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Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene officially re-open Monaco’s Exotic Garden

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
27/03/2026

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène, accompanied by Princess Caroline of Hanover, attended the official reopening ceremony of the Jardin Exotique on Wednesday after six years of closure. 

The ceremony included a blessing by Archbishop Dominique-Marie David and speeches by Mayor Georges Marsan, who has been closely associated with the project throughout.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlène visiting the garden, photo credit: MichaĂ«l Alesi, Prince’s Palace

The garden is now set to open to the general public on Monday March 30th, with a free preview opening scheduled for Monegasques and residents on Sunday March 29th, with a programme of animations and a fireworks display planned for the occasion.

“The Municipal Council’s ambition was to modernise the garden without stripping it of its identity,” said Mayor Marsan. “I am delighted that future generations will be able to discover it in their turn.”

During the official reopening of the garden, photo credit: MichaĂ«l Alesi, Prince’s Palace

Nearly a century in the making

The Jardin Exotique first opened in 1933 under Prince Louis II and was home to over 30,000 plants, many of them centuries old, drawn from the Americas and Africa.

However, since 1939, no significant structural work had been carried out. Thus, after nearly a century, serious weaknesses had begun to emerge. For example, artificial rock work was at risk of detaching, pathways had deteriorated, and the cliff-face setting required urgent and technically-demanding intervention. And so, the garden closed its doors in 2020.

The garden’s cliff-facing setting, photo credit: Monaco Life

“The works were complex, vertiginous, and at times perilous given the configuration of the site,” Mayor Marsan said at the ceremony. The challenge was to make it safe without damaging a plant collection that includes specimens no longer found anywhere else in the world.

What changed

Walkways and railings have been fully rebuilt, flooring and paths resurfaced, pergolas and viewpoints renovated, and lighting upgraded throughout.

Landscape architect Hervé Meyer oversaw the botanical restoration, Monégasque architect Frédéric Genin redesigned the areas around the Observatory Cave, and architect Margaux Davenet designed the new facilities on the upper plateau.

Jardin Exotique, photo credit: Monaco Life

New additions include a children’s play area, a picnic area, a birthday room for around 3° children, and a revamped ticketing area. The garden is also being made available for private hire such as weddings, receptions, and events with rates that climb steeply during Grand Prix weekend.

The only museum in Monaco with a bar

Perhaps the most unexpected addition is a snack bar and drinks terrace on the upper plateau, open to anyone without a ticket. In a principality not known for casual, affordable public spaces, having somewhere to sit with a drink and a view over Monaco – and no entry fee required – is genuinely novel. The bar, along with the boutique and toilet facilities, is freely accessible to all.

Pricing details and tailored packages

Ticketing ranges from €12 for adults, €6 for children up to to 17 years-old for garden entry only, to €18 for adults, €10 for children for access to the garden and observatory cave and botanical centre.

Because the cliff-face layout makes full access impossible for visitors with reduced mobility, entry will be free up to the point they can comfortably reach.

A commemorative plaque marking the reopening has also been installed on site, bearing the names of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène in recognition of their presence at the ceremony.

The commemorative plaque marking the official reopening, photo credit: Monaco Life

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Main photo credit: MichaĂ«l Alesi, Prince’s Palace

What to expect from this year’s Green Shift Festival

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
26/03/2026

Monaco’s Green Shift Festival is set to return for its fourth edition from 9th to 11th April at the Yacht Club de Monaco. The free event, organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, will again gather scientists, artists, writers and athletes to explore what a genuine shift towards sustainability might look and feel like.

This year’s programme is built around three themed evening sessions, each running from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Thursday opens with a conversation about narrative and change, specifically, whether the way we collectively tell our story about the future can itself become a driver of action. Historian Mathieu Baudin will chair the discussion, joined by climate sociologist Stéphane La Branche and writer Jeanne Hénin, who runs workshops on the transformative potential of words.

Friday’s bilingual session shifts to bricks and water. Rob Hopkins, who helped launch the international Transition Towns movement, and Jacques Rougerie, an architect fascinated by life beneath the sea, will discuss how radically different our built environment could become.

Then, Saturday is dedicated to sport. Six athletes including freediver Julie Gautier, wingfoil champion Flora Artzner, climber Nolwen Berthier, sprinter Younès Nezar, sailor Arthur Le Vaillant and mountain biker Yannis PelĂ© will talk about how competition and environmental commitment became inseparable for them. Big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner closes the evening before artist Bobbie takes to the stage for the festival’s closing concert.

Romain Ciarlet, Vice-President and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, sums up the ambition: “The Green Shift Festival is an invitation to imagine desirable futures. By bringing together the perspectives of artists, researchers, athletes and frontline actors, it opens spaces for dialogue and emotion that help us transform our relationship with the living world and build positive transitions.”

Last year’s edition, photo credit: Monaco Life.

Daytime schedule

The daytime schedule offers something across all three days. Wellness sessions kick things off each morning: qigong on Thursday at 5pm, yin yoga on Friday at 9am, sound healing on Saturday at 9m.

