Prince Albert II of Monaco kisses his bride Charlene Princess of Monaco outside the Monaco palace, after their civil wedding marriage ceremony on Friday. AP
MONACO—Monaco’s Prince Albert II married South African beauty Charlene Wittstock and made her his princess Friday, throwing open the gates of his palace to celebrate with the entire Mediterranean nation.
All 7,810 adult Monegasque subjects were invited to a buffet reception at the Grimaldis’ medieval palace, overlooking the tiny tax haven’s main marina, and the crowd cheered when the nervous-looking couple made their vows.
The throne room ceremony, conducted by the head of the country’s state council, was transmitted to the crowds on giant screens. The couple sat in high-backed bright pink chairs and Charlene wore a power blue gown.
“I declare you united by the bonds of marriage,” Philippe Narmino said.
Wellwishers waved flags in the red and white of the Monaco royal house and the rainbow banner of South Africa and cheered the couple, in what some saw as a national sigh of relief after many years of waiting.
The 53-year-old playboy’s lengthy bachelorhood had begun to try the patience of his subjects, who live crammed in a tight hillside warren of concrete tower blocks alongside tens of thousands more foreign tax exiles.
On Friday he presented them with a princess that looks the part — a statuesque blonde, timid but poised in a power blue gown — and locals hope the couple will now ensure an orderly succession by producing a legitimate heir.
Monaco’s privileged status as an independent principality that sets its own low tax rates and regulates its own financial services depends on it having a prince, and Albert’s Grimaldi clan has ruled since the 13th century.
Now the local elite hopes the wedding, and the accompanying feast days, will give the Grimaldi image a boost, just as the year’s previous royal wedding in London gave the British monarchy a much-needed shot in the arm.
“This marriage will complete the image of the principality, allow the wider public to see beyond the cliches,” Monaco tourism chief Michel Bouquier told reporters. “We are going to astonish, and astonish by giving pleasure.”
After the brief civil ceremony, the bells of the chapel dedicated to Monaco’s patron saint Sainte Devote were to ring out.
Then, later in the evening the crowd will head to the port for a braai, a traditional barbecue in swimming champ Charlene’s homeland, and drinks with thousands of the wealthy foreign residents who live in the principality.
A pink beer brewed with cranberries has been produced by Monaco’s own small brewery, and entertainment was to be provided by sexagenarian electropop pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and a massive waterfront sound and light show.
Bouquier said the wedding budget had been doubled to eight million euros ($12 million), but the principality hopes to generate much more in tourist revenue and has laid on extra trains from France — as many as for its annual Grand Prix.
On the eve of the ceremony, the royal couple joined a 15,000-strong crowd of their subjects and Monaco residents to cheer California rockers The Eagles at the stadium of the principality’s recently relegated football team.
They may have made the appearance to lay to rest persistent rumours that the 33-year-old blonde athlete had cold feet about going through with the marriage, but they appeared to share the joy of the crowd.
“It’s a happy day. Monaco has seen enough grief,” said an 86-year-old local who still remembers the 1956 nuptials of Albert’s father Rainier and Hollywood siren Grace Kelly.
But, reflecting the view of many who talked to AFP, he also moved quickly on to the next big question: “The important thing is that there be an heir.”
Gossip is endemic in Monaco’s tiny native community, but many are reluctant to share their concerns with outsiders, and most of those who spoke to AFP did so on condition of anonymity.
“A marriage brings us security for the succession,” said an 80-year-old retired casino manager.
“Charlene’s very pretty, I just hope she adapts.
“We’re lucky to be Monegasque. We live the good life, protected jobs, no military service. It’s important to have a prince. With no prince there’s no principality.”
Albert has illegitimate children with two women but has yet to produce a royal heir. In 2002, fearing Albert would die without a legitimate prince, Monaco changed its constitution to allow a princess to inherit.
Albert’s mother, Princess Grace, died in a car crash in 1982. Her daughter Caroline lost second husband Stefano Casiraghi in a 1990 motorboat accident.
The other royal sister, Princess Stephanie, has also been unlucky in love, in the words of Wednesday’s edition of Le Parisien “marrying almost as often as she falls in love” and finding herself betrayed by her bodyguard lover.