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Happy anniversary, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene ! The royal couple celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary on Thursday, July 2. To mark their special day, the Prince’s Palace shared a new photo of the pair with their five-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella . “On the occasion of their 9th wedding anniversary, LL. AA. SS. Prince Albert and Princess Charlène are pleased to share this photo taken at the Royal Palace with their children, Prince Hereditary Jacques and Princess Gabriella,” the palace’s message read alongside the photo.
Charlene was pictured in the newly released photo hugging her daughter Gabriella, who sat on her lap. Meanwhile, Prince Jacques was sandwiched between his mom and dad on a cream-colored couch. The image appears to have been taken during the Fête de la Saint-Jean (Saint John’s Eve) on June 23. The royal twins made a rare public appearance with their parents for the celebration last month.
Princess Charlene looked characteristically chic in a black long buttoned dress. The mom of two royal styled her golden tresses in a braided headband that showed off her bangs, and completed her look with a bold red lip. Albert and Jacques, the heir apparent to the Monegasque throne, coordinated in navy blazers, while Gabriella wore a stylish white flared dress and a matching headband.
Grace Kelly ’s son and the former Olympic swimmer were married in an intimate civil ceremony attended by close family and friends in the palace’s Throne Room on July 1, 2011. The pair’s religious ceremony was held the following day, July 2, in the main courtyard of the Prince’s Palace. The South African-born beauty wore a stunning off-the-shoulder duchesse silk gown by Giorgio Armani Privé for the lavish occasion. The timeless design featured a five-meter-long train with 40,000 Swarovski crystals and 20,000 mother-of-pearl teardrops. The royal bride decided against wearing a tiara on her big day. “I’m not wearing a tiara,” she told Vogue. “Instead, [Albert’s sister] Princess Caroline has lent me some beautiful diamond hair clips which belonged to her grandmother.”
The Monaco royal family was out in full force for the fairy-tale wedding, including Albert’s sisters Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie , in addition to the Prince’s nieces and nephews: Pierre Casiraghi, Charlotte Casiraghi, Andrea Casiraghi, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Camille Gottlieb, Pauline Ducruet, and Louis Ducruet. Princess Caroline’s future daughters-in-law, Beatrice Borromeo and Tatiana Casiraghi, as well as her stepsons, Prince Christian and Prince Ernst August of Hanover, were in attendance. Fellow high-profile guests included Naomi Campbell, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex, then-Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Princess Maxima.
Albert admitted that the wedding was an “enormous affair.” “Probably even bigger than I ever thought,” he said (via People). “It was nice in many ways, we had some great side events leading up to it, like the Eagles concert, a lot of wonderful things. Jean Michel Jarre’s show in the harbor. That was great, but the actual wedding day itself was not as…I mean it was pleasant, but I was more worried about how things would turn out.”
The Prince added, “I was glad to share it, to share the moment with a lot of people from Monaco, but it would have been a private affair it would have been fine with me. And fine with Charlene too.”