Monaco Royal Wedding: Monaco

Showing posts with label Monaco. Show all posts

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Five Reasons to Visit Monaco

Last Summer's wedding of Monaco's Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock may have been modest compared with its Windsor counterpart. But the two-day fete injected the tiny principality with a renewed feeling of style. Long known, perhaps unfairly so, as a "sunny place for shady people," Monaco still offers old-school gaming glamour, but more recent diversions, from art museums to kid-friendly amusement centers, are finally providing some real life to balance all that bling.(See photos of a royal wedding in Monaco.)

Image via Wikipedia1. Casino de Monte Carlo
Its craps and roulette tables may still be the main draw, but the 148-year-old Casino de Monte Carlo isn't resting on its laurels. Its new Cabaret de Monte Carlo, reopening in February after a winter hiatus, features a separate entrance to the main casino and offers a Paris-in-the-'20s-styled stage show of tasteful burlesque and subtly sensual lighting, set in a clublike environment. Outside, there's gaming available in a pair of seafront salons. Enjoy Bond-style blackjack and baccarat under the stars. See casinomontecarlo.com for more.

2. Buddha Bar
Tucked into the sprawling Casino de Monte Carlo complex, and accessed via a series of terraces and lush gardens, this 18-month-old duplex is one of the latest additions to the pseudo-Asian drinking-and-dining franchise that now stretches from Cairo to Kiev. Awash in gilded splendor, the lounge's design incorporates some of the building's original Beaux Arts architecture and features that signature Buddha statue as its centerpiece (oddly so, given that Buddhists forswear alcohol). An extensive East-meets-East menu ranges from Sichuanese to sushi. For more information, see buddhabar.com.

3. Monte Carlo Beach Hotel
Set along Monaco's eastern front, this jazz-age classic has had a stylish head-to-toe makeover courtesy of Parisian interiors ace India Mahdavi. Inspired by the azure Mediterranean, each of the hotel's 40 rooms includes neo-Deco furnishings in vibrant blues and subtle beiges. A new Provençal-inspired restaurant, Elsa, takes its name and raffish vibe from legendary American gossip columnist (and one of the hotel's greatest advocates) Elsa Maxwell. She would have been kept busy chronicling the Who's Who of European moguls and aristocrats who still pack out the hotel's beach club. Details at monte-carlo-beach.com.

4. Villa Paloma
Monaco's contemporary-art scene hit its stride with the opening of the revamped Villa Paloma in 2010. Originally built in 1913 for the American Dickerson family, the four-story villa compound is now — along with the Belle Epoque Villa Sauber — part of the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, and stages multimedia exhibitions inspired by Monaco's relationship with land and sea. The current show, curated by German artist Thomas Demand, takes a surreal look at the "domesticated nature" in Monaco's gardens and parks. Visit nmnm.mc.

5. Ni box
The description "kid friendly" hardly ever gets applied to this exorbitantly expensive, nightlife-crazy principality, but NI Box, a huge waterfront amusement complex, will give parents some much needed relief with its video-games area, bowling alleys and rooftop skating rink. Prepaid charge cards mean that kids won't have to keep bugging parents for change, leaving Mom and Dad to enjoy the on-site nightclub (this being Monaco, you couldn't have a family leisure center without one). See nibox.mc for more.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Major Blair-Louis Scene Ahead on Gossip Girl, But ...

Prince Louis is just not that popular with Gossip Girl fans.

The Dair and Chair 'ship wars aren't likely to end anytime soon, but if there's anything they can agree on, it's that Blair should not marry into Monaco's royal family. Case in point: The survey results below.

With the royal wedding set for January 30, is there hope?

For either Dan or Chuck, that is? Well, E! Online says ...

There is more than hope, according to show insiders. There will be a "pretty epic scene" involving Dan and Blair in one of the upcoming episodes that shows he's still very much an important part of her life.

Whether that means romantically remains to be seen.

Also, it looks like there will be a Blair and Louis scene that proves critical ... because it shows Chuck may be even more important to Blair than anyone. Make of that what you will, and hit the comments!

