Will Albert’s forthcoming marriage to Charlene Wittstock change the future of Monaco?
The answer is a resounding… NO.
According to a recent poll in the French newspaper, Nice-Matin, over 67% of the people believe Monaco will not change with a new Princess standing by Prince Albert’s side.
Why is this poll important? Why would anyone care? Well, blame Prince Albert. He, along with his PR staff, made an extreme faux-pas by noting to the press that with the upcoming marriage to the former South African swimmer visitors would flock to the tiny Principality the same way people did when Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly.
And there is another connection to the poll. In order to gain more tourism to little Monaco, the government decided to spend $7 million (which is chump change in Monaco) and to hire a big PR company to re-invent its reputation from a Eurotrash sleaze-fest nation to a sleek and glamorous country filled with respectable people. According to William Pannaud, chairman of TBWA-Paris, the advertising agency handling the Monaco account they noted that Prince Albert wanted to:
…appeal to the intelligence to speak to the spirit…
Um, okay. Good luck.
