The principality of Monaco is celebrating its Liberation Day this weekend, when it marks the day Allied forces liberated the micro-state from the Axis powers during World War II. A picnic was held at the Princess Antoinette Park, and who better to turn up but members of the House of Grimaldi.
Prince Albert II, his elder sister Princess Caroline and her daughter Princess Alexandra of Hannover were present. But the one who received the standing ovation by the 500 guests was Albert’s fiancee, Charlene Wittstock.
Dressed elegantly in a simple black gown, the future Princess of Monaco won over the hearts of the guests by speaking to them in French and seducing them with her good looks and personality.
On Friday, Monaco marked its liberation by having military vehicles roll through the principality and its citizens dress in traditional clothing – which means many of them wore red and white, the color of the Monegasque flag.
To make sure Charlene Wittstock is present for the International Olympic Committee’s meeting in South Africa next year, the date of her wedding to Monaco’s Prince Albert II has been bumped up a week.
REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Instead of July 8th and 9th, the nuptials will take place on July 2nd and 3rd. The first day would be for the civil ceremony at the Palace, while the religious ceremony would be the following day.
Charlene, who is a native South African and a former Olympic swimmer, would be present for the committee’s meeting, which Prince Albert is a member of.
The Palace says “the couple wished for the presence of the Olympic family by their sides.”
Albert and Charlene announced their engagement last June after many years of dating. They met back in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco, and Charlene has been the Monegasque ruler’s companion at public events since 2006.
Monaco’s 62nd annual Red Cross Ball is possibly the biggest event on the tiny principality’s social calendar. While the ball raises money for the Monegasque Red Cross foundation, it also brings out big-name celebrities, as well as Monaco’s princely family.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Like last year, Sovereign Prince Albert II, his fiancèe Charlene Wittstock, and his younger sister Princess Stephanie, arrived together at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club at about 8pm local time. And also like last year, Princess Caroline was absent from this year’s ball for reasons unknown.
The trio enjoyed a cruised themed ball, in which everything was blue and looked as if the Sporting Club was a luxury cruise liner. Performances were done by Welsh singer Tom Jones.
A piece of art which is traditionally donated to the Monaco Red Cross was revealed by Victoria Silvstedt and Julio Iglesias who drew the winning number.
Also spotted at the ball was Prince Albert’s former flame, Nicole Costa, who is the mother of his young son, Alexandre. But since the little boy was born out of wedlock, he cannot inherit the principality.
Sources: Monte Carlo SBM press release, The Royal Forums
Monaco’s Prince Albert II and his fiancee Charlene Wittstock have set a date for their much anticipated wedding. The couple will tie the knot in July 2011. There will first be a civil ceremony, to be on July 8th, followed by the religious service the next day.
The annual gala dinner for Fight AIDS Monaco took place Friday evening at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. Prince Albert II, his sister Princess Stephanie, and his fiancèe Charlene Wittstock turned out for the event which aims to raise money for the charity, run by Stephanie.
Earlier this week, the Princess spoke on Monegasque radio about Fight AIDS Monaco. She called listeners to “respect his own life” and talked about preventing the spread of HIV by practicing safe sex.
Stephanie also recently spoke to an Italian magazine about Fight AIDS Monaco’s recent project, La Maison de Vie, which is a retreat for those who are HIV-positive. She said her desire to help others came from her parents.
“Mom was generous and open to others, and this is how we have behaved. Dad did nothing but repeat to me: ‘The fact that you are born in this palace does not make you any better or more important’.”
Nearly a month after announcing her engagement to Monaco’s Prince Albert II, Charlene Wittstock gave an exclusive interview to French newspaper, Nice-Matin. It was short and simple interview, revealing little but hopefully there would be more in the future:
Nice Matin
Your engagement was officially announced June 23, 2010, how do you feel?
I feel great joy and emotion as you can imagine. I know it is an important moment for the people of Monaco. I’ll do anything to be worthy of its expectations.
You imagine yourself already in your role as Princess?
For over four years, I learned about Monaco, its different populations – there are over 124 nationalities – and I really love this country. I’m still better appreciate its specificities, its traditions, its history. But deep in my heart, it is my country already.