Who does Blair belong with?

View Poll »

Read more: http://www.tvfanatic.com/2011/12/major-blair-louis-scene-ahead-on-gossip-girl/#ixzz1h6M2gZZ2

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Monaco royal couple shoots down 'runaway bride' rumors

Charlene Wittstock looked serene at her July 1 wedding to billionaire Prince Albert II of Monaco. But up until the day she said “I do,” she was dogged by reports she had tried to run away from her opulent nuptials.

In an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer on TODAY Wednesday, the 33-year-old former Olympian from South Africa said that she was a victim of the press’s overactive imagination in the hoopla leading up to a royal wedding.

Why would you go through all this effort to have this fantastic, you know, couple of days and have our most intimate, dearest friends come and join us for us to be reluctant?” Princess Charlene said as she sat alongside her new husband. “You know, for me, it just sounded hilarious.”

American Athlete Tracy Mattes, Prince Albert I...

Days before the wedding, the French weekly paper Le Journal du Dimanche reported Whittstock made up to three attempts to flee Monaco in advance of her wedding to Prince Albert. The paper reported she sought refuge at the South African embassy in Paris when she was being fitted for her wedding dress in May, tried to leave the country again at the Formula 1 Grand Prix race and then, just days before the wedding, was stopped from boarding a helicopter flying from Monaco to Nice, France as officials persuaded her to stay and go through with the wedding.

Princess Charlene told Lauer she understands the European media was latching onto a story of royal magnitude — even if it was imagined. “It was a wonderful opportunity for them to ride on something, you know, (a) negative spin, because people would buy the magazines or listen to all the negativity,” she said.

Prince Albert may understand the story even better — the only son of the late Prince Rainier III and the late American actress Grace Kelly, Albert had generated headlines all his adult life for his rich and varied dating life, during which he fathered two children born out of wedlock. That the lifelong bachelor was finally marrying at age 53 may have signaled an end to the press’s obsession with his personal life.

Still, Prince Albert faced even more scrutiny for allegedly looking more serious than blissful at the Catholic wedding ceremony before 800 onlookers at the royal palace in Monaco.
“It is unfair,” he said, turning to Princess Charlene. “I thought I paid attention to you and smiled at you many times.” Laughing, he added, “Maybe that’s not enough for some people.”
Now, media types are on a royal baby watch as they wonder when Prince Albert, who ascended to the throne with his father’s passing in 2005, will produce a legitimate heir. The 19-year-old daughter he fathered with a California woman and the 8-year-old son he fathered from a relationship with a flight attendant from Togo are not, per Monaco’s Princely Law, considered heirs.

With Prince Rainier in failing health in 2002 — and his only son still not married — the Monaco constitution was amended to include females in the line of succession. It means that if Prince Albert II passes before producing an heir, the throne would fall to either of his sisters, Caroline or Stephanie.
“I think there were, you know, part jealousy, part, people that were envious or did not like the fact that we were finally coming together and marrying,” Prince Albert told Lauer.

“What it means is that it can go through the other siblings in the family,” Prince Albert told Lauer. But Albert also noted that should his marriage to Whittstock produce a daughter but not a son, she would be first in line for the throne.
But for now, the royal couple seems to be reveling in their first year as a married couple. Princess Charlene joked that her training as a world-class competitive swimmer has come in handy.
“I think I kind of went into Olympic mode, really,” she said of the spotlight that shone on her nuptials. “I was in the zone, and I don’t think anything was affecting me at that time.”

Prince Albert also said he is ever mindful of his family’s American connection via his mother, the Philadelphia, Pa., native who rose to big screen stardom before retiring from acting to marry Prince Rainier in 1956. Prince Albert and Princess Charlene attended the 29th Annual Princess Grace Awards benefit in New York City on Tuesday.
He said it warms his heart at how warmly his mother, who died in a car crash in 1982 after suffering a stroke, is remembered.
“I’m still amazed at how many people not only remember her, but look up to her as a model and as an icon,” he told Lauer.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Who should play Grace Kelly in new biopic?

