Lawyer to Prince Albert held for questioning as legal row escalates
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
Thierry Lacoste, a Paris-based lawyer and former close associate of Prince Albert II, has been held in police custody by Monaco's Sûreté as his firm hits back at property magnate Patrice Pastor.
Thierry Lacoste, the Paris lawyer long regarded as a confidant of Prince Albert II, has been in custody at the Sûreté Publique since Wednesday as part of an investigation that has now spilled into open legal confrontation. His cabinet in Paris has responded forcefully, denouncing what it describes as a 'banana republic justice' situation and accusing property developer Patrice Pastor of orchestrating a deliberate reversal of roles in the affair.
The dispute places two prominent figures in Monaco's tight-knit establishment on opposing sides of a legal battle. Pastor, one of the Principality's most powerful real estate operators and the force behind several major development projects, is directly named by Lacoste's firm as the aggressor in what they characterise as a bad-faith legal manoeuvre. Lacoste's team insists their client is the victim, not the subject, of wrongdoing.
The custody of a lawyer so closely associated with the Sovereign Prince is an unusual and significant moment for Monaco's judicial institutions. The Sûreté Publique has not commented publicly, and the Palace has made no statement. How long Lacoste remains in custody and whether formal charges follow will determine the extent to which this affair reshapes relationships at the top of Monégasque public life.