Prince Albert II and Princess Anne met during an International Olympic Committee gathering this week, sharing common ground as both IOC members and former Olympic competitors.Â
Both competed at the Games before taking up positions within the IOC. Prince Albert II represented Monaco in bobsleigh at five consecutive Winter Games between 1988 and 2002.
Meanwhile, Princess Anne competed for Great Britain in equestrian at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
The pair have served as IOC members for nearly four decades, with Prince Albert II joining in 1985 and Princess Anne following three years later in 1988.
That first-hand experience of Olympic competition – the training, the pressure, the values instilled through sport – guides their approach to committee work.
Titled ‘Magies d’Ailleurs – Magics from Elsewhere’, the exhibition brings together around a hundred objects, many rarely seen before, drawn mainly from sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania.
The exhibition was previously shown in Tours, but has now been significantly expanded for Monaco, with full-scale voodoo altar reconstructions and new acquisitions, including four costumes from the GonGon societies.
“These rituals exist to create a link between generations, but also between people, nature, and the supernatural,” Dr Charlier said during a press tour. “Something that escapes us, that is very subtle.”
Blood and masks
At the heart of the exhibition is the idea that ordinary objects can become alive. Across many cultures, a carved figure or a mask was believed to cross from the lifeless world to the living the moment it was consecrated with blood.
Features were pressed into the wet surface, leaving a visible trace, or rather a sign that the object now carried its own energy. Blood was not a one-off ritual either. It was seen as ongoing nourishment, something the object needed to survive, just as the ancient Greeks believed their gods wither and die without sacrifice.
Masks tell a similar story. They were not costumes but doorways, allowing the one wearing it to be inhabited by a spirit or an ancestor. Over the years, layers of mud, blood, palm oil, and ochre – food for the spiritual being inside – would gather on their surface.
The masks at the exhibition, photo by Monaco Life.
Some masks were forbidden to women, children, and the uninitiated, who could only hear the ceremony from a distance. Others abandoned any recognisable face entirely, becoming pure expressions of dread.
Thrones, bones and tree ferns
Dr Charlier singled out a carved throne from the Indonesian island of Timor. Local belief holds that wandering ghosts cause small but repeated disruptions like a car accident here or a stumble there. When the pattern is noticed, a ritual traps the spirit inside the throne.
“Tradition says the throne vibrates a little from time to time,” Dr Charlier explained, “because it is trying to get out.”
The carved throne, photo by Monaco Life.
Other striking objects in the exhibition are a shield from Papua New Guinea and a votive plank from Irian Jaya that looks, at first glance, simply red and white. However, the red is ochre mixed with human blood, and the white is kaolin mixed with ground human bones. “When you are in front of this object, you see the colours,” Dr Charlier said. “But an initiate knows he is also protected by the blood and bones of an ancestor. It creates a sort of supernatural barrier.”
A carved tree from Vanuatu marks a different kind of transition. When a young man comes of age, a fern is sculpted and planted in from of the man’s house, a marker of his new status and, in a sense, a supernatural double of himself.
Secret societies
The exhibition also explores secret societies, drawing unexpected connections between the Carbonari of 19th-century Italy, Haitian voodoo’s Bizango, European Freemasons, and the Bambara guardians of the Boli in Mali. What binds them is not simply secrecy, but shared initiation rituals that create a lasting bond. Dr Charlier compared entering a secret society to medical specialisation: “When you are initiated, it is as if you were a general practitioner, and if you want to become a surgeon or a specialist, you enter a secret society. That is what it is, in fact.”
However, what needs to be noted is that these practices are not relics. The rituals on display are in many communities still very much alive. They are tools for making sense of the unknown and holding people together across generations.
Magies d’Ailleurs is open everyday from 9am to 6pm. Admission is €5 for adults, €2.50 for students and free for children under 10. Guided tours are also available by reservation only at mediationMAP@gouv.mc and cost €10 per person, with €5 for ages five to ten and free for kinds under five.
