Royal spotting in busy Monte Carlo With the new Quai Rainier jetty by the harbour entrance, which allows for large cruise ships to dock in the port, the sea in the harbour is relatively calm, so to see the wild sea, it is best to go to the St Martin Gardens, with their rare trees such as the wollemi pine and the acacia karroo, not to mention the floral lawns, from where you can look down onto the Mediterranean waves crashing onto the rocks below. With the different hues of the blue of the sky and the sea, framed by pine trees, the location is one of my favourites. From just behind the adjacent, magnificent Oceanographic Museum, which rises majestically from the vertical cliffs on the coast, came more noise, this time in the form of construction work, as it is here on the aptly named Avenue des Pins where the new offices of the Monegasque National Council, the principality's legislative body, are being built. This is where the 24 members of parliament will sit for their five-year terms, though the sovereign prince, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, may dissolve it at any time as long as new elections are held within three months. In the distance I was able to hear the band of the Compagnie des Corps du Carabiniers du Prince, the small force of soldiers who protect the sovereign prince, Hundreds of tourists enjoyed the pageant of the Changing of the Guard, while at the same time hoping for a glimpse of the prince with his South African-born swimming-champion wife Princess Charlene. It was scarcely 200 yards away in front of the Town Hall that I saw a smoking Princess Caroline of Monaco, ever-relaxed and youthful, defying her 55 years, waiting outside for a private engagement, along with her daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, and her son, Pierre. Not being a fashion expert, I can only mention that Princess Caroline was wearing black high heels with striking red soles, despite the cobbled streets. Charlotte, meanwhile, looked lovely in a summer's dress with casual plateau shoes, while younger brother Pierre was clad in a smart beige summer suit with trendy shades. It may not be widely known, but there was a plan to make Monaco the 26th canton of Switzerland during the Second World War. Today it would be the 27th Swiss canton, as the canton of Jura was created from part of the territory of Bern as the 26th canton in 1979. This was in 1942, at a time when Switzerland had no problem-free access to the sea, with imports having to come via Lisbon, Marseilles or Genoa. Nothing actually came of the plan, which involved a Swiss man of dubious character with American Nazi sympathisers and a German spy who used to play tennis with the then reigning monarch, Prince Louis II of Monaco, though it was presented as a serious option to the then Federal Council in Bern. After all the noise of the cawing gulls, crashing waves, revving engines and hammering workmen, it was good to get back to the calm and quiet of Switzerland, with only cow bells to disturb the peace.