Grace Kelly is heading back to the big screen.

The Oscar-winning actress who became Princess of Monaco will be the subject of an upcoming biopic, and movie buffs are speculating about which actress should play her.

Pictures: The prince and the movie star

The project, IndieWire reports, will focus on a six-month period in 1962, when France and Monaco were at odds over the city-state's standing as a tax haven and Kelly, then 33, worked behind the scenes to save Monaco from a coup.

Image via WikipediaKelly retired from acting at 26, when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. Before that, her Hollywood career included roles in "High Noon," "Dial M for Murder," "Rear Window" and "To Catch a Thief." She died in a car crash in 1982.

The announcement comes as two other films about famous faces are set to hit theaters: Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" and Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

So, who should play the movie star-turned-princess? We placed some of our own suggestions in the poll above - Kate Winslet, Williams, Carey Mulligan, Gwyneth Paltrow, January Jones, Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively.

Vote for who you think should play Kelly, and explain your pick - or add a new choice - in the comments.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Royals coming to Toronto for Grace Kelly exhibit

Screenshot of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant from ...

Image via WikipediaThey are no Will and Kate, but Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlene are coming to Toronto next month.

Albert is the son of Grace Kelly.

Officials say the royal couple will attend a grand opening event for the exhibit, titled "Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess", on November 2nd.

They will also attend a private reception.

The exhibit features rarely-displayed items and artifacts from Kelly's days as a leading lady in Hollywood and as princess of one of Europe's oldest royal families.

It includes many of Kelly's original dresses, a replica of her wedding gown, her signature "Kelly bag" and tiara.

There are also telegrams from Prince Rainier and her Academy Award for "The Country Girl."

The exhibit opens to the public on November 4th and runs until January 22nd.

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20111018/prince-albert-monaco-in-toronto-111018/#ixzz1b8VtIPD3

Monday, October 3, 2011

I'll carry out royal role my way, says Monaco's troubled princess

Princess Charlene of Monaco has spoken publicly for the first time since her wedding to Prince Albert, saying that she will approach her new royal role "my way".

The South African-born princess, who married Prince Albert of Monaco in July, said she was "independent" and refused to accept excessive security, adding: "I don't like that. I'm quite independent. I will do it my way."

The former Olympic swimmer, 33, has rarely been seen in public since the wedding. However, she said in an interview today that she expects to take on a more official role soon.

"I think that would be expected of me in the near future. But I have just taken a bit of a break. I need time to adjust. I just got married."

Prince Albert II and Tracy Mattes at the Palac...

Image via WikipediaPrincess Charlene admitted she was struggling to learn French, saying that she was going "step by step". However, she insisted she did not want to be "too cut off". She added: "I think for anyone living in a new country and adapting to a new lifestyle, it's a different role. I was an Olympic swimmer, I lived in a swimsuit, I lived on tour."

Her comments to the Daily Telegraph follow speculation after reports that the princess had attempted to leave Monaco two days before her wedding because of allegations her husband-to-be had had a third love child. There were also reports that the newlywed couple slept in separate hotels one night on their honeymoon in South Africa.

Her husband has since denied rumours of a rift. The 53-year-old ruler told Monaco reporters: "My family have long been the subject of rumours born out of jealousy. The media pick up these rumours without verifying the information. I find that unworthy," he said.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Monaco royal wedding: Moroccan princesses reign in most elegant stakes

The Moroccan ladies clearly have that ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco, the wife of reigning King Mohammed VI, was deemedhellomagazine.com's most elegant guest at the British royal wedding in April, having gained an impressive 55 percent of readers' votes.

And now two glamorous North African attendees at Albert and Charlene of Monaco’s weddinghave stormed their way into the top three of our best dressed vote.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THE FULL GALLERY

In the top spot is the king's niece Princess Lalla Soukaina shortly followed in third place by her mother, Princess Lalla Meryem, who is his sister – Lalla is an honorific applied to all the ladies of the royal family.

