I recently noticed that the Wikipedia page about Charles Wells contains a comment that he went to the United States and died in Sacramento in 1914.This is plainly incorrect, and…
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Charles Wells- better known as “the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo” – was a complex character. He broke the law many times yet he clearly had a…
Journalist Helen Brown, writing in the Financial Times, reveals the extraordinary history behind the song ‘The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo’. It was written in 1891, soon…
This time it’s not the British royals who come under scrutiny in connection with the Monte Carlo Casino. Instead it’s the Monaco royal family. In 1889 – just a couple…
Queen Victoria often visited the French Riviera but – as described in my book, ‘The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo‘ – she considered that the Casino in…
In The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo I briefly mention (in a footnote) that our present monarch, King Charles III, is related – albeit distantly – to…
The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo – Charles De Ville Wells – perpetrated several frauds during his career. His biggest scam was to set up a phony…
Charles Wells – the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo – had several highly unusual friends. They included a Vicar who had once served a prison sentence for…
It was Monday 3 August 1891. Britain was celebrating the annual Bank Holiday. For the last two or three days a trickle of news had arrived with brief reports that…
In 1891 Fred Gilbert wrote the music-hall classic, The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, based on the exploits of Charles Wells that year. Music Hall performer Charles Coborn…