What struck you most arriving in Monaco?
I think I was very fortunate to discover in Monaco alongside the person who knows best (smile). But above all his incredible openness to the world and its incomparable generosity. I know that the country in Europe which gives the most per capita for humanitarian causes. This spirit of generosity is the first characteristic of the population and the many actions that are taken can only give pride to residents.
Do you intend to invest in a humanitarian cause, a foundation?
Since my teens, I have been busy sharing what I could do. In South Africa, when I was very young, I used to help disadvantaged children learn to swim. I really got from them. At this point I realized that giving was the most beautiful gesture that we can do. In Monaco, I want to get involved in defending a cause dedicated to children and in which sport has its place.
We saw you next to Nelson Mandela and more recently you have supported Mandela Day. What does this mean to you?
I remember back in 1995 during the Rugby World Cup in South Africa, Nelson Mandela was on the ground with a polo Springbok representing unity and freedom within our country. The same year, he launched the Children Foundation. I was then 17 years old. I admire Nelson Mandela for his courage, he changed the course of history. The suffering he has borne makes him a unique person. This is why I am so proud of my contribution to the Fund of Nelson Mandela. However, the work is just beginning and he has many things to do.
What is the importance of organizing the World Cup Soccer in South Africa?
This is the first time in history that Africa receives a global event as important and I am very happy.
What relationships do you have with your family?
We are a very united family. Gareth, Sean [her brothers] and myself have been educated with the same values, those that sport has given us. This gave us a lot of balance. Sport is a family heirloom: my uncle led the Springboks team and my mother was a high level sport. It was a simple family life, healthy, with strong links between us. This is very structured.
What are the passions that you share with Prince Albert?
Priority, that of sport is that it allowed us to know ourselves. But we’re both philanthropists, we like to go to meet others, we have the same interest in understanding what is happening in the world and the same willingness to help others. But we also have subjects on which we do not agree!
Which?
Let me protect my secret garden …
You now have an official status, what is different for you today?
I am aware of the responsibilities imposed on me that my official status. I will continue to familiarize myself with the daily habits and customs of the Principality, the protocol and rules of the Palace to prepare myself to best accomplish the mission confided to me that the prince is at my side.
One day after announcing his engagement to longtime girlfriend Charlene Wittstock, Monaco’s Prince Albert II spoke briefly to the French newspaper, Nice-Matin.
AFP/File/Christian Alminana
“I know the Monegasque population was waiting for this moment,” the 52 year-old Prince said, referring to his decades of bachelorhood.
Albert also added that he hoped Monaco would “welcome with kindness” his intended, who is 20 years his junior.
“I hope that Charlene, who loves Monaco and who already knows it well, understands all (its) specificities to fully integrate into the life of my country … and that she also appreciates what her culture and her new regard can bring to us,” Albert went on to say.
“She has a solid personality built on the values of sports,” Albert said. “Her interest in humanitarian causes, particularly in problems that affect children, is an expression of her great sensitivity and her acceptance of others.”
When asked for a wedding date, he simply smiled and told the reporter, “next summer” but gave no exact date.
In South Africa, where Charlene grew up, her father, Michael, remembered how Prince Albert asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage the day before the announcement.
“He phoned me so I could give him the blessing to put the ring on her finger,” Wittstock said in an interview published Thursday in The Star, a Johannesburg newspaper.
Mr. Wittstock went on to say that his future son-in-law is a “nice chap.”
When Charlene becomes Princess Charlene of Monaco, many would be expecting her to live to the standards set by Albert’s mother Princess Grace, who died in a car crash 28 years ago. Those would be hard shoes to fill.
After decades of being Monaco’s perennial bachelor, sovereign Prince Albert II, 52, announced Wednesday that he is to marry longtime girlfriend former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock, 32.
REUTERS/Amedeo M.Turello/Palais Princier/Handout
The news comes just days after the couple attended the wedding of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria – and years of speculation of whether the playboy Prince will finally settle down and produce an heir for Monaco.
