#caroline di monaco

[charlotte-of-wales]

a summary of the Monaco Tea, creds to the lovely anon who sent me the article <3

btw most of the information on the family was in article one, the latter were more just info on real estate + off shore accounts

again, this info is all coming from the former accountant of the family:

Prince Rainier III was seriously considering changing succession laws so Caroline would be the head of the family and Monaco as he found Albert to be weak. Albert is said to be the "despised member of the clan" who would stutter while speaking to his father. Rainier even looked into what this would mean to the Grimaldi name since Andrea - at the time 17 - obviously carries his father's name (Casiraghi) and not his mother's (Grimaldi). Rainier told the ones carrying the investigation that this was done in case Albert died.

the funds from Albert's state endowment and his private funds would be mixed all the time.

Albert would say yes to essentially everything his family asked for, including a $30 million apartment for Stephanie

Palmero (the accountant) would frequently buy things for the family to keep "their privacy". He bought Charlene's engagement ring and multiple properties for the Grimaldi's in France. He would pay property taxes for those properties and have the family pay him back.

Caroline and Stephanie would frequently make use of and sell family property (Rainier's cars, family jewelry and art, etc) without letting him know, even though they technically belonged to Albert.

Caroline is in charge of the family's castle in Marchais, which he had an issue with as she would always go off budget.

he makes a note to pay attention to Pierre Casiraghi as he is very ambitious and his dealings in real estate could create problems (spoiler alert: it did)

Caroline is said to hate Charlene

the allowance that Charlene, Caroline and Stephanie receive increases constantly, which worried Palmero. As of late, they were: 1,5 million euros for Charlene, 900.000 for Caroline and 800.000 for Stephanie yearly. This follows the family hierarchy.

 Jazmin Grace receives 86,000 dollars per quarter. In February 2010, Palmero had to spend $5,000 “extra for her birthday”. Albert also bought her a $3 million apartment in New York City.

Albert spends almost a million a year funding Nicole Coste's (the mother of Albert's second illegimate child) fashion business. It's all in Alexandre Coste's name as Nicole fears that Charlene might create issues when Albert dies.

loots about Charlene. She frequently demands high sums in cash, her personal chef is $300 a day, she has multiple undocumented people from the Philippines working in her staff, the celebrations for the birth and baptism of the twins was well over half a million euros, in eight years Charlene spent around 15 million euros when she received 7.5 million euros in endowment (the Palace didn't deny this and said that the accountant was simply told to pay the difference with the family's personal funds), she spent 965,000 on a villa in two and a half months, her office decoration cost a million euros, she requested 3 x 300,000 for her brother's house.

Palmero made sure to change Monaco's regency laws so in case something happens to Albert while Jacques is underage Charlene won't be regent. Instead, the principality will be ruled by a regency council.

Albert has a secret apartment in Monaco, bought by one of Palmero's secret companies. He also got rid of problematic photographs of Albert (hinted at blackmail).

there was a whole system for hiding sums used on "special missions". They were labeled DS (for special destinations) and with time were used to pay for an informal intelligence unit that operated within the police force of the principality. They'd collect information on those close to the family and even on politians of the principality. He would also pay journalists to paint a good picture of Monaco while Hollande was president in France and was constantly criticizing tax-havens.

the DS accounts would be used to hide over-budget situations, including budget for the children's nannies and the budget for the wedding.

they were terrified of the Panama papers, as a lot of money laundering funds go through Monaco and the family had accounts on Panamanian banks.

a link between a Russian billionaire and the Monegasque Minister of Justice was revealed in 2017 and the Minister was forced to resign. An investigation was launched by a French judge and there was fears that the palace would be involved: jurisdictional immunity was granted to members of the sovereign family by order. There was rumours that the French judge wanted to hear the Prince as a witness......he was told to leave the principality. He was accused of having, through his “behavior perceived as authoritarian and vexatious”, “endangered the proper functioning of the criminal justice system”.

the real estate market is a big point of collision here and a big focus of article 3. Nothing too interesting to report - Palmero says he tried mingling in the market to break down the monopoly of real estate owners in Monaco (centered around a bestie of the Casiraghi brothers) while Albert claims Palmero had close ties with some of the developers and tried mingling with things that were of interest of the government in order to make money. The real estate issue was what eventually led Palmero to be fired. Palmero and a former laywer of Albert who was his childhood bestfriend and is also now a persona non grata claims that Albert is now fully under the influence of the bestie of the Casiraghi brothers who now controls the real estate in Monaco.

