Memories of the Venetian palace where I lived

Last week Prince Albert II, ruler of the tiny Mediterranean state of Monaco since his father’s death in 2005, came to London to unveil his vision for the principality. The playboy of the gossip columns was nowhere to be seen: on display at a press conference at the Ritz hotel was a softly spoken, Amherst-educated, 49-year-old man with a plan. Using words such as ‘turnover’ rather than ‘GDP’, the Prince made it quite clear that the oldest luxury brand in Europe is under new ownership, and that its new CEO plans to develop it with all the skill and science of the private equity generation. ‘Monaco,’ he says, ‘is open for business.’

Prince Albert’s plan can be seen as a model five-point case study of a post-buyout company relaunch. Step one is perhaps best described as ‘decontaminating the brand’. Acutely aware that Somerset Maugham’s description of Monaco as ‘a sunny place for shady people’ has not been forgotten, the Prince is setting about transforming the principality’s image.