Saturday, however, is an interesting day featuring a coral reef show for young children at 11am, a bike repair stand from 2pm to 5pm, a literary afternoon with three authors at 2pm, a bioplastic flower-making workshop for families at 3:30pm, and a breathwork session at 5pm.

A guided tour of the ‘Le sentiment de la nature’ exhibition at Villa Paloma is also scheduled on Friday, organised in partnership with the Nouveau MusĂ©e National de Monaco, and running at 12:30pm.

The festival operates under a green charter, working with partners each year to reduce its environmental footprint. All evening sessions are free with no booking required. However, some daytime workshops need advance registration which can be made at the Green Shift’s Festival website.

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Green Shift Festival 2025, photo credit: Monaco Life

Peace and sport launches its 2026 WhiteCard campaign

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/03/2026

Prince Albert II joined the international organisation Peace and Sport at the Hôtel Metropole on 25th March for the launch of its annual WhiteCard campaign, which calls on people around the world to use sport as a tool for peace. 

Around the world, 251 million children are currently out of school, cut off not only from education but from the skills and opportunities they need to develop. It is for that reason Peace and Sport is calling on athletes, institutions and the public to unite around the message that sport can help build more peaceful and inclusive societies, particularly for young people.

The event was held ahead of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, and it kicks off a series of initiatives building towards the official global WhiteCard day on 6th April, when everyone is invited to share their White Card on social media.

Prince Albert II reaffirmed Monaco’s commitment to the cause. “The sport is a formidable lever for education, inclusion and dialogue between cultures,” he said, adding that the campaign reflects values close to Monaco such as “solidarity, respect and the construction of lasting peace.”

During the launch of the WhiteCard campaign, photo credit: Sarah Steck, Prince’s Palace

JoĂ«l Bouzou, the organisation’s founder and president added: “Peace is not decreed solely at international summits,” he said. “It is also built pragmatically on playing fields, where sport gives rise to ecosystems of micro-peace, founded on shared rules and mutual respect.”

Didier Drogba, Vice-President of Peace and Sport, also underlined the significance of the campaign. “The WhiteCard is not just a symbolic gesture: it is a commitment we share with the world. Every share helps spread a message of peace and inclusion, and shows that sport can unite and inspire.”

During the presentation of the campaign, photo credit: Sarah Steck, Prince’s Palace

What’s coming up

Several initiatives will carry the campaign forward over the coming days and months. French professional rugby players, mobilised through Provale – the union of professional rugby players in France – will back the campaign. The Vuelta cycling race is also set to carry the campaign’s message, with its grand dĂ©part scheduled from 22nd to 23rd August.

Additionally, two of Peace and Sport’s Champions for Peace take the campaign to major international stages. Ivorian Olympic champion Cheick Sallah CissĂ© will speak at the ChangeNOW summit in Paris, while Franco-American skateboarder Julian Agliardi will address the United Nations in New York at a conference marking the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on 6th April.

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Main photo credit: Sarah Steck, Prince’s Palace

Prince Albert II presides over third edition of Monaco’s Ocean Cocktail Competition

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/03/2026

Prince Albert II attended the final of this year’s ‘A Cocktail for the Ocean’ competition on March 22nd, where Monaco bartender MaĂ«vah Lorion of Gaia Monte-Carlo beat 12 rivals from across Europe to claim the top prize.

The ceremony took place at Restaurant AmĂą in the Fairmont Monte-Carlo, closing the third edition of the contest organised by Prince Explorer Gin, a Monaco based spirit brand.

Thirteen bar teams, selected from more than 50 candidate establishments across Europe, had competed over the course of the event with entries from Italy, Croatia, France, Malta and Monaco.

MaĂ«vah Lorion took first place with the ‘Okeanos’ cocktail. Second place went to Enzo Pajany of the Bar AmĂ©ricain de l’HĂ´tel de Paris Monte-Carlo with ‘Hirondelle’, and third to Gilda Giovannoni of Amazonico Monte-Carlo with ‘Sky and Shell’.

The Okeanos cocktail, photo credit: Coline Ciais-Soulhat, Prince Explorer

A panel of four industry judges assessed the entries, each of which was required to feature Prince Explorer Gin as a core ingredient

However, ocean conversation sits at the heart of the competition. For every cocktail sold during the contest, Prince Explorer donated €1 to marine conservation projects. “This competition was born from the simple conviction that mixology can carry real purpose,” said Giacomo Frateschi, co-founder of Prince Explorer Gin. “Seeing thirteen teams from across Europe rise to the challenge with such talent and dedication is the clearest proof that our conviction is shared.”

226 bottles, eight months under the sea

Since last November, 226 bottles of Prince Explorer Gin have been lying on the bed of the Mediterranean as part of an underwater ageing experiment the brand calls Operation Explorer. The theory is that the pressure, temperature and movement of the sea alter the spirit in ways that conventional ageing cannot.  The bottles are due to be retrieved on 22nd June, shortly after World Oceans Day.