This announcement also means this would be the first marriage of the tiny principality’s reigning Prince since 1956 – when Albert’s father, Prince Rainier married Hollywood actress Grace Kelly.
Albert and Charlene met in 2000 when she went to Monaco for a swimming competition. Charlene permanently moved to there in 2006 and has been the Prince’s constant companion at many royal events.
A date for the nuptials has not been set yet, but typically it takes six months for a royal wedding to happen.
Prince Albert may not have any legitimate heirs, but he does have two children born out of wedlock – a boy named Alexandre born to a Togolese flight attendant, and a teenage girl named Jazmin Grace born to an American. Neither can assume the throne because of their illegitimacy.
Many royal watchers are pleased and excited about this announcement, though some have to admit they didn’t think it would ever happen because of Albert’s many years being single.
But now with this long-last engagement, Monegasques could finally look forward to a royal wedding – and a new Princess.
Wittstock “fits the bill, she is kind of a celebrity in her own right,” said Nancy Wilson, editor of the Riviera Report. “They have really sculpted her image almost to be a younger Grace Kelly.”
“The Monegasques will be in excited. Who doesn’t like a wedding?” she added. “An event like that in Monaco would just be huge.”
Source: AP
Amedeo M.Turello/Palais Princier Monaco via Getty Images
The tiny principality of Monaco was center stage Sunday as one of the major race car events took place on its winding streets. The Prince of Monaco gladly played host to the 68th Formula 1 Grand Prix while his niece and nephews helped out.
Before the race began, Prince Albert II drove around with Fetish Venturi’s Chairman Gildo Pastor Pallanca in his Venturi. Once he got the ending part, the Prince got out and waited for the cars to come running in.
In the end, Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull won while his teammate Sebastian Vettel of Germany finished second. Renault driver Robert Kubica from Poland came in third place. All three winners received trophies from Albert’s niece and nephews – Andrea, Charlotte and Pierre Casiraghi, who participate each year in the Grand Prix events.
Francois Durand/Getty Images
In the evening, there was a gala dinner in honor of the race. Prince Albert showed up with longtime girlfriend, Charlene Wittstock.
While his brother and sister chose to sit out this function, Pierre Casiraghi arrived with gorgeous girlfriend Beatrice Borromeo, the daughter of an Italian Count.
Monaco’s F1 Grand Prix events is held over the course of four days, from Thursday until Sunday. During those days, there was a charity football event where Pierre and his cousin, Louis Ducruet, son of Princess Stephanie, took part in. They played along side the Grand Prix participant Sebastian Vettel at Monaco’s Stade Louis II. Prince Albert and Stephanie cheered from the sidelines.
On Friday, there was the Amber charity fashion show where Charlene Wittstock turned heads in her little black dress. She arrived with actress Liz Hurley to that show. Even Andrea Casiraghi’s longtime girlfriend, Tatiana Santo Domingo was there.
Unfortunately, the ever stylish Charlotte Casiraghi did not come to the occasion.
Another person who did not come to any of the F1 Grand Prix occasions was Princess Caroline. It is unknown why she did not make any appearances.
On Thursday, Prince Albert II of Monaco opened a fashion exhibit of his late mother, Princess Grace, nèe Grace Kelly, at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. The display showcases Grace’s dresses from her time as a Hollywood actress to a Princess of Monaco, and is meant to show just how she was, and still is a fashion icon.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan
“She’s one of the few people who deserves this title of style icon. It’s very hard to find anyone else today who can be remembered in the same way 50 years from now,” said Jenny Lister, curator of the exhibition.
Along with longtime girlfriend, Charlene Wittstock, Prince Albert toured the museum. It features dresses from such movies as “High Society” and “The Swan,” plus attire from royal events like her dinner at the White House with President Kennedy in the early 1960s.
Also included is the lace bodice and skirt Grace wore to her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier III, before her historic religious ceremony. Unfortunately, her famous wedding gown is not part of the exhibition.
“She liked beautiful fabrics, she always accessorized it very carefully with plain white gloves and jewelery. She enjoyed jewelery but she used it just to add a little touch of detail,” Lister said.
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