The winner was a vision in a pale pink, traditional kaftan with crystal embellishments.

Complementing the look was a wavy updo, a matching satin clutch and platform heels.

Always immaculately turned out, Lalla Soukaina takes pride in her appearance. Often dressed in Chanel, Dior, Gaultier and Prada, the 23-year-old is very elegant, but has brains as well as beauty.

Interested in communication, she started an internship earlier this year with French television channel TF1 in Paris.

For the wedding in Monaco, her mother had also picked out a kaftan, though hers was a pink and yellow floral number. She finished off her picture-perfect look with satin platform heels.

Runner-up for most elegant guest was Princess Mary of Denmark, who was clad in a teal satin shift dress and a nude-hued floral fascinator.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Tale of two iconic princesses

When England’s Prince William married Kate Middleton in appropriately regal rites months ago, over a billion viewers worldwide empathetically thrilled to their attendant rush of ravishing royal romance.
But, it now turns out that the royal rush isn’t over – far from it. Because elsewhere in Europe another royal wedding has just taken place, with the Principality of Monaco’s Prince Albert pledging his troth to another “commoner” bride, Charlene Wittstock.
The much more modest event was seen by fewer viewers, but they still gave the event due importance, because the prince’s mother, Princess Grace, like Prince William’s celebrated mother, Princess Diana, was an iconic personage in her own right.
Similarities
Now that coincidental circumstances have “superimposed” recollections of Princess Diana and Princess Grace psychically together for the first time, their lives turn out to have had more striking similarities and congruencies than previously perceived.
Diana wasn’t a big Hollywood star like Grace Kelly before she became Princess Grace, but she became equally celebrated for her beauty, which emanated from within. Both princesses were deeply involved in charitable endeavors, and were admired worldwide for their innate goodness and selflessness.
Many celebrated beauties are so wrapped up in themselves that they can’t think of others. But Grace and Diana were able to avoid that trap with an inspiring clarity of purpose and value – which is why they are loved and cherished to this day, many years after their deaths, while other famous beauties have gone the way of all flesh – and flash.
Affinity
The mention of their deaths reveals another affinity that Diana and Grace have with each other: They both died in sudden and most untimely car accidents. Thus, in both instances, their fabled lives were snuffed out in an instant – which indubitably added to the pain so many people felt – a psychic sadness that is palpable to this day.

Given such iconic resonances, it’s likely that both Prince William and Prince Albert had a hard time choosing their own brides – after all, Grace and Diana are the hardest possible acts to follow!
To his credit, William didn’t look for his mother’s junior version, but Kate’s spirit is similar to Diana’s, as verified and vivified by the zest with which she has launched into her own charitable endeavors.
Choice
But, Prince Albert’s choice is another story entirely: His bride, Charlene, is a blonde beauty very much like his mother. An achiever in her own right as a former swimmer in the Olympics, Charlene has more obviously subsumed her personality to suit Grace’s ethereal ethos.
In terms of “projection,” in fact, she looks like Albert ordered her from Central Casting – (“Get me my mother’s most perfect clone, please!”) – and Central Casting delivered.
Let’s hope that, a few years from now, Charlene doesn’t act against type, and cracks the perfect veneer and mystique that has made her embody Princess Grace so perfectly for the delectation of a new generation of viewers.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The fashion verdict on Monaco's royal wedding

Princess Beatrice might not have been in attendance, but that didn't stop Europe's other royals and their friends from putting their own spin on the fashion faux pas at Monaco's royal wedding.

From a princess in a sun hat and strappy sandals to a guest in white flowing gown, it wasn't just the paternity test raising eyebrows.

Naomi Campbell played by the rules at the ceremony in a green floral dress, but come reception time, all bets were off.

Breaking the unwritten rule that guests shouldn't wear white or black to a wedding, she changed into a white dress with a plunging neckline, side cut-outs and green beading.

So was this a fashion faux pas or fashion forward? The wedding dress designers contacted by Life & Style were split in their assessment.