Monaco is rolling out sweeping justice reforms this year aimed at restoring public trust and tackling financial crime. Secretary of State for Justice Samuel Vuelta Simon outlined the plans during a New Year speech on Thursday, highlighting a full agenda that includes modernising institutions, strengthening legal resources, and boosting transparency.
The conference comes as Monaco assumes the chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers this spring, 22 years after joining the organisation. The role will culminate in an informal conference of European justice ministers on 16th June focused on combating money laundering.
Restoring Monaco’s image
Vuelta Simon acknowledged that Monaco’s justice system faced hard judgement and unflattering perceptions at times. However, he insisted the reality was quite different.
“I quickly discovered its true face,” he said. “It is high quality justice that motivates its decisions, that knows neither uncontrolled backlogs nor significant delays, with committed actors and professionals who genuinely love the profession they have chosen to practise.”
He explained that Prince Albert II had given him a clear mandate: to restore serenity to Monaco’s justice system, maintain its independence, and modernise it to meet both national realities and international challenges.
To improve the system’s image, Monaco now publishes legal information to make it more accessible and, back in June, it launched a new journal called ‘Monaco Droit’, to make the justice system more understandable to the public.
Strengthening resources
To reinforce resources, a financial section was established within the Attorney General’s Office in September with two experienced magistrates, responding to recommendations from international evaluators. An audit of its effectiveness will be conducted in the coming weeks.
Additionally, a judicial reserve system, approved by the National Council in November, will allow around 10 experienced magistrates to temporarily reinforce courts when needed. Implementation will begin in the coming weeks.
Lastly, the attorney general’s office recruited two new prosecutors in 2025, with additional recruitments planned for 2026, focusing on candidates with experience in areas of public concern in Monaco.
To boost digital modernisation, the Justice Secretariat will launch a website in 2026, providing information about its services and activities. The department will also relocate from its current premises to free up space for judicial recruitment.
Digitalisation will continue with the modernisation of the criminal records system, with the aim of eventually connecting to those of neighbouring countries. Paper documentation was abandoned in 2025.
Reviews of the status of prison staff, magistrates, and court clerks are also planned to improve recruitment. The statuses of superior courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Review, and Council of State, will also be examined.
Legislative reforms
Several legislative initiatives have also been launched to modernise the legal profession. Work is underway with the Bar Council on legal aid, court appointments, and regulation of the profession itself.
Similar collaboration with the Principality’s three bailiffs has resulted in updated tariffs and reforms to property sales procedures. A bill containing provisions for guilty pleas and criminal settlements is currently under examination by the National Council.
Reforms to prevent, detect, and punish corruption amongst high-ranking officials are also planned under the Council of Europe’s GRECO programme.
Samuel Vuelta Simon explained that the reforms aim for long-term sustainability rather than simply achieving international ratings. Progress with the Financial Action Task Force showed increasing improvements at each meeting, he said, with regular exchanges demonstrating Monaco’s commitment to best practices.
The Junior Economic Chamber of Monaco (JCI) has outlined its plans for 2026, including new initiatives for students and changes to existing programmes.Â
Lucas Dubois, appointed President of JCI for 2026, explained the changes at a press conference on Thursday January 29th alongside Vice-President for Entrepreneurship Julien Vivarelli and Vice-President for Attractivity Luxmaan Sellappah.
The main addition is Monaco Junior Impact, a new student entrepreneurship programme launching this year. It will connect students from the International University of Monaco with business mentors to develop community-focused event proposals over four months. Student teams working within set budgets will pitch their ideas to a jury in late April, with the winning project receiving full JCI Monaco funding for delivery in June.
“The students will experience the entire entrepreneurial journey, from finding the idea to respecting a budget, finding the right partners to deliver the event, securing suitable venues, and then executing it on the day,” Dubois said.
The organisation is also planning to improve Monaco Inspire, which celebrates its third edition in late November. After feedback from previous years, organisers are going to introduce cheaper morning-only tickets to complement their full-day pass, making the event more accessible to those primarily interested in the keynote speakers.
“We want to review the ticket prices to allow us to invite a broader range of people,” Dubois explained. Three keynote speakers will address attendees in the morning, with a new feature allowing participants to book one-to-one sessions with speakers throughout the day. The afternoon retains the pitch contest and adds optional workshops.
