Wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock Wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock The wedding between Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock took place on 1 and 2 July 2011 at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. It has been described as Monaco's "biggest party in 55 years", in other words, the biggest since the wedding of Albert's parents, Rainier III and Grace Kelly. Prince Albert and Wittstock first met in 2000 at a swimming competition in Monaco in which she was participating. They announced their engagement on 23 June 2010. Prince Albert II is the current Sovereign Prince of Monaco, having
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco jewel thief known as René the Cane as her lover). According to numerous obituaries, the prince was faced upon his ascension with a treasury that was practically empty. The small nation's traditional gambling clientele, largely European aristocrats, found themselves with reduced funds after World War II. Other gambling centers had opened to compete with Monaco, many of them successfully. To compensate for this loss of income, Rainier decided to promote Monaco as a tax haven, commercial center, real-estate development opportunity, and international tourist attraction. The early years of his reign saw the overweening involvement of the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle