Monaco celebrates wedding gala

2 July 2011 Last updated at 17:22 GMT Thousands of guests were invited to the wedding

Prince Albert II of Monaco has married South African former swimmer Charlene Wittstock in a religious ceremony, after Friday's civil wedding.

Some 3,500 guests, including royalty and celebrities, attended the event at the Place du Palais.

This was to be followed by a lavish dinner prepared by a celebrity chef.

Prince Albert II, 53, and Princess Charlene, 33, were married in a civil ceremony staged in the principality on Friday.

Earlier in the week, the palace denied reports in the French press that Ms Wittstock was having second thoughts about the wedding.

Princess' tears

On Saturday, Prince Albert II, and now Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene each said "Oui" (Yes) at the service led by the Archbishop of Monaco, Bernard Barsi.

The archbishop held the couple's hands together, before declaring: "What God has joined, men must not divide."

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene then exchanged rings in white gold and platinum.

After the ceremony, the couple walked to a chapel dedicated to Monaco's patron saint, St Devote, where Princess Charlene placed her bouquet - as the local tradition required.

The princess then burst into tears as a young choir sang.

The guest-list at the religious ceremony included the kings of Spain, Sweden, Lesotho and Belgium, the presidents of France, Iceland, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, Germany and Hungary, France's richest man, celebrated opera singers, top models and racing car divers.

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and supermodel Naomi Campbell, also attended.

The UK was represented by Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II.

All the ingredients for the lavish celebratory meal, created by Alain Ducasse - himself a Monaco citizen - will come from within a 10km (6-mile) radius of Monaco.

More than 1,000 journalists from around the world have been accredited to cover the festivities in the principality, whose citizens number just 7,618.

Princess Charlene represented South Africa in the swimming competitions at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The tiny principality, which covers about 2 sq km (less than one square mile), is the world's smallest independent state after the Vatican City.

Prince Albert II has been the ruler of Monaco since the death of his father, Prince Rainier III, in 2005.

Friday's event was clouded by press reports suggesting that Ms Wittstock had come close to returning to South Africa, after learning secrets about Prince Albert's private life.

The royal family dismissed the claims, as well as suggestions she had only turned back after royal aides persuaded her to stay as "jealous rumours".

View the original article here

Monaco set for Albert's wedding

30 June 2011 Last updated at 11:11 GMT The wedding of Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock will be a glittering affair, with guests from around the world Up to 3,500 guests are to attend lavish celebrations in Monaco to mark the wedding of Prince Albert II and South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock.

Friday's civil wedding will be followed a day later by a religious ceremony at the royal palace on the Mediterranean.

Ms Wittstock, 33, who swam in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, will become Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene.

The palace has denied reports in the French press that Ms Wittstock was getting cold feet about the wedding.

The guest list includes heads of state and royalty, from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the heir to the Spanish throne, as well as fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and supermodel Naomi Campbell.

Charlene Wittstock will wear a Giorgio Armani gown.

Rumours denied

The couple will then proceed to the nearby chapel of Saint Devote, the patron saint of Monaco, where Ms Wittstock will leave her bouquet.

The civil ceremony will be held in this lavish room at the palace

But the event has been clouded by press reports suggesting that Ms Wittstock had come close to returning to South Africa, after learning secrets about Prince Albert's private life.

The royal family dismissed the claims, as well as suggestions she had only turned back after royal aides persuaded her to stay.

"These rumours have no other goal than to severely damage the reputation of the monarch and thereby that of Miss Wittstock and severely undermine this happy event," said the palace.

Ryk Neethling, a fellow South African Olympic swimmer said: "I just spoke to her assistant and whatever the story is, it's not true.

"I called her and asked if everything is okay, and they said everything is fine."

Charlene Wittstock was born in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, moving to South Africa with her family at the age of 12.

Two Olympians

She represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games before competing in Sydney as part of the women's medley relay team that finished fifth in the final.

Prince Albert II, 53, has been the ruler of Monaco since the death of his father, Prince Rainier III, in 2005.

He was also an athlete, competing in bobsleigh in five Olympics.

The Prince and Ms Wittstock made their relationship public by appearing together at the Turin Winter Olympics of 2006, after meeting in 2000 at a swimming event in Monaco.

She ended her swimming career in 2007 and has travelled widely for charity events with her fiance.

The tiny principality, which covers about 2 square km (less than one square mile), is the world's smallest independent state after the Vatican City.

It has seen glamorous weddings in the past.

In 1956 the Hollywood beauty Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier.

The wedding ushered in an unprecedented era of glamour that ended with her tragic death in a car crash in 1982.

View the original article here

Monaco

Monaco is the second-smallest independent state in the world. It is a playground for tourists and a haven for the wealthy, the former drawn by its climate and the beauty of its setting and the latter by its advantageous tax regime.

The country - a constitutional monarchy - is surrounded on three sides by France and occupies just under two square kilometres (0.75 sq mile) of the Cote d'Azur, where the Alpes Maritimes meet the Mediterranean.

Tourism drives Monaco's economy; gamblers flock to the Place du Casino in Monte-Carlo and every May the principality hosts the Monaco Grand Prix.

The country is a major banking centre and closely guards the privacy of its clients.

But it has also been the focus of French concerns about its tax policy and has been accused of tolerating money-laundering - claims it strongly denies.

The principality was identified as a tax haven by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2003. It was subsequently placed on the OECD's blacklist of uncooperative tax havens, remaining there until 2009.

Monaco does not levy income tax on its residents.

Francois Grimaldi, the royal dynasty's 13th century founder

The royal dynasty, the Grimaldi family, is inseparable from Monaco's existence. The royals made world headlines in 1956 when the former monarch Prince Rainier III married the American film star Grace Kelly. But the personal lives of the couple's daughters, Caroline and Stephanie, had a less welcome press.

Within the executive, the monarch nominates and is represented by a Minister of State who leads a five-member Council of Government which governs Monaco under royal authority. A 24-member National Council to which elections are held every five years exercises legislative power.

Full name: Principality of Monaco Population: 31,000 (UN, 2010) Capital: Monaco Area: 1.95 sq km (0.75 sq mile) Major language: French Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 75 years (men), 83 years (women) Monetary unit: euro Main exports: Pharmaceuticals, perfumes, clothing GNI per capita: $203, 900 (World Bank, 2009) Internet domain: .mc International dialling code: +377

Monarch: Prince Albert II

Prince Albert took over as head of state following the death of his father, Prince Rainier, in April 2005. His swearing-in, in July, followed a three-month period of mourning.

Prince Rainier was Europe's longest-reigning monarch. He worked to reduce Monaco's reliance on tourism and gambling by attracting business. He staunchly defended Monaco's banking and taxation systems in the face of criticism from France.

It will be for Prince Albert - who says he wants to attract high-tech industry to Monaco - to carry this work forward. The prince says he will seek to cement the idea that money-laundering in the country is a thing of the past.

Prince Albert, who was 47 at the time of his father's death, is an accomplished sportsman.

His bachelorhood prompted a change to the constitution to allow the Grimaldi dynasty, which has ruled Monaco for seven centuries, to continue through the female line. Prince Albert is the 32nd ruler.

Prince Albert is now engaged to South African-born former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock. They are due to marry in July 2011.

He has acknowledged that he is the father of two children born out of wedlock to different mothers. Neither will have any right to succeed to the throne.

Born in 1958, Prince Albert was educated in Monaco and the US. He served in the French navy for a time.

The influence of Monaco's broadcast media extends far beyond the borders of the tiny state. From the 1960s Radio Monte-Carlo used powerful transmitters to reach listeners across much of France, and in the 1970s broadcasts to Italy began. Radio Monte-Carlo now has extensive FM networks in both countries.

Monte-Carlo Doualiya - a service for the Arab world set up in 1972 - is now based in Paris and operated by Radio France Internationale.

Television's great and good gather in Monaco every year for the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, set up in 1961 by Prince Rainier.

No daily newspapers are published in Monaco, but French papers cover news from the principality.

There were 23,000 internet users by June 2010 (Internetworldstats).

The press

Television

Radio

View the original article here