Monaco in 7 anecdotes

1. Unlike most casinos, which have neither clocks nor windows – a tactic designed to distort the sense of time – the Casino de Monte-Carlo is an exception. Magnificent wall clocks adorn every room. Why is this? When the casino was first established, the majority of players travelled by train… To ensure they didn’t miss their return journey, the Casino installed these clocks high up on the walls! The Casino de Monte-Carlo also features gaming rooms with panoramic sea views.

2. Luxury and the art of hospitality have always been an integral part of Monaco. The Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo was the first hotel in the world to offer hot water in its rooms. The words of François Blanc, who was then at the helm of the Société des Bains de Mer, still resonate today: ‘A hotel that surpasses everything that has been created so far, even the Hôtel du Louvre and the Grand Hôtel in Paris. I want the Hotel de Monaco to be spoken of as a marvel…’.

3. The princely family are a family of accomplished sportspeople! Prince Albert II, a keen sportsman, has practised 17 different sports and competed five times at the Olympic Games in bobsleigh (1988–2002). A football enthusiast, he also competed in the Paris-Dakar rally in 1985 and 1986. Coming from a sporting lineage, his maternal grandfather, Jack Kelly, was a double Olympic rowing champion (1920, 1924), and his uncle won a bronze medal in 1956. On his father’s side, bobsleighing was already a tradition, with Guy de Polignac having been part of the French team in the 1920s. His wife, Princess Charlène, an elite swimmer, excelled in international competitions and finished fifth at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

4. As true sports enthusiasts, members of the princely family are never far from the Principality’s most famous club: AS Monaco Football Club. It is to Princess Grace that we owe the jersey’s unique design. In 1960, the Monegasques won their first title, the Coupe de France, and Grace Kelly came up with this distinctive diagonal design. The shirt proved to be a lucky charm for the Monegasques, as the club went on to win its first French league title the following season.

5. Every year, the Principality celebrates its national day on 19 November, the Prince’s Name Day. Established by Prince Charles III in 1857, the national day coincides with the Sovereign Prince’s Name Day. Rainier III made an exception to this rule, choosing the day of his coronation, as 19 November is also the feast day of the Blessed Rainier of Arezzo. Upon his accession to the throne in 2005, Prince Albert II decided to retain the date of 19 November in memory of his father.

6. In 2019, the Principality became the first country in the world to be 100 per cent covered by an operational 5G network, offering new opportunities to make everyday life easier for residents, workers and visitors.

7. A little geographical trivia to round off? Monaco covers an area of 2.08 km². The entire Principality could therefore fit inside Central Park (3.41 km²). This territory, the world’s second-smallest independent state after the Vatican, is constantly expanding thanks to land reclamation projects.