Karen Willis Holmes says it's a matter of good manners to wear a different colour to the bride.

White is emerging as a trend in bridesmaid dresses, bolstered by Pippa Middleton's outfit in Britain's recent royal wedding, but that's at the bride's discretion. What a guest wears is not, and therein lies the problem.

Particularly when it's a supermodel.

"I think you could wear white but this is long and it has a train," she says.

"If it was a very un-wedding gown it is OK but this is borderline.

"I love the [concept of the bridesmaid wearing the] same colour as the bride I think it looks good visually in photos, I think it is stunning but then the bride has okayed it which is different to a guest doing it."

But Henry Roth says it's time we threw out these 'rules' and gave the thumbs up to Campbell.

"I think that it's time the world grew up and we got rid of some of the unnecessary taboos created in fashion, not to liberate women but to control their style and sense of confidence," he says.

"We don't have these rules for men."

The now Princess Charlene of Monaco wore two Giorgio Armani gowns - one at the religious ceremony and the other at the reception - and a powder blue outfit she designed in collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld to the civil ceremony.

Simple, elegant and traditional was the verdict of both Willis Holmes and Roth regarding the off-the-shoulder, boat neck gown worn at the church. Although the latter believes there's more to this dress than meets the eye - sometimes a wedding dress will reflect what is going in in the brides' heart and mind.

"She really embraced tradition, which is not a bad thing, but in the context of what's happening one can just imagine why she was grabbing at the traditions of yesteryear," he says.

"If the rumours are even 20 per cent true...it's not looking as bright as one might hope [for their future together]."

As for the reception dress with the tiered column skirt, Willis Holmes described it as "pretty" but "low key".

"They [both dresses] all look older than she does," she says.

"If she was 50 that would look pretty as well."

While there was no outrageous hat to spawn headlines, Facebook pages and a charity auction, an honourable mention goes to the groom's sister Princess Caroline for wearing a sun hat and strappy sandals to a civil wedding ceremony.

"It looked a little bit more like she was overdressed for the beach," says Willis Holmes.

"The dress is quite formal but if she had a smaller hat and high heels it would look more dressy."

Although she does get points for sun sense and comfort.

What's your verdict on the fashion at the royal wedding? Should we ditch the no-white at weddings rule for guests? Comment below.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Princess Charlene’s first duty? To stand by Albert over new paternity test

It may have had all the superficial trappings of a fairytale royal wedding, but as Prince Albert of Monaco tied the knot with his reluctant bride yesterday, the scandals surrounding their often tense nuptials took yet another awkward turn.
Officials in the Mediterranean enclave chose the day of his star-studded wedding to former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock to announce that the Prince would have to take a paternity test for a possible third illegitimate child. A palace aide said that one of 33-year-old Princess Charlene’s first duties would therefore be to stand by her husband if there was another public scandal.

Emotional: Charlene Princess of Monaco wipes a tear as she leaves the St Devote Church after her wedding to Prince Albert II of Monaco
Albert, 53, already has an illegitimate six-year-old son called Alexandre through a Togolese former air hostess called Nicole Coste, and a 19-year-old daughter called Jazmin with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent. Both were kept away from Albert’s marriage to avoid ‘media exposure’, an official inside Monaco’s royal palace said.
The source added: ‘The truth of the rumour is that Albert faces paternity tests following a claim by at least one former lover.’
But none of Albert’s illegitimate brood will have a claim to the throne, with the official saying: ‘Even if a third or even a fourth child is confirmed Albert will not have an official heir until Princess Charlene bears him one.’
The tests will go ahead in the next few days, said the source.