Broader strategic shift
These changes reflect JCI Monaco’s repositioning around three core pillars: attractiveness, entrepreneurship and innovation. Meanwhile, the organisation has dropped its previous focus on personal development in order to promote innovation as “the voice of 18 to 40-year-olds” in Monaco’s business community.
In addition, training programmes are expanding beyond entrepreneurs to include corporate employees. “Until now, we had many training sessions for entrepreneurs, but Luxmaan wanted to promote this aspect and offer more training in the corporate world, with soft skills dedicated to employees,” Dubois said.
The attractiveness pillar will deliver around 15 public events this year, including four breakfast conferences with guest speakers. Vivarelli stressed that despite the organisation’s 18-40 age limit for membership, all events remain open to the public. “There’s no age requirement for attending events,” he said.
Three Pitch Night sessions will also run throughout the year, with the first on March 18th dedicated to IUM students. The free evening events at JCI Monaco headquarters give participants a platform to present their projects to mentors and audiences.
The organisation also maintains its core initiatives, including the Business Creation Competition in its 31st year and the Startup Meeting series.
Armoured warriors will descend on Monaco next week to offer a unique spectacle of medieval combat at the Chapiteau de Fontvieille.Â
The ‘Malizia’ tournament is set to take place on Saturday 7th February and will see elite teams from France, Italy and Spain compete in the hard-hitting sport of buhurt, where fighters wear historically accurate armour and battle with blunted weapons in full contact clashes.
Organised by the Order of Magna Carta, the event will feature seven-versus-seven matches, with each squad fielding 12 fighters. Seven warriors will enter the arena while the remaining warriors stand ready as reserves.
Magna Carta is a modern knightly order inspired by the 14th century warrior brotherhoods that were bound by shared values rather than religious devotion. It draws from traditions where warriors competed as unified teams at tournaments before celebrating victories or plotting their next challenge.
Beyond Monaco’s tournament, the organisation brings together more than 25 teams from four continents, all bound by what they call the Great Charter of Liberties: a code that encompasses the values of medieval chivalry including honour, courage, humility and justice.
Modern combat meets medieval tradition
These are not staged performances. They are real competitive battles. Fighters train extensively and deliver genuine strikes, while wearing period-accurate armour. The organisation blends the spectacle and authenticity of historical reenactment with the intensity and athleticism of modern combat sports, focusing on Western European martial traditions from the mid-14th to early 16th centuries.
The Monaco tournament serves as the opening stage for Magna Carta’s 2026 calendar.
Entry to the tournament is completely free, ensuring everyone can enjoy the experience. For those unable to attend in person, the battles will be broadcast live on Magna Carta’s official Youtube channel
Over 250 vintage car enthusiasts from 28 nations will navigate some of Europe’s most challenging mountain passes when the Monte Carlo Historic Rally begins on Thursday 29th January.
The rally running until 7th February, marks a significant shift from tradition with 18 timed stages on traffic-free roads, a move designed to enhance safety all while preserving the event’s authentic character.
The earliest competitors leave John O’Groats in the Scottish Highlands on 29th January, facing the longest journey south. The remaining entries depart on 1st February from Bad Homburg in Germany, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Reims in France, and Turin in Italy. All routes converge on Valence in southeastern France, where the first arrivals are expected at the Esplanade du Champ de Mars from 12:30pm on Monday 2nd February.
Competitors will then stop at Antraigues-sur-Volane, where the Jouanny family garage has become a Monte Carlo Rally institution over recent decades. The day concludes with two further stages before crews return to Valence at 17:36pm.
A gala prize-giving is scheduled for the evening on Saturday at the Sporting Monte-Carlo’s Salle des Étoiles.
Now with an expanded eligibility window covering any car that competed in the Monte Carlo Rally between 1911 and 1986, the Monte Carlo Historic Rally has attracted cars spanning seven decades. Organisers have also introduced three different target average speeds for the event, with competitors classified according to which speed category they choose.
Additionally, C.E approved helmets are now mandatory on all closed road sections promoting tighter safety standards