Palmaro is STILL paying property tax on properties he bought for the family!! crazy!!

Palmero detailed a number of off-shore accounts that hold about 250 million euros of the family's fortune including a company created specifically for Charlotte Casiraghi. He passed on the information from that account to Albert's new accountant at a monitored meeting.

Albert's explanation is lowkey....pathetic. He claims he told Palmero to move all of his family's assets from off-shore accounts to Monaco but Palmero never did it and that was that. He claims he was never able to obtain a precise statement on the family assets due to Palmero's secrecy and Albert just trusted him. He claims Palmero would act in his name and refuse to delay his decisions.

[gracie-bird]

Handwritten letter from Princess Grace to her close friend Prudence "Prudy" Kudner (née Wise) dated on September 22, 1967.

Full transcription below:

"Prudy dear,

Our trip this summer sounds like a bad soap opera. We went through three weeks with one crisis after another. Caroline started off the trip with tonsilitis followed by a mouth infection. Then Albert woke up on the Empress of Canada that we boarded in England with measles. Then in Montreal I lost the baby & the two girls caught the measles. It was really unbelievable. Rainier cancelled the rest of our trip in Canada & Alaska. I took the two measle girls to Ocean City where we spent ten days resting & seeing family. Then we flew to San Francisco to join Rainier & Albert. Then two weeks in Beverly Hills in a heat wave.

I was really very fortunate to be in a big city at the time of my miscarriage but it is such a depressing experience and this was the second boy we have lost. It was fun to see so many old friends in California. Some haven't changed a bit while others I had a hard time recognizing. We didn't get to see Bing—who lives mostly in San Francisco now as he was off in Africa. I am so upset to hear about your eye trouble. Can something be done. Do you know of Dr. Berliner in New York. He has a fabulous reputation and is supposed to be wonderful. He & his wife spend their summers here. The head of the American Academy is now Frances Fuller who is Mrs. Worthington Miner. She taught there in my day. One of my cousin's girls is there now. The place has undergone many changes but is still very good. Hope your birthday party for Arthur was a great success. Much love to you all." 

ABOUT PRUDY:

Prudy was roommates with Grace, Sally Parrish, and Carolyn Scott at NYC's Barbizon Hotel. Periodically Prudy shared Grace's Manhattan House apartment and the apartment at 1285 Sweetzer Ave. L.A.

Possessing exceptional organizing skills, Grace hired Prudy as her secretary and assistant in 1953-56 until Grace married Prince Rainier of Monaco. Though Prudy was one of Grace's closest friends she was denied the opportunity to be a member of the wedding party since she was in Grace's employ. The palace thought it would be unsuitable. She did attend the wedding and attended the events of the week leading up to the wedding serving as Grace's assistant. Princess Grace would serve as Prudy's matron of honour at her wedding to Arthur Kudner Jr. on December 13, 1958 (see photo).

Prudy died of leukaemia in 1973 and was survived by her husband and two children a son Arthur Kudner III, and daughter Prudence Barry Kudner. 

Princess Grace at Prudy'a wedding in 1958.

[ach-thebrother]

© Bettina Rheims [*] la principessa Caroline di Monaco (1985)

da: https://www.instagram.com/bettinarheims/

[graceandfamily]

E’ durata circa un'ora la visita del Principe Alberto II di Monaco al Santuario della Verna. Il sovrano ha vistato in forma strettamente privata la Cappella delle Stimmate e il refettorio, dove ha potuto vedere le foto della madre, la principessa Grace, he nel 1968 visitò il Santuario assieme alla figlia Caroline, allora undicenne.

Al termine si è intrattenuto con i giornalisti e ha raccontato la sua emozione nel visitare questo luogo sacro. “E’ molto emozionante per me vedere questo luogo in questo importante anniversario degli 800 anni delle stimmate - ha detto il Principe - e vedere anche le tracce della visita della mia mamma e di mia sorella. Oggi viviamo in un’epoca difficile, dobbiamo trovare l’ispirazione da esempi come quello di San Francesco. Oggi la responsabilità è enorme anche per i piccoli paesi”.

