Monaco palace filing suit against American who claims he worked for prince as spymaster
By APFriday, November 6, 2009
Monaco palace says it’s suing alleged spymaster
PARIS — A French lawyer says Monaco’s Prince Albert II is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. against an American who claims he once worked as the prince’s personal spymaster and is owed back pay.
The palace says that claims by Robert Eringer “smear” the image of the ruling prince and the reputation of Monaco. Lawyer Thierry Lacoste says the prince is suing.
Eringer claims in an interview in this week’s Paris Match magazine that he worked for Albert from 2002 to 2007, keeping the prince abreast of potentially shady figures. Paris Match shows a photo of an ID card for the “Monaco Intelligence Service,” or MIS, carrying Eringer’s picture and number — 001. Its authenticity couldn’t be established.
The palace said Friday that MIS has no “legal existence.”
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November 23, 2009: 3:53 pm
Monaco is NOT suing Eringer. Eringer is suing Monaco. Monaco is not likely to sue Eringer because such a lawsuit would subject Prince Albert to the legal processes (discovery, deposition, trial appearance) he wishes to evade by invoking head-of-state immunity. Presumably, this lie was told in an attempt to curb media attention in Europe. The Monaco Intelligence Service did indeed exist as an entity to the Prince. Albert knew and approved its existence in that name; MIS cultivated liaison relationships with twenty foreign intelligence services, all of which knew it by that name. So what are they saying—that their boss, the Sovereign Prince, ran an illegal operation? |
Robert Eringer