A three part series on Monaco — the playground of the rich on youtube.

Monaco is a small principality adjacent to France and its a hot happening place for the rich. There is the formula 1 race there of course which is the most important event of the year, but there are other events as well such as the Yatch Regatta, Dance Ballet, the annual foundation day of Monaco, awards nites, auctions et al — all for the rich to mingle and meet and do business.

There are only about 8000 odd citizens of Monaco called as Monegasques and its extremely difficult to become a citizen. Either you should inherit it from your parent who is or was a Monegasque or marry into a Monegasque. Even after marriage, one has to wait 10 years of continuous marriage to be even considered worth to apply for a citizenship.

There are residents of course, and all of them are either billionaires or millionaires. They come to stay in Monaco because there is no tax on your income, but every product attracts VAT and house purchases attract stamp duty, which is the main source of revenue for the govt. Workers in hotels etc. normally cross over from France to come daily to Monaco to work. The wages in Monaco are much higher than those in France.

The documentary is quite good, it has a narration as well as interviews with many people including with Prince Albert II, the ruling prince, who is the son of late Grace Kelly. Quite rare for a head of a state to speak so freely and he seems to be quite a warm person with a hearty laugh.

You can watch the documentaries here.