With her customary effortless elegance, Princess Caroline of Monaco lent an element of glamour to the principality’s National Day celebrations as she and husband Prince Ernst of Hanover stepped out for a gala opera on Tuesday evening.
Prince Rainier and the Monaco royal family attended a production of Gioacchino Rossini’s masterpiece The Barber Of Seville at the Grimaldi Forum,capping off the annual festivities. However, young Princess Alexandra – the star attraction earlier in the week – was forced to give it a miss due to the late hour.
Spirits were high at the night-time bash, despite the sober tone which pervaded the events this year. Prince Rainier had addressed the people of Monaco on Monday, explaining this year’s austere National Day as a sign of solidarity with the victims of the September 11 attacks.
“Peace and liberty have a price: that of determination and courage,” he said. “The current events can only serve to reinforce our union with the rights and morals of humanity, the foundations of democracy.”