The Prince and Princess of Monaco took their children on a festive family outing to inaugurate the nation’s Christmas lights last night.
Former Olympic swimmer Charlene, 47, and her husband Albert II, 67, dressed their 10-year-old twins Jacques and Gabriella in matching beige outfits, with the young princess sporting a designer Fendi poncho.
They pressed a button, officially igniting the city’s illuminations from a large tree in the Market Square – Place du Marché La Condamine – with large crowds in attendance.
Also present were the mayor, Georges Marsan, and members of the Municipal Council, making the beginning of the country’s year-end celebrations.
Doting on her daughter and son, Charlene, who was in a black and white hounds tooth print trench coat and leather boots for the winter weather, beamed and clapped at their efforts.
Elsewhere, Albert, who protected himself from the cold in a navy jacket, also smiled as he posed for photos with his family.
Earlier this month, Charlene was the picture of elegance in an all-white ensemble as she and her husband celebrated Monaco’s National Day.
The glamorous royal certainly lived up to her title Her Serene Highness as she and Albert enjoyed morning mass at the Our Lady Immaculate Cathedral before being joined by their children to wave at crowds of wellwishers from the Palace balcony, dressed to the nines as they took in the festivities below.
Paying homage to the country’s colours, Charlene was sleek in a tailored ivory suit while Albert looked smart in military regalia.
Matching his father, young Prince Jacques too was formal in an outfit with emblems and navy trousers with a red stripe down the side, while Princess Gabriella contrasted her mother in a pretty red frock.
Every year, on November 19, Monegasques and residents of the principality celebrate by waving their flags, and often start commemorating the occasion with a fireworks show the evening before.
Also in attendance was Charlotte Casiraghi, the 38-year-old daughter of Princess Caroline, who was dressed in a flattering yellow tweed blazer.
She was joined by her son Balthazar Rassam, seven, her brother Pierre Casiraghi, 38, and his wife Beatrice Borromeo, 40, who was dressed in grey.
In early October, Beatrice and Pierre welcomed their first daughter together.
At the start of this month, the couple, who also share sons Stefano, eight, and Franceso, seven, welcomed their little girl, naming her Bianca Carolina Marta.
Her name pays tribute to two of the couple’s family members, Paris Match reported, with Carolina being a nod to Pierre’s mother, Princess Caroline.
Marta, meanwhile, honours Beatrice’s maternal grandmother, Marta Marzotto, an Italian fashion designer.
Beatrice, who was once crowned the ‘most stylish European royal’ by Tatler, is the daughter of Italian aristocrat Don Carlo Ferdinando and married into the Monaco royal family in 2015.
She tied the knot with Pierre, the youngest child of Princess Caroline and grandson of the late Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, in a lavish wedding hailed as the ‘chicest of the summer’ by Vogue.
Prior to marrying Pierre, Beatrice, whose family owns the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore near Milan, along with land in the Lombardy and Piedmont countryside, worked as a newspaper and broadcast journalist in her native Italy.
Princess Caroline of Hanover, 68, was also in attendance today, looking chic in a plum overcoat and, like Charlene and Gabriella, also had a medal pinned to her lapel.
She honoured Monaco’s flag by wearing a satin cherry red hairband, as she watched a ceremony to mark National Day.
National Monaco Day is also known as The Sovereign Prince’s Day, and the date of the celebration is chosen by the reigning Prince. Traditionally, the Princes chose the day of the saint they are named after.
But when Prince Albert inherited the title, he decided to choose the same day as his father rather than the day of Saint Albert, which would have been November 15.
