When Antoine de Massy didn’t turn up at a family birthday gathering, his relatives didn’t wait. They tracked his phone to an avenue in Monaco, called the police, and rushed to the address, only to find patrol cars and ambulances there. Now, as the principality gathers to bid farewell to the 29-year-old, his father, Baron Christian de Massy, is retracing those hours and pointing to a stretch of security footage that suddenly goes dark.
© Getty ImagesAntoine was found dead on Sunday, October 25, after a fall of 13 meters into a garden behind the Larvotto seafront promenade. The loss has shaken Monaco and left the Grimaldis mourning a relative gone far too soon. The unanswered questions about what happened that night have only made it harder to bear.
The longest night
Speaking to Italy’s Corriere della Sera, the baron and cousin of Prince Albert described the moment the family’s search came to an end. His nephew, Sébastien, stayed behind at the scene on the family’s behalf and urged Christian to go home. It was there, later, that Sébastien confirmed the news no parent ever wants to hear.
Within hours of Antoine’s death being certified, Monaco prosecutor Stéphane Thibault took charge of the investigation. A 42-year-old Ukrainian national has since been charged with involuntary manslaughter and failure to assist a person in danger, and he remains in custody. Thibault has said an accident has not been ruled out.
© Penske Media via Getty ImagesAntoine’s father sees it differently. “I rule it out completely. It wasn’t an accident, nor was it a suicide, nothing like that,” he told the Italian newspaper.
He is just as firm that his son didn’t know the man. “I categorically rule that out. He approached Antoine when he saw him leaving a bar,” he said.
Antoine often walked the streets of Monaco, his father explained, and surveillance cameras picked him up that night. Then, at a certain point, the recording stops. “And when the camera comes back on, you only see him,” he told Corriere della Sera.
© AFP via Getty ImagesA family leaning on its prince
Through it all, Christian, a nephew of the late Prince Rainier III, has found steady support in his first cousin, Prince Albert II, with whom he has always been close.
Antoine’s funeral Mass is being held Wednesday, November 4, at Monaco’s Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate, followed by burial in the Monaco cemetery. On the eve of the service, a vigil took place in the chapel of the Prince’s Palace.
Members of the Grimaldi family are expected to attend, along with friends from Miami. Antoine moved there as a boy to pursue his tennis career, and he later studied there at university.
© Getty Images
