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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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Monaco’s annual Garden Club event opened today to much fanfare.

The Garden Club, begun in 1968 by Prince Albert and Princess Caroline’s mother, the late Princess Grace of Monaco, holds the show annually in Monaco to “promote the art of flower arrangement.”

Click for 2009 photos from Belga

Princess Grace’s interest in arrangement started when she arrived in Monaco and assumed approval authority for the Palace’s arrangements.  During the first few years, the Princess’s few arrangement blunders lead her to depend heavily on Prince Rainier’s skills in the area.  In support his wife and of the annual event, Prince Rainier often entered his own creations in the contest, under assumed names, winning several prizes for his efforts.  After Princess Grace’s tragic death in 1982, Princess Caroline became President of the Club.

Click for past photos at Getty

The annual show, held in the “Rêveries sur les Jardins” had entries in more than 8 categories. Opening the show were His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, his sister Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline and the Princess’s husband Prince Ernst of Hanover.  This particular appearance is Prince Ernst’s first since missing the annual Rose Ball after a fall requiring emergency knee surgery.

More information and photos are available in this thread.

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This year marks what would have been Princess Grace of Monaco’s 80th birthday. Princess Grace, born Grace Patricia Kelly, an American Academy Award winning actress, married His Serene Highness Prince Rainier of Monaco and is the mother of Monaco’s current Sovereign, Prince Albert II.  Although she died in 1982, she remains a popular figure in both American and European culture and it shows in the current headlines.

Click to see Photo at Newscom

In keeping with last year’s popular, traveling exhibit of her chattels, Hello Magazine reports that Cartier is hosting an exhibit of some of her jewels.  Cartier, one of the more popular royal jewel makers, designed many pieces for the Princess, including one of the few tiaras she used.  That tiara will be included in the display as part of the exhibit “Memories Of Cartier Creations” in Tokyo’s National Museum through May 31.

A second exhibit for “”to one of the most stylish women of all time” is to be held at the Monaco Casino from April 24 until May 2.  The exhibit, a painting by artist Peter Engels, will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s to benefit the Lions Club of Monaco.  The portrait of the Princess as a younger woman in her Hollywood days is reportedly the largest painted portrait of the Princess and is done “with a pallet knife in sepia colourite.”

Engles told one news organization that “Princess Grace was a captivating woman. She died tragically in the prime of her life. And just like John F. Kennedy, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, Elvis Presley and John Lennon, she remains an icon who even now, 25 years after her death, continues to leave an impression. Even on art, so it seems.”

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Prince Albert II and Prince Rainier III. Click the image to see more at Corbis.com

With the arrival of the sad anniversary of the death of His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III, his son His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, has now been sovereign of Monaco for four years.  For years, reporters questioned the type of monarch the very “American” educated Prince would be.  One reporter even noted that he was too “nice” to rule.

The Prince was born to rule and as the saying goes: Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! (The King is Dead, Long Live the King).  Prince Albert had almost half a century by the side of his father, who died at age 81 on April 6, 2005 to wait and prepare.  For years prior to his father’s death, Prince Albert had assumed many of his father’s duties and almost all foreign travel since the Prince’s health was steadily declining.  When Prince Albert was named Regent on March 26, 2005, reporters rushed to quote citizens who expressed their guarded concerns in interviews.  Change is always feared and as Prince Rainier was the only monarch they had ever known.

Those who wondered if Monaco could continue to thrive without Prince Rainier have been pleasantly surprised. Prince Albert’s first years have actually closely marked his father’s. Both began their reign began by asking for the resignation of many of the advisors and staff members of the previous Sovereign and both inherited a country in transition and in need of new direction. Read more…

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The annual ‘Bal de la Rose’ (Rose Ball) was held Saturday evening in a lavender, yellow and black decorated Salle des Etoiles – Sporting in Monte Carlo.  This year’s theme, “Rock’n Roll,” featured an appearance by members of the Harley Davidson Club of Monaco on motorcycle in ‘traditional riding costume,’ placemats made to resemble classic records and live entertainment by The Fratellis, a Scottish alternative rock band, and Chuck Berry.  As the start of the Monaco social season, the event is always well attended by celebrities and socialites alike, even with a 1,500 US ticket cost for the black tie event.

Prince Albert II presided over the event and shared the first dance with his sister, the Princess of Hanover, who was dressed in a floor length Chanel white gown with a short bust length black jacket. The Princess was presented with a unique ‘bouquet’ in keeping with the theme.  It was a motorcycle helmet filled with roses with a pair  of goggles attached.

As in previous years, former South African Swimmer Charlene Wittstock accompanied the Prince.  This year, she was perfectly coifed for the occasion with a tall ’80s hairdo and dressed in a floor length strapless black gown with a sparkling left bust and a black “rock’n roll” style fingerless, sparkling glove on her left hand. Read more…

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