Prince Albert presents medals as Princely Family attends Cortina events

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, accompanied by Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, attended two events at the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Sunday 15th February.

The Princely Family began the day at the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina, where they watched the women’s giant slalom in alpine skiing. Italy’s Federica Brignone claimed Olympic gold on home snow, winning the race before her home crowd.

Medal presentation at Sliding Center

Later in the day, the family attended the mixed team skeleton event at the Sliding Center in Cortina. At the conclusion of the competition, Prince Albert had the honour of presenting the medals.

Great Britain’s T. Stoecker and M. Weston took gold, while Germany claimed both silver and bronze. S. Kreher and A. Jungk finished second, with compatriots J. Pfeifer and C. Grotheer taking third place.

The appearance marks the second Olympic event the Princely Family has attended during the Milano Cortina 2026 Games, following their visit to the curling tournament the previous day.

See also: 

Princess Charlene and twins join Prince Albert at Winter Olympics curling event

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Photos credit: Francesca Vieceli / IPA via ZUMA Press / Bestimage / Getty Images / IOC

 

Monte-Carlo Opera presents Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is staging a new production of Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, a cornerstone of French lyric repertoire, at the Salle Garnier across four performances from 22nd to 28th February.

Under the musical direction of Kazuki Yamada, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and Monte-Carlo Opera Chorus bring to life this emblematic work where Maurice Maeterlinck’s poetic text meets the delicate and mysterious light of Debussy’s music.

The international cast features unanimously acclaimed voices: Huw Montague Rendall as Pelléas, Lea Desandre as Mélisande, Gerald Finley as Golaud, Laurent Naouri as Arkel, Jennifer Courcier as Yniold, and Marie Gautrot as Geneviève.

The production reunites Jean-Louis Grinda for staging, Laurent Castaingt for sets and lighting, and Jorge Jara for costumes. Stefano Visconti serves as chorus master.

Dream, destiny and the unknown

Pelléas et Mélisande, a major work of 20th-century French repertoire, reveals a universe where the unfathomable meets musical transparency, offering audiences a lyric experience of rare depth suspended between dream, destiny and the shadow of the unknown.

Debussy’s only completed opera, premiered in Paris in 1902, broke with conventional operatic forms through its use of continuous music, spoken prosody and orchestral subtlety. The work’s impressionistic score creates atmosphere through suggestion rather than statement, perfectly complementing Maeterlinck’s symbolist libretto about forbidden love, jealousy and fate in a timeless medieval setting.

The production marks another significant presentation of French lyric repertoire at the Salle Garnier, continuing the venue’s tradition of showcasing masterworks that demand both vocal excellence and theatrical sophistication.

Performance schedule

Performances take place Sunday 22nd February at 3pm, Tuesday 24th February at 8pm (gala performance), Thursday 26th February at 8pm, and Saturday 28th February at 8pm at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

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Visit Monaco unveils new brand identity blending Art Nouveau and contemporary design

Monaco’s tourism authority has unveiled a new visual identity for Visit Monaco, combining Art Nouveau-inspired typography with contemporary design elements in a rebrand aimed at reinforcing the destination’s international appeal.

The Direction du Tourisme et des Congrès de Monaco presented the renewed identity last week, describing it as “heritage in motion” and designed to capture both the Principality’s longstanding prestige and its forward-looking character.

Contrasting design elements

The new logo centres on two distinct typographic treatments. “Monaco” appears in Art Nouveau-inspired lettering, intended to convey timeless prestige and global recognition. “Visit” uses a handwritten style, introduced to suggest approachability and personal connection.

The visual system employs geometric principles to maintain consistency across digital and print applications, according to the tourism authority.

Monogram and business tourism variant

A new monogram accompanies the wordmark, designed as a contemporary interpretation of Monaco’s heraldic traditions. The emblem can be used independently in certain contexts, providing flexibility for different communication needs.

The tourism authority has also developed a Convention Bureau version of the identity to distinguish its business and professional events offering while maintaining visual alignment with the main brand.

The updated identity is intended to strengthen Visit Monaco’s positioning and improve engagement with leisure travellers, tourism professionals and event organisers.

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Médiathèque Caroline celebrates teen literature with author events and workshops

Médiathèque Caroline is presenting a series of events focused on young adult literature through the end of March, with author meetings, exhibitions and workshops designed for teenage readers.

The programme includes two major author events. On 28th February at 2pm, Christelle Dabos and Vanyda will discuss the graphic novel adaptation of the first volume of La Passe-Miroir, with a bookseller present. On 21st March at 2pm, authors Tom Lévêque and Susie Morgenstern will discuss literature that accompanies adolescence, followed by a book signing.

Exhibition and contest

An exhibition titled “Sur les chemins de la littérature ado” will run from 5th to 31st March, exploring themes and voices in young adult literature.

The library is running a contest inviting teenagers to illustrate their ideal reading space through photography, collage, drawing or montage. Submissions are open until 15th February, with winners announced on 28th February after the Dabos and Vanyda event.

Workshops and activities

Additional programming includes philosophy sessions for children aged 9 to 13 on 17th February exploring the concept of dreaming, and a two-day slam and rap workshop with Yass Sogo on 26th and 27th February for ages 11 and up.

Other activities include a manga afternoon on 7th March, a philosophy session for teens on 11th March examining bodily autonomy, a murder mystery event on 14th March for ages 12 and up, and a book edge decoration workshop on 28th March for ages 13 and up. The programme concludes with a poetry and music session on 31st March featuring texts from the library’s slam and poetry writing workshops.