A La Verna ad accogliere il Principe, anche il presidente di Rondine, Franco Vaccari che nel 1968 era presente a La Verna durante la visita della Principessa Grace. “Io c’ero in quel 1968 - ha detto Vaccari - ero un ragazzo molto emozionato. Non ricordo le sue parole, ma ricordo il suo infinito garbo. Ho quindi raccontato al Principe, nei nostri incontri, di questa visita ed è stata indubbiamente un’ulteriore spinta affinché oggi la visita in terra aretina partisse proprio da La Verna. Con il Principato di Monaco abbiamo un rapporto ormai da alcuni anni, loro fanno tante azioni di cooperazione e di sostegno per la pace e per l’ambiente”.

[onheirpodcast]

Key figures in the story of the shooting in Cavallo

Dirk Hamer - An athletic, friendly 19 year old German who died after being shot in the early hours of 18th August 1978. He was asleep on a boat near the island of Cavallo after a day trip with his sister and her friends.

Prince Vittorio Emanuele and Princess Marina - The son of the last King of Italy. He was alleged to have fired the shot that killed Dirk following a heated encounter on a neighbouring boat. His wife Marina was his staunchest defender throughout.

Birgit Hamer - Dirk's older sister, a model and former Miss Germany. After her brother's death, she would dedicate the next 40 years to getting justice for him.

Beatrice Borromeo - Best known as the daughter in law of Monaco's Princess Caroline, she is a journalist and family friend of Birgit. She was crucial in uncovering Vittorio's bombshell confession and directed a documentary on Dirk's death.

[royal-confessions]

“I’ve noticed that princess Caroline of Monaco is increasingly irrelevant. Her children have replaced her. Caroline is old, and while she still looks really good, she’s isolated in a bubble of her own making, she lets others do the work at her charities, and when she dies her obituary will just say she’s someone’s daughter and she did some nice things but basically she’s just a rich lady who got divorced and lost a husband in a tragedy, that’s the end. Caroline just gets drowned out in today’s media.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[camillafanfiction]

Love changes everything - Chapter 6

14.11.1975, Clarence House

Charles had promised to have breakfast with his grandmother as a compromise. She had been less than pleased to know that Charles wouldn’t have afternoon tea with her as they usually did. And, if possible at all, she was even less pleased when she found out with whom he was going to spend the afternoon with instead.

The old Queen had several girls in mind that would make an excellent girlfriend for her darling boy and, even more important, an excellent future Queen. Young girls who were sweet, good-looking, untouched and, most importantly, had the right pedigree. She had Lady Sarah Spencer in mind or Princess Caroline of Monaco. Dear God, she would probably prefer Lord Mountbatten’s candidate, Lady Amanda Knatchbull, to Mrs. Parker Bowles. She’d probably prefer any girl to Mrs. Parker Bowles as long as they didn’t occupy her sweet little grandson as much as she did. All those years the Queen Mother had been the only woman that possessed his heart and she didn’t like that Camilla owned much more of it now than she did.

However, Charles’s grandmother didn’t want to spoil his birthday, maybe she should postpone the talk to another day. On the other hand, however, it couldn’t be too early to sensitise him on this topic.

„Have you met anyone nice recently, darling?“, she asked innocently and Charles almost spilled his tea. „You might throw a little party. It’s not everyday that you turn 27. Lady Fermoy’s granddaughter turned 18 earlier this year and she told me it’s been a really lovely party. Have you met Sarah before?“ Her voice was sweet and caring, but Charles could see through it for once. He didn’t want to marry a woman 9 years younger than him. He was not interested in marrying anyone but Camilla, never had been since the first day he’d met her four years ago.

Charles chose to ignore her words and instead said „I was very much lauded for my German last week, granny. Thank you so much for practising a little with me. It was a huge success, really.“ 

„Oh, that’s wonderful, my darling Charles!“ she smiled but didn’t lose track of her intention. „But why are we talking so much about your work? What about the fun sides of life?”