Monegasque freediver Pierre Frolla, a four time world record holder, will dive to bring up the first bottle. A ceremony will then take place aboard a catamaran moored before Monaco’s Oceanographic Museum, where the bottle will be formally presented to Prince Albert II.

Ten bottles from the limited edition, signed by both Prince and Frolla, are earmarked for international auction, with all proceeds directed to ocean conservation.

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Main photo credit: Coline Ciais-Soulhat, Prince Explorer

Monaco’s Kamil Art Gallery launches Contemporary Art Forum to the Indian Ocean

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/03/2026

From April 7th to May 20th, the Caudan Arts Centre in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, will host the inaugural edition of the Contemporary Art Forum, a new cultural event conceived and organised by the Kamil Art Gallery in Monaco.

Built around the theme ‘Lines and Colours of Hope’, the forum brings together eight artists spanning painting, sculpture, drawing and photography for over six weeks of exhibitions, workshops and public talks.

The event was created by Kamil and his sister Caroline Jelmoni, director of the gallery and secretary general of Monaco Art Week, and will operate under the High Patronage of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

The artists selected include: French painter Jordane Saget, Franco-German artist Eric Massholder, Spanish painter and visual artist Quim Bou Serrano, Spanish painter and draughtsman Sabala, painter and draughtsman Fernando Martinez Garcia, Monégasque sculptor and painter Stéphane Chavanis, American photographer Jordan Matter and Monégasque street artist Anthony Alberti, better known as Mr One Teas.

They were chosen for both their creative range and their following. “I want to make noise,” said Caroline Jelmoni, noting that artists like Matter and Saget bring substantial international audiences with them.

Workshops, talks and live global audience

The forum isn’t just a traditional exhibition, but it also incorporates a programme of workshops, which will see students and members of the public work alongside the artists.

Additionally, two curator-led roundtable discussions will be streamed live online. The academic conversations, led by Dr Fereshte Moosavi of Goldsmiths, University of London, and Dr Fanny Curtat of the UniversitĂ© du QuĂ©bec Ă  MontrĂ©al, will explore connections between the artists’ practices and broader themes of ecology and creative responsibility.

At the heart of the project lies a partnership with Fight Aids Monaco and its supported centre, Chrysalide, a refuge for women and children affected by domestic violence in Mauritius.

The forum will stage two charity gold tournaments, tombolas and auction events to raise funds for the association, with proceeds supporting Chrysalide’s psychological, legal and social reintegration programmes.

Across several workshop sessions running throughout the event, two collective artworks will take shape: one through a series of sessions bringing together Jordane Saget and the women of Chrysalide, and a second led by Mr One Teas with local students. Both will be unveiled at the Caudan Arts Centre during the run of the show.

Describing his approach, Mr One Teas said the piece would be made “by them, with them” — an artwork that honours the country through “a communion between us”.

The exhibition opens to the public on April 10th, with the vernissage the evening before.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life

Monaco Women Forum honours scientists shaping the future of ageing

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
24/03/2026

The Monaco Women Forum closed its 9th edition with a gala ceremony presenting awards to two scientists whose work focuses on ageing and long-term health. 

The Monte-Carlo Woman of the Year Award went to Professor Maria Blasco and Professor Sarah Berry, both recognised for research that is opening new avenues in longevity science.

Professor Blasco has spent her career studying the biology of cellular ageing, with a particular focus on telomeres – the protective caps at the ends of DNA strands. Her work, spanning over 280 published studies, has pointed to new ways of tackling age-related diseases and placed ageing biology at the heart of modern medicine.

During the forum’s discussions, photo credit: Monaco Women Forum

Professor Sarah Berry received the Social Award for her research into diet, the gut microbiome and heart health. She has also worked on bringing personalised nutrition tools within reach of a wider public, helping people better understand how their bodies respond to what they eat.

A broader conversation

The Forum, which opened with remarks from Monaco’s Finance Minister Pierre-AndrĂ© Chiappori, covered a wide range of topics. Panels addressed crypto regulation (including the EU’S MICA framework), space governance and digital healthcare.

During Mr Chiappori’s remarks, photo credit: Monaco Women Forum 

The longevity session brought these threads together, combining the latest science on telomeres and nutrition with a presentation by Dr Hélène Ceruti, a cardiologist at the Monaco Cardiothoracic Center. Dr Ceruti spoke about how disease presents differently in women, an issue that speaks to a broader gap in medical research, where studies have historically been concentrated on men, often leaving women under-diagnosed or mistreated as a result.

In her closing remarks, founder and president Cinzia Sgambati Colman described the current moment as “a turning point” requiring collective action and diverse perspectives. She also confirmed that artificial intelligence will be the focus of a dedicated panel at the 2027 edition.

Cinzia Sgambati Colman – Founder and President and Valentina Colman – Vice President, photo credit: Monaco Women Forum 

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Main photo credit: Monaco Women ForumÂ