Verna Franciscan sanctuary.
Prince Albert was accompanied by Anne Eastwood, Monaco’s Ambassador to Italy, for this leg of the tour, and the two were greeted at the celebrated site by Brother Guido Fineschi and Brother David Gagrcic.
Prince Albert II of Monaco visited the La Verna sanctuary in Arezzo during his visit to Tuscany, a place of pilgrimage for people the world over, including his own mother, Princess Grace, who travelled to the spiritual site in 1968. Photo credit: Axel Bastello / Palais Princier de Monaco
Located in the heart of the Tuscan Apennines, this historic sanctuary has been a place of pilgrimage for people from around the world and is best known as the place where Saint Francis of Assisi received the stigmata on 17th September 1224. Indeed, Princess Grace of Monaco came to La Verna on pilgrimage with Princess Caroline, Prince Albert’s elder sister, in 1968.
Prince Albert was invited by the monks to look through the sanctuary’s archives and browse the photographs that commemorate his late mother’s journey to La Verna. It would have been a poignant experience for the Prince; Princess Grace passed away 42 years to the day of his own visit to the sanctuary.
To see more photographs of Prince Albert’s Tuscan tour, click on the images below:
Ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Barcelona, AS Monaco secured an impressive 3-0 away victory over Auxerre over the weekend, extending their undefeated record in France’s Ligue 1 this season.
AS Monaco entered Auxerre’s Stade Abbé-Deschamps on 14th September with high hopes of boosting their points tally in the Ligue 1 table, and they were not disappointed.
The Rouges et Blancs took control from the start, with a spectacular header from Thilo Kehrer only eight minutes in. This was followed in the 25th minute by a goal from Brazilian sensation Vanderson, who scored after a clean pass from captain Denis Zakaria.
In the second half, the team’s goals had all but come to a halt until the very last minute, when Zakaria added a third, cementing AS Monaco’s 3-0 victory.
“I think we played a good game. The only negative point is that we were not able to be more decisive,” said Zakaria after the match. “But we are happy with the final score, and I am pleased to have been able to help the team today by scoring. It is important to be there for the team, and that is what I managed to do along with Thilo, the vice-captain.”
The extra points have put AS Monaco neck and neck with second-placed Marseille in the Ligue 1 standings, and only two points behind the perennial top team, Paris Saint-Germain.
The win is a real confidence builder ahead of the club’s upcoming UEFA Champions League match, the first of the season, against powerhouses FC Barcelona at Stade Louis II in Monaco on Thursday 19th September.
The Grimaldi Forum Monaco has once again been recognised on the global stage, receiving its 19th M&IT Award in the Best Overseas Convention Centre category.
Presented by M&IT, one of the most influential media outlets in the UK’s business tourism industry, the accolade reaffirms the Grimaldi Forum’s position internationally and highlights its excellence in event management.
This year, the Grimaldi Forum took home the silver prize, ranking just behind the PortAventura Convention Centre in Spain and ahead of the Dublin Convention Centre, both recognised leaders in the sector.
Adding to the celebration, the Monaco Convention Bureau won gold for Best International Convention Bureau, and the Monégasque agency Raising Stones Events secured a gold award in its debut participation.
Since 2003, the Grimaldi Forum has won 19 M&IT Awards, including eight gold, nine silver, and two bronze, consistently being named the best international convention centre by UK professionals. In 2003, it was honoured with the IAPCO Award from the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers. Five years later, in 2008, the Eventia Award recognised its exceptional hosting of the Canon World Congress. In 2010, it received the Coolest Venue Award. The ‘Coup de Cœur’ Award from Club de l’Eco Nice Matin was presented to the Grimaldi Forum for its contribution to Monaco’s economy.
Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has announced that seven new radars will soon be installed in various locations around Nice, including four along the Promenade des Anglais, following the recent death of a local firefighter, who was struck and killed by a driver who had ignored a red light on the famous seafront.
At a press conference held in Nice on 13th September, the long-time mayor spoke of the urgent need for new measures to curb speeding and dangerous driving in the city of Nice. He cited the recent death of firefighter Jérémie Boulon as the latest sobering reminder, and called on the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hughes Moutouh, to take action.
“This has gone on for too long,” he later declared on X, expressing his frustration with delays from the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes in installing additional speed cameras in the city.
The local authorities will now move independently to assign the locations of seven new cameras, with northern Nice locations like Gairaut, Gorbella and Cimiez under consideration, along with the four sites on the Promenade des Anglais.
Once the locations are decided on, the mayor says that it will be “up to the Prefect to have them connected to the Ministry of the Interior network”.
The increase in surveillance is part of Nice’s broader action plan to combat road deaths, a strategy recently signed in collaboration with the Antoine Alléno Association, an organisation set up by the Monaco-based Chef Yannick Alléno after the death of his son, who was struck and killed by a driver who was behind the wheel without a licence and under the influence of alcohol.