Charles’ first impulse was to tell her that there weren’t many fun sides in his life, but then decided against it. There were fun sides, especially when he was with Camilla. She was still mourning and struggling, of course, it had only been a bit more than a month that Andrew had died, but she was coping and he was there to support her. He would give her all the time she needed and, Charles was sure, sooner or later she would realise that she loved him still and that they were meant to be together. 

“Because you don’t particularly approve of my funny sides in life.” Charles stated bluntly. “And I don’t want to argue with you, dearest granny.” he added to console her and gave her a quick, affectionate kiss on the cheek.

“Great goodness! What is that supposed to mean?”, The Queen Mother exclaimed, though she knew he was obviously talking about Mrs. Parker Bowles. “I didn’t know you were such a big fan of parties in clubs or me jumping big obstacles.” Charles had decided to not put any focus on Camilla. At the moment, it had no greater good and, indeed, he did not want to argue with his grandmother on his birthday. Instead, he wanted to be with Camilla as soon as possible.

X

Camilla had tried to bake a cake for Charles, just a simple chocolate cake, but, not very much to her own surprise, it hadn’t quite worked out as planned. The cake had an odd shape, though in a baking tin, and looked quite funny. However, it wasn’t burnt and trying it with caution she found out it was edible, after all. With a bit of chocolate glaze and a few candles, though not 27, Charles surely wouldn’t notice she had tried it…

Tom babbled happily as he was crawling around his mother in the kitchen and tried to lift himself up on the shelfs. He made Camilla smile though sometimes she still felt like crying the whole day through. She still hadn’t really grasped what had happened, but she was so grateful for her family and especially for Charles. Never ever would she take anything of what he had done for her for granted. He was an exceptional man.

Punctual like a clockwork, Charles rang Camilla’s doorbell at the stroke of 2 p.m. With Tom in her arm, Camilla opened the door just to find Charles covered from a bunch of flowers. “Hello you!”, he peeked through the flowers, which made both, Camilla and Tom, giggle.

“It’s not my birthday.”, Camilla almost pouted. “It’s yours!” 

“Well, will you still let me in, though?”, Charles asked grinning. The rain was pouring down again and the inviting warmth of the house made him shiver.

“‘Course”, Camilla answered, let the baby down and then wrapped her arms around the prince. “Happy birthday to my favourite prince!”, she declared then and gave him a soft kiss on both cheeks. It made Charles shiver again, it was so good to be with her again. He hadn’t seen her for over a week now as he had been in Germany for two days and then had been busy with UK engagements. They'd talked on the phone, though, just briefly, but it had been better than nothing. “I hope you're hungry for cake because I made some. But don’t laugh… You know my baking skills…”, she grinned and led him into the dining room where she’d put up a little garland and decorated the table.

“You didn’t have to do that.”, Charles stated, but looked as pleased as fruit punch about the little birthday setup she had created.

“But I wanted to!”, she replied and smiled at him before she put Tom in his highchair. “And Tom desperately wanted some chocolate cake.”, she declared with a crooked smile.

“Milla, Tom is 11 months old, he doesn’t even really know what chocolate cake is yet.”, Charles retorted drily and couldn’t help but think just how adorable Camilla was.

In response, Camilla just poked her tongue out to Charles and they shared a good laugh. Charles noticed very well that she seemed to be in good spirits and that she laughed as heartily as he hadn’t heard her laugh ever since that tragic day in October. Camilla, too, noticed that today was a good day: it was Charles’ birthday, Tom had been a very good boy and she hadn’t thought of Andrew or her pitiful life all day. Actually, she had been so busy that she hadn’t had the slightest chance to occupy her mind with her late husband and it felt just so very good.

“How was Germany?”, Camilla wanted to know once they had put Tom to bed and Charles had lit the fireplace in the living room.

“Terrible because you couldn’t be with me,but taking everything else in account quite successful indeed.“ He didn’t quite know how but he suppressed the urge to kiss her as he sat down on the sofa next to her, though she looked absolutely to die for in her simple jeans and blouse. The fire made her hair even more golden and her eyes even shinier than they already were. “I am glad I was able to freshen up my German a bit again. Actually speaking it makes such a difference to practising with granny every now and then.”, he bubbled on to distract from his previous words.

“Nein.”, Camilla countered with the only German word she knew and for whatever reason the two of them giggled like small children. It could hardly be the wine as they hadn’t even emptied one glass. It didn’t matter, Camilla was feeling light-hearted for the first time in what felt like ages and she was just as glad about it as Charles.