Happy day: Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene after their wedding mass in the Main Courtyard of the Prince's Palace in Monaco
French magazine Public has attributed two new illegitimate children to Albert. One is said to be 18 months old and the son of an Italian woman who is preparing to tell all. Other magazines have suggested Ms Coste has had a second baby with Prince Albert – an idea that gained credibility last week when the 40-year-old was pictured in Monte Carlo.
Ms Coste received a multi-millionpound settlement when a DNA test showed Albert was Alexandre’s father, while Ms Rotolo has also been supported financially by him.
Lawyers for Prince Albert have said categorically that the rumour he fathered another child is false – but they made similarly fierce denials before genetic tests proved he had fathered the other two children.
The source said he hoped yesterday’s Roman Catholic ceremony in the Palace courtyard, a day after the uneasy civil service, would ‘overshadow’ the latest revelations about secret children – although that seems like wishful thinking.

My Prince: Charlene kisses her new husband, who wore the uniform of Monaco's palace guards
There was an audible sigh of relief when bride and groom said ‘I do’, ten days after Charlene was allegedly intercepted at Nice airport as she tried to flee home to South Africa. She has looked uncomfortable, even sad, in recent appearances while Albert also looked ashen-faced during yesterday’s service, despite the apparent glamour of the event.

Who is the real prince of Ruritania: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie the Duchess of Wessex arrive for the wedding

The Ex: Naomi Campbell, who was romantically linked to Prince Albert in the nineties, arrives with boyfriend Russian property mogul Vladimir Doronin
Guests included the Earl of Wessex and his wife Sophie, former James
Bond star Roger Moore, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, supermodel Naomi Campbell and retail tycoon Sir Philip Green.
Also present were veteran fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani, who designed the wedding dress embroidered with 40,000 Swarovski crystals, Manchester United footballer Patrick Evra and ex-tennis champion Ilie Nastase.
All saw Albert wink at his new bride after she had said ‘Oui’ when asked if she wanted to marry him.
Whatever the challenges of her new married life, Zimbabwe-born Charlene certainly comes from tough stock. Her great-great-great-grandfather John Webb went on an Atlantic expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton – and ended up in South Africa where he discovered a diamond mine. He met his wife Mary, a lady-in-waiting to a princess, on a boat coming back from Egypt, and they settled in London.
The family emigrated to Rhodesia after the Second World War, but fled to South Africa when Charlene was a baby, to escape the escalating civil war there.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

MONACO ROYAL WEDDING MYSTERY

The wild rumors were still flying, even among the cheering crowd outside Monaco's fabled, cream-colored palace where Prince Albert married Charlene Wittstock in a civil ceremony Friday and where the couple will be wed in a religious service Saturday.

Had Wittstock really been, as headlines screamed this week, a “Runaway Bride” before being whisked back to Monaco in time for the splashy, $75 million two-day wedding?

Bing even more:
“I wonder if they've got her drugged,” said one Monegasque watching the ceremony on the jumbo screens installed outside the palace, which is perched on what locals call “The Rock,” a headland jutting out to the Mediterranean in the ancient district of Monaco. Another claimed that palace officials had found a Charlene look-alike that they dragged out Wednesday to tour the principality with Albert, while his real fiancée was in the hospital under sedation.

The stories began circulating about three weeks ago in this notoriously gossipy, postage stamp-size principality and involved reports that Prince Albert had had a third child out of wedlock—or that a woman was pregnant with his baby.

But the tales gathered real steam Tuesday when France's respected L'Express magazine reported that Wittstock had tried to flee Monaco after learning something troubling about Prince Albert—but was intercepted at the Nice airport and persuaded to return to the principality.

Photos: Charlene Wittstock and Prince Albert Wedding
The article did not cite a third illegitimate child but helpfully reminded readers that Albert, 53, already has two known illegitimate children by two different women. Jazmin Grace, 19, whose mother is American, studies at Fordham University; Alexandre Coste, 7, lives just outside Monaco with his mother, a former flight attendant from Togo in West Africa.

Fortunately for Monaco, it appeared to be the real Charlene Wittstock, a 33-year-old former Olympic swimmer from South Africa and the daughter of a photocopier salesman, who emerged with Albert onto the palace balcony Friday, dressed in a pale blue suit that she designed herself. (She will be wearing Armani later Saturday during the religious ceremony in the palace courtyard.)

