Monaco - A Royal Wedding Story

I went to Nice and Monaco at the end of August - the main aim to see HSH Princess Charlene's wedding dress and the exhibition of Royal Courts at the Grimaldi Forum.  The weather was glorious - a nice change from the cool wet UK "summer"! 
First I went to see the Royal Palace which was lovely inside - small compared to most of the other palaces I have seen in Europe and Russia.  After that visit I went down to the Oceanographic Museum to see the Royal Wedding Exhibition.  I was amazed to find one could take photos of the items on display (unlike at Buckingham Palace).  So here are some pics of the exhibition which is on show until 22 November 2011.



The Wedding Car by Lexus - it is a hybrid eco-friendly car.




The foyer and staircase of the museum is lined
 with photographs from the royal wedding.




















The Civil Ceremony








The Religious ceremony.




A first view of the dress and uniform.

Here you see some of the beautiful embroidery and beading on the dress and the orders worn by the Prince.

 

Some more detail of the dress made by Giorgio Armani.

A side view.



Note the covered buttons at the back and the second (detachable) train which was
attached to the back "collar" of the dress.




Back view - the carpet was especially made for the
wedding with wool from New Zealand.



One of the lovely portraits of Princess Charlene.

In a glass cabinet outside the room with the dress and uniform was the beautiful Ocean Tiara given to Princess Charlene as a wedding gift by Prince Albert - it was made by Van Cleef and Arpels with sapphires and diamonds in a swirling wave pattern and can be collapsed to wear as a necklace - indeed the first time Princess Charlene wore it, it was as a necklace - given that she is/was a swimmer it is appropriate that the tiara be called the Ocean Tiara.

So if you happen to be in Monaco before 22 November maybe you would like to visit the museum.  After seeing the royal wedding exhibit I went downstairs to see the fabulous aquariums and all the amazing fish and sea creatures!