Prince Albert II of Monaco wed Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer from South Africa, in a civil ceremony Friday The prince and his new princess will say “I do” again at a larger religious wedding Saturday. More than 50 years ago, his mother and father, American actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco, wed in a simple civil ceremony, with a more elaborate affair at Saint Nicholas Cathedral held the following day.
Sadly, neither of the prince’s parents will be there as the world’s most eligible bachelor takes a wife. Kelly was tragically killed in a car accident in 1982, while Prince Rainier succumbed to declining health in 2005.
In honor of Prince Albert’s wedding, here’s a report from Bob Considine that ran in the Washington Post on April 18, 1956 following the couple’s civil ceremony:
Pale and faintly smiling film star Grace Kelly was married to a nervously restive Prince Rainier III today in the gilded damask throne room of the Palace of Monaco.
“I am numb,” the new princess said in awe after the 20-minute civil ceremony.
The prince, who bit his lip, looked only during the ceremony at the 26-year-old woman who is now her serene highness.
She, however, often turned in her chair next to the 32-year-old prince as if to seek reassurance from him.
It was a kissless marriage, this prelude to Thursday’s religious ceremony at St. Charles Cathedral.
The morning-frocked prince took his bride — a vision in beige lace over rose and a trim hat of organdy across her honey-colored hair — and led her out of the throne room without touching her.
The tense sadness of most of the ceremony was due, it was later explained, to the collapse just before the marriage of Count Fernand Caillard D’Aillieres, the prince’s Chamberlain, from a nervous breakdown.
A palace attendant rushed a wheeled stretcher to the count in a small suite where the Rev. Francis Tucker the Prince’s priest, was conferring with Papal Nuncio Marella and Bishop Gilles Barthe, who will perform the religious ceremony tomorrow.
But the austerity, and the old-fashioned bridegroom nervousness of a man who until today was called “Europe’s most eligible bachelor,” melted quickly once he led Grace and the tiny wedding party — including this reporter — to his attractive Palace apartment for champagne.
The beautiful Grace, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Kelly, smiled radiantly as she took champagne and invited us to have drink while the Prince wandered among the relatives.