With a wink and a smile, Monaco's ruler Prince Albert married South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock on Saturday in a ceremony attended by a who's who of European royalty and the international elite.
The 53-year-old married Wittstock, 33, in the courtyard of his palace at the foot of a vast white-marble double staircase lined with white flowers. Some 3,500 guests sat outside to watch the service on giant TV screens.
Albert's sisters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, both dressed in pink, smiled as they watched the couple marry in front of a crowd that included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and opera singer Renee Fleming.
The long white train of Wittstock's Giorgio Armani duchess satin gown, encrusted with thousands of tiny crystals, spilled over the red carpet. The groom wore the white dress uniform of Monaco's Carabinieri royal guard.
"It was very elegant, very moving," supermodel Naomi Campbell, in a one-shouldered pale green dress, told TFI television.
After they exchanged vows, Albert winked at his bride, who smiled shyly. Sitting on red velvet chairs, they held hands as a South African singer sang the Click Song, made famous by the late Miriam Makeba.
The wedding is the first of a ruling prince in Monaco since Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, married Hollywood star Grace Kelly in 1956. Rainier transformed Monaco from a faded gambling center into a billionaires' haven, using his marriage to Kelly to infuse the tiny principality with film-star glamour.
Her death in a car crash in 1982 revived talk of the legendary 13th-century curse of his dynasty -- the Grimaldis -- that has haunted his family during its seven centuries of rule. According to legend, a Flemish woman raped by a Grimaldi cursed the family for eternity never to find happiness in marriage.
Caroline and Stephanie have had a series of high-profile and disastrous marriages. Albert himself has been linked with a succession of models and actresses, and has admitted to fathering two illegitimate children.
Just days ago, rumors of discontent threatened to mar the festivities. The palace strongly denied a report in the French weekly L'Express that Wittstock tried to skip town on a one-way flight to South Africa, and that it took "infinite persuasion" by the prince and his entourage to change her mind.
(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
摩纳哥国家元首阿尔贝二世亲王和南非游泳健将查伦•维特施托克上周六在欢笑声中举行了婚礼。到场的还有欧洲皇室名人成员以及国际知名人士。 在白色花朵装饰的巨型白色大理石双层楼梯脚下的王宫庭院里，53岁的阿尔贝二世亲王迎娶了33岁的新娘维特施托克。大约3500名宾客受邀在场外通过大屏幕观礼。 阿尔贝二世亲王的姐妹、卡罗琳公主和斯蒂芬妮公主都身着粉色礼服，面带微笑。到场的还有法国总统尼古拉•萨科齐、香奈尔设计师卡尔•拉格菲尔德以及歌剧女歌手蕾妮•弗莱明。 维特施托克身着长裙摆白色绸缎嫁衣，由乔治•阿玛尼设计，上面镶嵌有数千颗小水晶，裙摆拖在红色的地毯上。新郎身着摩纳哥皇家卫队宪兵白色制服。 身着淡绿色单肩礼服的超模纳奥米•坎贝尔对TF1法国电视一台说："婚纱太美了，十分动人。" 宣誓结束后，阿尔贝二世亲王向腼腆微笑的新娘使眼色示意。伴随着南非歌手的一曲Click Song，他们手挽手坐上红色天鹅绒椅上。该歌曲经已故歌手米瑞安•马卡贝演唱后走红。 摩纳哥上次为执政亲王举办婚典是在1956年，当时阿尔贝二世亲王的父亲-兰尼埃三世亲王迎娶了好莱坞明星格雷丝•凯莉。兰尼埃三世亲王将摩纳哥从一个日趋衰退的赌国转变成了亿万富翁的乐土，借助与凯莉的婚姻赋予了这个小国电影明星般的魅力。 1982年，凯莉在一场车祸中去世。这又激起了有关13世纪王室诅咒传说的讨论。格里马尔迪家族执政的七个世纪以来，一直受此诅咒困扰。该传说认为，一位被格里马尔迪家族的一名成员强奸的弗兰德妇女诅咒他的家族永远婚姻不幸。 卡罗琳公主和斯蒂芬妮公主高调举办过多场婚礼，但是婚姻都很不幸。阿尔贝二世亲王与多位女模特和女演员有过暧昧关系，还承认有两个私生子。 就在几天前，有传言称新娘对新郎不满，婚礼有可能告吹。法国《快讯》周刊此前报道称，维特施托克设法搭乘单程飞往南非的航班逃婚，在亲王及其随从的再三劝说下她才改变主意，而摩纳哥王室强烈否认了这一报道。
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