About the venue

Médiathèque Caroline is a free public library spanning more than 2,500 square metres in central Monaco. The facility serves all ages and aims to support informal learning and intergenerational connections. Most events require advance registration through the library.

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Photo by Monaco Life

 

€60,000 entrepreneur awards open for Monaco and French Riviera start-ups

The Stelios Foundation Young Entrepreneur Awards have opened for a second consecutive year in Monaco and the French Riviera, offering €60,000 in cash prizes to three winners.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of the easy family of brands, is providing the funding through his philanthropic foundation to support young business owners in the region where he and his family live.

Eligibility criteria

The competition is open to entrepreneurs born in 1992 or later who own a registered company in Monaco or the South of France established within the last five years. Applicants must demonstrate annual revenues exceeding €50,000 and hold director status with more than 50% shareholding in their company.

The overall winner will receive €30,000 to invest in their business, with a second prize of €20,000 and a third prize of €10,000.

Application process

Applications must be submitted via a downloadable form available at www.stelios.mc and emailed to Liliana.farhat@stelios.com by 5:00pm CET on 15th April 2026.

Sir Stelios will announce the winners at an awards ceremony on Thursday 21st May at the Stelios Foundation Conference Hall in Monaco.

Supporting local economies

The Stelios Philanthropic Foundation has run similar entrepreneur awards in the UK, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland for several years, with a focus on supporting job creation in local economies. The foundation receives the majority of easyGroup profits to fund its activities across various causes in regions where the Haji-Ioannou family has connections.

See also:

Sir Stelios honours next-generation business talent in Monaco and the Riviera with €100,000 entrepreneur awards

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Main photo credit: Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life

 

Monaco real estate 2025: high-value flips, limited new supply and a revamped price index

Monaco’s real estate market did something unusual in 2025: it stayed almost exactly where it was. The total value of all transactions reached €5.9 billion, which matched the record set the year before. However, underneath that steady headline, the market was anything but static.

Monaco’s statistics body IMSEE unveiled its Real Estate Observatory 2025 during a press conference at the Ministry of State on Monday 17th February, revealing a market in quiet transformation while introducing a highly anticipated new tool designed to measure the market more honestly than ever before.

Two markets moving in opposite directions

The report shows that in 2025, new-build sales fell sharply, while resales more than made up the difference.

Sales of brand new homes dropped from 101 transactions in 2024 to 64, showcasing a quiet year for completions. Their total value fell by a billion euros to 2.6 billion. Even so, 2.6 billion coming from just 64 transaction is an extraordinary figure. In fact, more than half of those sales exceeded 20 million euros, and five crossed 100 million.

Resales told the opposite story. At 429 transactions worth a combined 3.2 billion euros, the secondary market set an all time record, up 49 per cent in value in a single year. The driver was largely owners reselling recently delivered luxury apartments. “Sales fell by a billion, resales rose by a billion,” said Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister for Infrastructure and Urban Planning. “A lot of it is simply apartments that had been bought and very quickly put back on the market.”

And the figures are remarkable. The average resale price reached 7.6 million euros, up 26.8 per cent in a year. For the largest properties including five rooms or more, the average leapt to 29 million euros, a rise of 10 million in 12 months. The Larvotto district, with just 13 resales, generated 851.9 million euros, mainly from the Mareterra project and other recent developments landing on the secondary market.

A new way to measure Monaco’s property prices

The most significant announcement, however, was methodological. Monaco now has a more accurate way of calculating price per square metre, which changes the picture considerably.

The old method was quite simple: average the resale prices in a district for a given year. It was straightforward, but easily distorted. For example, three exceptional transactions in Larvotto in 2024 pushed the district’s reported average to 95,000 euros per square metre. But, this figure did not accurately reflect the broader market.

The new model includes both sales and resales and takes into account when a building was constructed, not just where it is and when it sold. Pierre-André Chiappori, Minister for Finance and an economics professor who helped design it, explained the logic: “An apartment in Monte-Carlo is not worth the same as one in Les Moneghetti. A building from the 1970s is not worth the same as one completed last year. This model separates all three effects cleanly, something the old one could not.”

After using this method, Monaco’s average prince per square metre in 2025 turns out to be 57,569 euros, the second highest ever recorded. At the top of the table sits Larvotto’s district at 71,167 euros, the first time any district has crossed the 70,000 euro threshold. Monte-Carlo follows at around 54,000 euros, and even the most “affordable” districts – Les Moneghetti and the Jardin Exotique – come in above 43,000 euros. Lastly, for new buildings completed since 2020, the average prince rises to 65,602 euros per square metre.

What the data revealed

Using this new model, one unexpected finding arose, say the experts. Buildings from the 1990s appear relatively cheaper per square metre than those built in either earlier or later decades. “That is the definition of a good statistical model,” Chiappori said. “One that teaches you things you couldn’t see before.”

Caron Dagioni provided an explanation for this. The 1990s were Monaco’s first generation of modern urban development, before today’s standards on energy performance, construction quality and public space were established.

The new index goes beyond publishing annual statistics. The government already uses it as a shared reference point in negotiations with developers over projects involving public land, removing the scope for competing valuations. “It gives everyone – including investors, developers, and the state – an indicator that is the same for everyone and cannot be challenged,” Caron-Dagioni said.

She then added: “A developer planning a project can apply the district and decade to get a credible first estimate. The only real uncertainty is where prices will be in two or three years. But this removes an enormous amount of guesswork.”

All historical square metre data has been recalculated under the new method for consistency and can now be found at imsee.mc/publications.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life