HSH the late Princess Grace was awarded the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award last Thursday, October 22nd in a ceremony in Beverly Hills. The Princess’ son, Prince Albert II, was on hand to accept the award on behalf of his mother.

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During the awards ceremony and following cocktail party, which benefited the Princess Grace Foundation-USA and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Prince Albert mingled with celebrities like Demi Moore, Jenna Elfman and Angie Harmon. Actress Debra Messing later presented the Prince with his mother’s award, a miniature version of the 14-foot sculpture “Torso” which stands on the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. Messing stated, “You can’t think of fashion as we know it without thinking of Princess Grace. She is glamour. She is Hollywood. She’s modern, elegant, sophisticated.”

View the image at ANP

Monaco’s 51-year-old sovereign endeared the audience during his acceptance speech, sharing that “at heart, my mother was an artist.” Albert told of his mother’s passion for the arts and her dedication to improving the lives of others. He also spoke of the Princess Grace Foundation, and how it is honouring the Princess’ legacy.

The award, which is presented annually to “honour style legends for their contributions to the worlds of fashion and entertainment”, is awarded by the Rodeo Drive Committee, and this year also went to French jewellery house Cartier. Past winners include designers Tom Ford, Gianni and Donatella Versace, Manolo Blahnik, Valentino Garavani and photographer Mario Testino.

Click here to read more about Princess Grace’s award, and other homages to her memory.

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 HSH Prince Albert II paid a day-long visit to the Vatican City, and then to Rome, on October 16th. The Prince’s first stop was to visit His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

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The morning meeting was held in the library of the Pope’s residence, where the two men spoke of the need for moral education, defending the right to life and the protection of  the environment. And, as was reported by the Vatican, “attention turned to themes of mutual interest including the importance of a solid cultural and moral formation of the young and the defense of life in all its phases.”

During his meeting, Prince Albert also met Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Benedict’s secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the secretary for relations with states. The Prince and the Pope also exchanged gifts. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, Prince Albert then travelled to Rome where he officially opened an exhibition on his mother, HSH the late Princess Grace. The Prince gave a speech at the opening, before a quick tour.

View the image at Hello!

The exhibition “The Grace Kelly Years: Princess of Monaco” is a travelling collection of Princess Grace’s personal belongings, including the stunning dress she wore to her 1956 wedding to HSH Prince Rainier III. There are also home videos filmed by Grace, as well as jewellery, several dresses and private family photographs. The exhibition will run in Rome until the end of February 2010 at the Palazzo Ruspoli.

Click here to view Prince Albert’s current events thread, and here for a thread regarding the Grace Kelly exhibition.

JessRulz Monaco Royals Audience, Grace Kelly, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI, Prince Albert II, Princess Grace, Vatican City

Click on image to see photo at ANP

 Prince Albert II of Monaco was present at the Golden Foot Award yesterday. Here he presented the Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo de Assís Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho, with the Golden Foot 2009. The award honours a soccer player for his entire carreer, the player has to be above 29 years old. The player of AC Milan won with  43.755 votes. Second came Real madrid star Rául and the third place went to Thierry Henri.

With the award, Ronaldinho follows into the steps of his countryman Roberto Carlos, who won the award last year. Soccer players from the past, Zibi Boniek, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Oleg Blochin and Rene Higuita were also honoured with a golden foot yesterday. The print of the foot of the soccerplayers (in gold)  will be placed at the Champions Promenade near Grimaldi Forum of Monte Carlo.

Marengo Monaco Royals Awards, Prince Albert II, Soccer, Sport

    Last Friday, October 9th, members of several royal houses descended upon the tiny principality of Monaco to attend the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer gala.

Click to see the gallery at Svenskdam

HSH Prince Albert II, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco played host to HRH The Crown Princess of Sweden, TRH Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium, and TRH Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg for the charity gala, which was held at the Opera Garnier in the Monte Carlo Casino. Camilla of Bourbon Two-Sicilies, Duchess of Castro was also in attendance.

Prior to the gala, Prince Albert and Crown Princess Victoria shared a drink at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, the official residence of the Monégasques Sovereign. Albert later described his meeting with Victoria, “wonderful and fantastic” to a Swedish reporter. Princess Victoria also stated, “it will be a wonderful evening,” upon her arrival to the Casino, while posing for photos on the red carpet before heading inside.

Speeches were given by both Prince Albert and Princess Astrid.

Click to see the gallery at Svenskdam

Princess Astrid is the Honorary Chairwoman of the EORTC Charitable Trust, which sees its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Prince Guillaume is also a member of the General Assembly of the EORTC Charitable Trust. The EORTC was founded in 1976 in Belgium, and is a multinational organisation which currently sees its operations underway in over thiry countries.

Click here, here, here and here for the various current events thread of the royals in attendance, where more information and pictures are available.

JessRulz Belgian Royals, Luxembourg Royals, Monaco Royals, Swedish Royals Cancer, Patronage, Prince Albert II, Prince Guillaume, Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Sibilla, Princess Victoria

Princess Caroline of Monaco’s husband, Prince Ernst August of Hannover, is currently on trial in Germany for the January 2000 beating of a Kenyan hotel owner.