“You’re being silly, darling.”, laughed Charles and, without intending it, grabbed her hand and pressed it. To his surprise, Camilla didn’t push him away or scold him, but looked at him in a way that reminded him of past times.

“Not at all!” Camilla shook her head vehemently, but couldn’t suppress a teenageish giggle. Then she turned silent for a moment and fixated Charles with her eyes. “I’m so thankful for you, you know.” Her blue eyes were watery, but in a good way, and in one quick movement she flung her arms around Charles’ neck and pressed him close to her chest. His smell felt like home, his arms felt like home, his heart beating fast against her chest felt like home. Charles had been her life saver, he really had been, still was. “I didn’t realise until those few weeks ago how much a hug meant…”, she whispered. “To have someone hold you can be the greatest medicine of all, really. And that’s just what you did to me. You held me. You still do.” Almost in a tender way that made Charles believe in something, her fingers caressed his neck and his whole mind ran riot.

“I love you, that means I’m not just here for the pretty parts. I’m here no matter what. I see every part of you, your soul, and I am staying.” He pushed her away a little, not far, just to see her eyes, and then brought their foreheads together. “I’m here for you. Always, my darling.”, he promised.

Usually, he wasn’t the strong part in their friendship, but this was different. He could help her and support her, be there for her. And he would wait a lifetime to see her beautiful, heartfelt smile on a regular basis again. He would… suddenly he felt sweet, soft lips on his and his mind was swamped. “Oh my darling,” Camilla breathed and placed another careful kiss on the birthday boys’ lips.

[famousinuniverse]

Grace Kelly

American-Monégasque actress

Grace Patricia Kelly was an American-Monegasque actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. Prior to her marriage, she starred in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s. 

Born: November 12, 1929, Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Died: September 14, 1982, Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco

Children: Stephanie, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Albert II, Prince of Monaco

Grandchildren: Charlotte Casiraghi, Camille Gottlieb, MORE

Spouse: Rainier III, Prince of Mónaco (m. 1956–1982)

Parents: Margaret Katherine Majer Kelly, Jack Kelly Sr.

Grace Kelly in Rear Window (1954)

[joseandrestabarnia]

Maestro della sala capitolare di Pomposa La Crocifissione intorno al 1320 Tempera e oro su tavola. 29 x 20,5 cm Museo Nazionale Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid INV. 260 (1930.23) Il Maestro della Sala Capitolare di Pomposa prende il nome dall'insieme di affreschi che decorano la sala capitolare dell'Abbazia benedettina di Pomposa, edificio nei pressi della città di Ferrara. All'anonima personalità di questo pittore, Miklós Boskovits collega, tra le altre opere, oltre a questa tavola del Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, una Vergine col Bambino appartenente al Metropolitan Museum of Art di New York e due dipinti del Museo del Louvre .

Questa tavola era nella collezione Thyssen-Bornemisza nel 1930, data in cui partecipò alla grande mostra di Monaco, tenutasi presso la Neue Pinakothek, dove questa importante collezione privata fu fatta conoscere al pubblico. Il dipinto fu quindi assegnato all'ambito di Giotto, attribuzione che Wilhelm Suida aveva proposto analizzando l'opera. Nei cataloghi successivi venne collegato ad un anonimo artista fiorentino, del 1350 circa, figurando come tale fino al 1989, quando Caroline de Watteville lo pubblicò nella guida alle opere esposte a Villa Favorita come opera del Maestro della sala capitolare di Pomposa.

L'artista, nonostante le ridotte dimensioni della tavola, organizza la sua composizione con numerose figure che distribuisce in due gruppi ai due lati della croce. Cristo al centro, morto e coperto da un generoso drappo di purezza, poggia i piedi su un grande piedistallo. Una scia di sangue corre lungo la base della croce per terminare sul teschio di Adamo. Nella crocifissione sono compresi quattro angioletti: uno, afflitto, prega mentre gli altri tre sono intenti a raccogliere in recipienti il ​​sangue che sgorga dalle ferite del Redentore; sangue che, nel caso di ferite sulle mani, gocciola formando sottili fili, ma nella piaga del costato scorre con forza. Su un arido Golgota, l'artista ha collocato gli uomini con San Giovanni in primo piano, a destra, e le donne, con la Vergine svenuta, sorretta dalla Maddalena e una santa donna, che bilancia la composizione, a sinistra.