She was now officially “Princess Charlene of Monaco,” although there were those in the crowd Friday who complained her name was not elegant enough and should be changed to “Charlotte.”

But the Runaway Bride rumors, still totally un-sourced and lacking any hard evidence, have shown no signs of going away, despite heated denials from the palace. Even France's venerable Le Monde has weighed in on the story. It hasn't helped matters that Albert and Charlene, who first met at a swimming event in Monaco in 2000 and began dating in 2005, exhibit alarmingly little chemistry in the few televised interviews they have done, leading some to whisper that the marriage is little more than a business deal to ensure an heir to the throne.

Depending on what you read or whom you talk to in Monaco, Charlene bolted for the airport after discovering the existence of a child fathered by Albert who was born about two years ago, two weeks ago—or whose birth is imminent.

London's Daily Mail on Friday quoted a un-named “senior Monaco detective” saying that Wittstock was indeed intercepted at the Nice airport, holding a one-way ticket back to South Africa, and that her passport was confiscated as she was “persuaded” to return to the palace.

“It's all completely, completely crazy,” Christiane Stahl, one of Albert's top advisers at the palace told me when I first called her about the rumors. “The story is totally false and it just comes from jealousy.”

Albert's lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, also angrily denounced the stories and threatened to sue L'Express, which has stood by its story and kept it up on its website.

Oddly, however, the palace has apparently not yet sought a legal injunction against L'Express, which would be typical in a country like France where libel laws are much stricter than in the U.S. Instead the palace has reportedly demanded that L'Express' editors tell them the identity of their source for the story.

Even stranger was a statement made by Albert's longtime confidant, Stephane Bern, who is France's best-known commentator on the royals. Bern first slammed the rumors. But then he added, in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper Wednesday, this jaw-dropping tidbit. “A woman could very well be pretending that she is pregnant by the prince. We can't carry out a DNA test to check this out just three days before the marriage.”

Longtime observers of the Monaco “princely” family members (they are not technically considered royals) invariably cite the so-called Curse on the House of Grimaldi whenever bad things befall them—like the car accident that killed Princess Grace in 1982 or the speedboating death that claimed the life of Stefano Casiraghi, the 30-year-old second husband of Princess Caroline in 1990.

The legend holds that back in the 13th century, Prince Rainier I kidnapped and raped a beautiful girl, who became a witch to get her revenge. The medieval sorceress then cursed the prince's family for all eternity, saying, "Never will a Grimaldi find true happiness in marriage."

But others say the curse is nonsense, even though Princess Caroline, now 54, is separated from her third husband, Prince Ernst, and Princess Stephanie, 45, has been divorced twice.

"Prince Albert frequently told me that he didn't believe in the Grimaldi curse and that his family's fate, including his mother's death, was no better or worse than yours or mine,” says author Joel Stratte-McClure, who was People magazine's correspondent on the French Riviera at the height of Monaco's heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s and interviewed Albert many times.

“He waited decades to finally choose a wife and I'm sure he laughed at the runaway bride stories. His smile throughout the wedding day certainly wasn't that of someone preoccupied by a witch's curse or a potentially AWOL bride."

Allison Coe, who reports on the Monaco royals for the local Best of Nice Blog, said she wondered if the rumors were planted by the palace itself—to drum up interest in what otherwise was viewed as a bit of a snoozefest, especially compared to Will and Kate's romantic extravaganza in April.

“I can't help but think this is a publicity stunt just to juice up what a lot of people see as this wooden marriage,” Coe said. "But I guess time will tell what the truth is."

Perhaps Albert's late father, the forceful ruler who transformed Monaco from a Riviera outpost into one of the world's most glamorous locales in large part by marrying Grace Kelly, was more prescient than he realized.

“Gossip was invented in Monaco,” Prince Rainier once said.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Related articles

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Related articles

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Related articles

Monday, October 31, 2011

Related articles

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Related articles

Monday, October 3, 2011

Related articles

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Saturday, July 2, 2011