Prince Albert of Monaco has visited an exhibition at Barclays Bank in Monaco to celebrate its centenary of operations in the Principality.
The Sovereign Prince made the visit in early February, and toured the space, in which many significant items of the bank’s history are displayed, including a ring from the founder of the ancestor of the banking institution and a letter from Queen Elizabeth I.
The ring in particular has an interesting history, dating back to 1570 and belonging to its designer, Thomas Gresham, founder of Martin’s Bank. The ring features a grasshopper engraved design, a symbol that also appeared in the Gresham family crest and was the first emblem under which Martin’s Bank operated.
Martin’s Bank would carry out its functions until 1969, the year in which it was sold to Barclays, becoming part of the banking institution we know today.
The letter is another piece from the first Elizabethan age, and comes from the Queen’s court. In the letter, the Queen is authorising Thomas Gresham to pay her debts in Antwerp. Another interesting piece is a banking ledger connected to Oscar Wilde’s bank account.
Although Barclays Bank’s history dates all the way back to the sixteenth century, it only arrived in Monaco in 1922, and 2022 marks the centenary of the institution’s operations in the Principality.
Since then, it has collaborated, most prominently, with the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, whose primary focus is the preservation of the oceans and their biodiversity, and, more broadly, to head research to combat climate change.
Barclays Monaco has recently began sponsoring the Monaco Ocean Week in 2021, and 2022, with this centenary, marks the perfect opportunity to make the sponsorship a long term commitment for the institution.
Barclays Monaco CEO Gérald Mathieu remarked: “It was a great honour to have H.S.H. Prince Albert visiting our exhibit at the Barclays Monaco Office. Barclays was the first international bank to arrive in Monaco in 1922 and, 100 years on, we look forward to continuing to be part of the rich history and future of the Principality”.
