A crocheted replica of a small dog named Tounin went into the coffin of Prince Albert II’s cousin, placed there by a father who refuses to call his son’s death an accident.
Mourners filled Monaco Cathedral on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, for the funeral of Antoine de Massy, the 29-year-old first cousin once removed of Prince Albert II, Monaco’s reigning prince, who was found dead in a park on Sunday, Oct. 25. Albert II and his wife, Princess Charlène, knelt in the front row. The royal house shared a photograph of the service and the coffin with the caption: “In memory of Antoine de Massy, whose funeral was celebrated today in Monaco Cathedral.”
The family held a vigil the night of Nov. 3 in the Prince’s Palace chapel, with burial to follow at the Monaco cemetery.
Filmed Leaving Sass Café at 3 a.m.
De Massy was last seen staggering out of a nightclub hours before his body turned up. He was seen stumbling out, leaning on someone, in the early hours of that Sunday morning. Cameras at the club, identified as Sass Café, filmed him leaving alongside a 42-year-old man at 3 a.m.
He was reported missing after he failed to appear for a family lunch. His body was found that evening in a small park behind Villa Sauber, home of the New National Museum of Monaco, along the Boulevard du Larvotto. Autopsy findings point to a fall of about 13 meters, roughly 43 feet, from the boulevard into the park below.
Charged, Though an Accident Isn’t Ruled Out
Authorities in Monaco said late Monday, Oct. 26, that they had detained a man and opened an investigation into the death of a member of the princely family. They were still working to determine the cause of death.
Police arrested the Ukrainian national that same Monday after CCTV footage showed him near the spot where the body was found. The man, 42, has lived in Monaco for three decades. Investigators established that he had been in contact with de Massy.
Prosecutors charged him with involuntary manslaughter and with failing to help someone in danger, while saying his part in the death, if any, remains unclear. “All hypotheses are on the table, including that of a simple accident,” the prosecutors’ office said in a statement. Stéphane Thibault, Monaco’s prosecutor general, said the alleged offenses may not all date from the same moment.
The man appeared before a judge on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and declined to answer questions. He had disputed the allegations during police questioning. He was placed in pretrial detention.
“It absolutely wasn’t an accident”
Baron Christian de Massy, Antoine’s father, rejected the accident theory in his first interview since the death, given to an Italian newspaper. “It absolutely wasn’t an accident, nor was it suicide, nothing like that, but I can’t talk about it now because there’s an ongoing investigation,” he said. Speaking of his son in the same interview, he added: “Every day, for 29 years, we were always together.”
Rumors have circulated about a possible link between de Massy and a cryptocurrency scandal, though those reports are unverified. Mourners have built a memorial near where the body was found, leaving flowers, candles, a Monaco flag, tennis balls and a framed photograph.
A Racket at Age Three
The Prince’s Palace said Monday, Oct. 26, that Albert II and Charlène were saddened by the death. The palace statement remembered him as an avid player, noting the family’s long ties to tennis in Monaco.
De Massy was a grandson of Princess Antoinette, the elder sister of Albert’s father, Prince Rainier III. Princess Antoinette died in 2011 at age 90.
Before the tech world, de Massy saw a future for himself on the tennis tour. He said in a 2012 interview that his father first put a racket in his hands when he was three and that his dream was the world’s top ranking. The family moved to Florida while he was young so he could train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
He later co-founded the technology firm Instant Tech, a platform built to connect local businesses with customers through instant reservations and payments.