Tra i personaggi che accompagnano Cristo, Nicodemo è stato identificato nella figura barbuta di profilo, che occupa il bordo della tavola, e il centurione nel soldato dall'elmo alato che alza un braccio indicando Gesù. In questa processione si delineano, sullo sfondo dorato, alcune lance e la spugna legata a un ramo di issopo imbevuto dell'aceto che Cristo fu dato da bere. Questa Crocifissione faceva parte di un polittico da cui sono state riprese altre due scene: L'Incredulità di San Tommaso e L'Ascensione, entrambe al Museo del Louvre. Come racconto della quarta opera con cui si completerà questo repertorio di immagini, sono stati citati l'episodio di Cristo sulla via del Calvario e una Vergine col Bambino. Il retro del tavolo conserva tracce di un'antica decorazione marmorea. Mare di Borobia. Informazioni e immagini dal sito web del Museo Nazionale Thyssen-Bornemisza.

[70s80sandbeyond]

Princess Caroline of Monaco and husband Stefano Casiraghi, 1985

Stefano Casiraghi died during a powerboat race accident in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France on October 3 1990

[charlotte-of-wales]

Happy 37th birthday to Pierre Casiraghi!

Born on 5 September 1987, Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi is the youngest child of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, and her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi, a grandson to Prince

Rainier Ill of Monaco and Grace Kelly and a nephew o Prince Albert II. Pierre is currently eighth in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne.

Pierre married journalist Beatrice Borromeo in a civil ceremony on 25 July 2015 in the gardens of the Prince's Palace of Monaco. The religious ceremony took place on Isolino di San Giovanni on 1 August 2015. The couple has two children: Stefano (7) and Francesco (6).

[gracie-bird]

THE LAST HOLIDAYS - Princes Grace and Rainier of Monaco with their children Albert and Caroline climbing in Oslo during a cruise in Northern Europe on board the ‘Mermoz’ in August 1982. During their visit to the Norwegian capital, the family, accompanied by friends including the Dales, visited the home of the composer Edward Grieg. This was Princess Grace's last holiday as she died a few weeks later on 14 September.

Photos from Spanish ¡Hola! magazine 1982.

[poormara]

When I look back

Tracing fingertips over plastic bags

Thinking, "I wish I could extrapolate some small intention

Or maybe just get your attention for a minute or two"

Will I die? Or will I get to that ten-year mark?

Where I beat the extinction of telomeres?

And if I do, will you be there with me, Father, Sister, Brother?

Charlie, stop smoking

Caroline, will you be with me?

Will the baby be alright?

Will I have one of mine?

Can I handle it even if I do?

You said that my mind

Is not fit or so they said

To carry a child

I guess I'll be fine

It wasn't my idea the cocktail of things that twist neurons inside

But without them, I'd die

They say there's irony in the music, it's a tragedy

I see nothing Greek in it

Give me a mausoleum in Rhode Island with Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and Dave

Who hung himself real high

In the National Park sky, it's a shame and I'm crying right now

To get to you, save you if I take my life

Find your astral body, put it into my eyes

Give you two seconds to cry

Take you home, I, I'll give you a blanket

Your spirit can sit and watch TV by my side

'Cause, baby, I ran through a time when I felt you were doing it

I couldn't handle it, I was in Monaco

I couldn't hear what they said on the telephone

I had to sing for the prince in two hours

Sat in the shower

Gave myself two seconds to cry

It's a shame that we die

When I was fifteen, naked, next-door neighbors did a drive-by

Pulled me up by my waist, long hair to the beach side

I wanted to go out like you, swim with the fishes

That he caught on Rhode Island beaches

But, sometimes, it's just not your time

Caroline

What kind of mother was she to say I'd end up in institutions?

All I wanted to do was kiss Aaron Greene and sit by the lake

Twisting lime into the drinks that they made

Have a babe at sixteen, the town I was born in and died

Aaron ended up dead and not me

What the fuck's wrong in your head to send me away never to come back

Exotic places and people don't take the place of being your child?

