Antoine de Massy, Second Cousin of Albert of Monaco, Found Dead at 29: Police Detain One Person, Cause of Death Not Disclosed

Antoine de Massy was 29. On Sunday evening, 25 October, his body was found on a patch of green behind Villa Sauber, next to the Boulevard du Larvotto in Monaco. The local press reported it. So far the palace has said only that it is grieving.

The alarm was raised by a family member. Antoine didn't show up for the weekly family lunch, and that was enough for his relatives to call the principality's public safety department. Investigators reviewed surveillance camera footage and on Monday morning detained one person. Whether that person is a suspect or a witness has not been disclosed. Nor has the cause of death.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene issued a statement of condolence mentioning his passion for tennis. Warm words, without a single piece of information. Monaco is a state of two square kilometres where even the smallest royal appearance is followed in detail. How long can a ruling house stay silent about a death the police are investigating?

Who was Antoine? The grandson of Princess Antoinette, the elder sister of Prince Rainier III, and Albert's second cousin. His father is Christian de Massy, Antoinette's son. Their branch of the family is closely tied to Monégasque tennis: his grandfather was a tennis player, and his aunt Elizabeth-Ann de Massy, who died in 2020, ran the Monte-Carlo Country Club and the Monégasque Tennis Federation.

Now everything depends on the investigation. The news is arriving in pieces: a place, a time, one person detained. The footage has been reviewed, and the public knows only where and when. Why a 29-year-old member of the princely family died, nobody is saying yet.