- Title: MONACO: Wedding preparations in full swing in Monaco
- Date: 2nd July 2011
- Summary: MONTE CARLO, MONACO (JULY 1, 2011) (REUTERS) HARBOUR OF MONTE CARLO YACHTS VARIOUS OF PRINCE'S PALACE MONACO FLAG FLYING VARIOUS OF HARBOUR FLATS AND HOUSES VARIOUS OF CASINO PRESS STAND JOURNALIST BOAT IN WATER WATER PAN ACROSS HARBOUR SQUARE IN FRONT OF PRINCE'S PALACE VARIOUS OF PREPARATIONS IN FRONT OF PALACE (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTONIA, FROM ITALY, SAYING: "For me it is a wonderful marriage. It's better than the one in London because the one with William and Kate in London was very nice but this one just touches us more because we are much closer." (SOUNDBITE) (French) GIRL FROM MONACO, SAYING: "It's people jealous, they are jealous because they are so in love. They're a beautiful couple together. It's beautiful. They are great together, it's all a great pleasure to see, it's beautiful.." BALCONIES WITH MONACO FLAGS FLYING POLICE IN FRONT OF PALACE PEOPLE GATHERED IN FRONT OF PALACE FOOD STAND FOOD STAND IN FRONT OF PALACE
- Embargoed: 17th July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Monaco, Monaco
- Country: Monaco
- Topics: Royalty
- Reuters ID: LVA211RGCEL2ZBIIRYD7ZG2A9BWX
- Story Text: Preparations for the second grand royal wedding of the year were in full swing in Monaco on Friday (July 1), ahead of the long-awaited three-day celebrations.
His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, the 53-year-old ruler of the tiny city-state of Monaco and head of the centuries-old House of Grimaldi, will wed South African Charlene Wittstock, 33, this weekend in the palace courtyard during a lavish three-day celebration.
Monaco, the sunny stomping ground of the rich, known as much for its Grand Prix car race as for its lack of income tax, is abuzz with the nuptials, which take place just two months after Britain's royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.
Locals in Monaco dismissed on Thursday (June 30) talk of tensions between Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock ahead of their wedding, saying they were looking forward to the event.
"They're a beautiful couple together. It's beautiful. They are great together, it's all a great pleasure to see, it's beautiful," one local woman told Reuters TV.
Thousands of people are expected to travel to Monaco to experience the wedding fever, like Antonia from Italy.
"For me it is a wonderful marriage. It's better than the one in London because the one with William and Kate in London was very nice but this one just touches us more because we are much closer," she said.
Albert has been linked to a string of beautiful women and has acknowledged fathering two illegitimate children, but he sought to shed his playboy image after meeting Wittstock.
Monegasques -- who number only around 8,000 -- hope having a dazzling new princess could revive the fortunes of Monaco, and the gambling centre of Monte Carlo, which lives off its image as the epicentre of luxury, fast cars and betting tables.
Saturday's wedding will be the first of a ruling prince in Monaco since Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, married Hollywood actress Grace Kelly in 1956, and locals hope Wittstock could bring back some of the glamour which died alongside Kelly in a 1982 car crash. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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