This trial, a retrial of a 2004 verdict, is expected to last 11 days and may include testimony by Princess Caroline, a witness to the reported beating. Although the reported attack occurred in Kenya, the trial is being held in Germany under special laws for foreigners.

More information from the Associated Press report is available here and discussion of Their Royal Highness’ current events are here.

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The roar of practice races through the streets of Monaco and high priced tickets mean the beginning of the F1 Grand Prix de Monaco is near.  This year’s 67th Grand Prix, is scheduled to officially begin today.

Click photo for more at ABACA Press.

To start the events, Monaco’s sporting mad Prince hosted his annual pre-F1 soccer match in Monaco’s Louis II Stadium.  The friendly match pits members of the F1 racing teams as “Nazionale Piloti” against the Prince’s “Star Team.”  The game is played to benefit AMADE, an organization which special ties to the Monaco ruling family, as it was first organized by Princess Grace. Princess Caroline currently heads the organization but was unable to attend the event.

Team Nazionale Piloti, in Black and White checked flag uniforms included Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastien Bourdais, Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg. Both teams were cheered on the sidelines by Monaco’s Princess Stephanie.

Current, updated photos and information about the Monaco F1 Grand Prix will be available in this thread throughout the Grand Prix.

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals AMADE, Grand Prix, Prince Albert II, Princess Stephanie, Soccer

Click photo for gallery at IBL

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Hanover (Princess Caroline of Monaco) was in Paris on May 14 to preside over the annual gathering of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.  The Annual Meeting, convened by the UN Director-General, brings together a large number of international personalities, from the worlds of art, film, music, literature, charity and public affairs.

Her Royal Highness has been a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 2003 and uses her role in the forum to promote education and training for young women.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter.

More information on Her Royal Highness’ current events can be found in this thread.

Sg1Fan German Royals, Monaco Royals Hanover, Princess Caroline, UNESCO, United Nations

Although Princess Charlotte of Monaco never ruled the tiny Principality, she became the transition branch of the family in a journey that began on this day in 1911. In 1911, Monaco’s Hereditary Prince remained heirless and the crown was poised to be passed to a distant German relative (Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach who later became King of Lithuania).  In a surprise announcement, Prince Louis’ father, Prince Albert I announced his approval for his son, then Hereditary Prince Louis II, to legitimize his only child.  With that, Louis II’s only child, Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet, rose from poverty in Algeria to become a Princess with accession rights.

Princess Charlotte Painting by László

Her Serene Highness Princess Charlotte was born in Constantine, Algeria on September 30, 1898 to Marie Juliette Louve and then Hereditary Prince Louis of Monaco who was serving as a member of the French Foreign Legion in the region.  Marie Louve’s background is a matter of disagreement by historians as is how and where Princess Charlotte lived prior to 1911.

The 1911 adoption was challenged several times by relatives and found to be in violation of prior constitutional rules.  In response, a change of the Monaco Constitution was made in 1918 with a repeated adoption following in 1919 (some historians still consider this last adoption unconstitutional).  After the second announcement  in 1919, she officially gained the title Her Serene Highness Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, the title of Hereditary Princess of Monaco and the surname Grimaldi. Read more…

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After reading an article about the high rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Monaco, Princess Stephanie took action and has made it her mission to inform others about the disease through her foundation Fight Aids Monaco. Although better known as the rebel Princess, Princess Stephanie works internationally to fight the disease as a UN AIDS Special Representative.  She made a rare public appearance today in Carpentras, France as President of the Monaco organization to lay the corner stone for the ‘Maison de Vie’ – literally “House of Life” in English.

Click photo for more at Belga.

The ‘Maison de Vie,’ part of the Fight AIDS Monaco project, is being built to house people suffering from HIV/AIDS and is scheduled to be completed and functional within a year. The site will include two buildings with ample ground space for gardens and walking trails.   The addition will add living space for 28 adults and children to complement the Fight AIDS Monaco’s large office complex located at Villa Pasteur, 11 Bd Charles III in Monaco.

Audio of Radio Monaco interviews with the Princess on the topic are available here.

Information on Princess Stephanie’s current work with Fight Aids Monaco can be found in this thread.

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals Fight AIDS Monaco, HIV/AIDS, Patronage, Princess Stephanie

Click to see photo and article at London Telegraph

Monaco’s 51 year old sovereign is only 4 years into his reign and he is already facing a “mutiny” in the face of mounting criticism of the his behavior.  In the reign of Prince Albert II’s father, Prince Rainier III it was very rare to see public criticism of the sovereign but the Prince’s government and the people of Monaco seem to be concerned about their Prince’s priorities. When reporters came looking for information, people would often walk away and refuse to be interviewed.

Today’s London Telegraph shows just how different times are.  The article notes that citizens dislike that the Prince ”treats Monaco like his holiday home…He pops in for a few weeks, then dashes off on another long jaunt.” While the Prince does seem to take more holidays than his father some allowance must be made for the fact that Prince Rainier III was ill and unable to travel for much of the latter part of his reign.  For the most part, his travels do bring good press and tourists to Monaco. Read more…

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals European Union, Prince Albert II, Public Opinion