I give myself two seconds to cry

Let it crash over me like the waves in the sea

Call me Aphrodite

As they bow down to me

Sunbather, moon chaser, queen of empathy

I give myself two seconds to breathe

And go back to being a serene queen

I just needed two seconds to be me

[graceandfamily]

Prince Rainier with children Princess Caroline and Prince Albert giving a cup to soccers Theo an Di Stefano in Monaco, August 7, 1974.

[charlottecasiraghisource]

Some links with more pics of Charlotte from the event…

[detectivereads]

Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen

This post/review is for fan entertainment, I’m not being Paid.

20/5 (Yes this book is that awesome)

Second book of the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries, whooooo!!!!! After reading the blurb on the back of the book I am already loving this book, we get a castle mystery!!

Ok, reading the first paragraph of the first page, we are introduced to two characters, Maud Monaco, a retired model that runs an artist colony at the Moy Mull, in preparation of a new exhibit she wants a fairy tale ice cream party; and Maud’s employee, Prentiss Love.

Ok I love it when cozies mentioned previous books, this book setting is two months after the first one.

We also meet the photographer that the whole event is for, and immediately he was giving me sketchy vibes, that he oozes the artist persona very well, but he is focusing on Willow as his model (Willow is local farm hand/ worker at Udderly) and I like how Riley is picking up on that, however Willow is 18 and so Riley can’t really do too much for her, but has a steady eye on her. Also, Riley has someone to help keep Willow safe as well, Luca who has also been hanging around Willow and is good friends with her.

Adam Blasco is the photographer of honor (the event is for him) and shows that he is upsetting a lot of people. His assistant (she was a budding art student and Adam helped her and now history is repeating itself), another model who is being ghosted by him, Maud’s assistant (for the most part Adam is being difficult to manage).

Now we learn some very interesting information from Vye, Adam’s assistant, and it seems she is on the outs with Adam, when he is focusing on Willow. Granted when we met Adam, I got the idea where a lot of the story was heading, classic artist trope (I hate using this phrase, but I’ve seen it a lot in other forms of media and books) looking for new inspiration and giving the other muse too much of his time, while forgetting the old one. Also, later in the story Vye had dropped some major info about Adam which would give her amply motive of wanting Adam dead. But we can’t discount the other people: Maud, Dee (the other model that he was ignoring), Luca (He was getting very jealous that Adam seem focus on Willow), all the assistants. We are also introduced later that Adam had a lawyer.

The night of the open exhibit Adam is going around taking pictures of people and then he finds Willow and has a photo shoot that was interrupted by Luca (it seems he is mad crushing on Willow). We see some verbal fights between Adam and other people throughout the night. But by next morning Adam is MIA.

After Riley and other people looked in and around the grounds, they are found in the dungeons, dead. We learn through the course of the mystery some very important details about the people that came to work at the exhibition.

We also see Caroline from the first book. I guess you can call her the weekend roommate; we are also having problems with Sprinkles the ex-show cat that belongs to Buzzy from the first book.

Now I like this series because for the romance part of the books, we see the main character get the romance, but this one we have our secondary main character get the romance and it seems that the relationship with Caroline and Jack is good, but Jack is very busy being a police officer, he hasn’t had real time to be with Caroline.

Riley is still having issues with what happen in Rome (it touches on it in this book and last book) I am hoping we see this problem get resolve soon I want Riley to be happy again.

Now when we go to the part where Adam died, I was thinking that when an artist dies their artwork is worth way more than they are alive, so we have another reason of wanting this artist to die, (first one is that he was making a lot people mad).

When I got towards the end of the book, I honestly did not know who did it, each one of these people had reasons to want Adam dead, and new information is dropped which is gearing up for the grand reveal.

OH MY GOD!! The end was like I… I didn’t see the ending coming honestly, I was thinking it was someone completely different because the evidence was stacking up against them, but whoa, I can’t believe that Riely has once again solved a sling of mysteries in a few days.

Once again, the story had many twists and surprises that I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to read the third one in the series but I am saving that for Fall/Spooky season since it looks to be around Halloween. I hope this series continues on with many more books because Meri Allen defiantly knows how to keep the reader on their toes.

This book series is one of the best book series I have read this year, I think this has made it to my top 10 cozy mysteries favorites.