Monaco National Day was November 19 and Prince Albert and Princess Charlene brought out their twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, to celebrate the day. Their grumpy faces are adorable.
National Day in Monaco was formerly known as the Feast of the Sovereign and was held on November 19 to mark the anniversary of Prince Rainier III‘s (1923-2005) accession to the throne ceremony which took place on November 19, 1949. Albert chose to keep Nation Day on November 19 in honor of his father.
Charlene wore a plum Akris dress which I don’t really care for and a matching hat with netting.
Other members of the Monaco royal family who came out include:
Princess Stephanie (far L in red) and Princess Caroline (second R in dust-ruffled Chanel).
Beatrice Borromeo (who married Pierre in July & August), Pierre Casiraghi (our July Hot Guy), and Charlotte Casiraghi (who recently dumped her son’s father for an Italian filmmaker).
Beatrice wore some nice morganite and diamond earrings from Köchert that cost €13,500.
Charlene stepped out at the Monaco Red Cross headquarters on November 17 to distribute parcels to monegasque citizens. She, and Albert, also observed a minute of silence on November 16 to pay tribute to victims of the Paris attacks.
Charlene debuted a new pixie cut which she promptly covered on National Day. I wonder if she likes her hair cut or thinks it was a mistake. She cut bangs last January and then promptly hid them away. And now she’s cut a pixie cut and promptly hid it away. Maybe she should stop taking haircut risks.
BTW, hand holding.
Great pics! I actually like the plum dress and matching hat -they have a kind of severe chic.
I think the way they’re handling the kids is just right. They trot them out for formal occasions like this and let everyone have a look, and that way, nobody is going crazy to pap them. And those twins are adorable. Between the lack of hair, the severe faces, and the dark long coats, they look like they world’s smallest European gangsters/enforcers.
I’m not a fan of Charlene’s hair – I think it’s too harsh a look for her. But she tried something new, which is always good.
I kind of feel bad for Charlene sometimes. She’s gotten a lot of flak, but she’s worked hard to learn the language and to acclimate to her role. It’s kind of ironic that some of the same Kate-lovers who will pounce on anyone who dare suggests that she and William aren’t in total wuv, and that she isn’t the pinnacle of perfection, will gleefully rip Charlene, her efforts, and her marriage to shreds.
Re your last paragraph: The opposite is also true. The same Kate-haters who gleefully rip everything Kate does to shreds and never gives her any sort of credit for anything, ever, will defend Charlene to the death and spew hatred at anyone who dares to criticize her. I, personally, think neither woman is perfect and both have flaws.
I agree with you about Char’s hair. I don’t think it looks good on her. But I, personally, don’t find pixie cuts attractive on any woman (even Emma Watson who I think is very pretty, but when she got a pixie cut years ago I thought it looked terrible).
Good point, KMR. We have to be fair even when we’re criticizing. I do prefer Charlene to Kate but neither woman is perfect.
Personally, my pet peeve is when people rip Kate a new one and demonize her to no end, but give William a pass or act like he’s some helpless, manipulated baby. When, actually, I hold him more accountable than her. But that’s a whole other post :).
I used to not criticize William much until I realized that it was sexist of me to criticize Kate and not William. So I’ve made it a point to criticize William for his faults as well. You are right that he should be held more accountable than Kate since he is the blood royal.
Awww such a sweet post! The Prince and Princess are adorable and what gorgeous eyes they have. I would have loved to see them in something other than dark grey but given the occasion the colors were pretty spot on.
As Faye pointed out this dress is severe chic at it’s most severe. It struck me that Charlene frequently dresses in rather severe clothes, no ruffles or fluff for this girl just straight lines and crisp angles. Being a pixie cut wearer myself I love her hair cut. She fortunately has the bone structure to pull off such a short cut but I also like her with longer hair.
I have to agree with both Faye and KMR, the way some people pull one woman down to build up another is ridiculous. So thanks KMR for keeping your blog on an even keel!
On to the other ladies, wow Beatrice was stunning, the dress, the coat, those earrings perfection!! I also thought Stephanie looked nice, the red coat is a great color for her. Imo, the only fashion miss was Charlotte, really a pink coat for such a sober event?? Reminds me of the pink coat Kate wore to the 9/11 memorial site. Charlotte is simply beautiful and her choices are usually more spot on so maybe this is just a one time miss.
Re Charlotte’s coat: It actually reminded me of one of Kate’s pink maternity coats. I honestly thought Charlotte was pregnant when I first saw photos of her because the coat reminded me so much of Kate’s maternity coat. Plus the way she was holding her hands under her stomach they was Kate does.
It’s this McQueen coat that Charlotte’s reminded me of. Kate wore it to Trooping in 2013 when pregnant with George and to the Commonwealth Day service when pregnant with Charlotte:
http://media2.popsugar-assets.com/files/2015/03/09/717/n/1922398/2e79695c9506b2f4_465675116_10rjiHGd.xxxlarge_2x/i/Kate-Middleton-Pregnant-Pink-Coat-Commonwealth-Day.jpg
Yeah, I thought she might be pregnant too, I guess time will tell.
I thought she was pregnant as well… hope she isn’t…
Especially since she just left her long time partner for some Italian jump off.
KMR, you had me at jump off.
When I first saw these pictures I had a huge smile on my face from seeing the twins. I think Albert and Charlene are giving just the right amount of exposure. They are letting the people of Monaco see the kids and get invested in them. Plus I think they are just very proud of them and love to show them off.
I love her hair. She’s got the bone structure to pull it off and it will grow out. But at lease she’s willing to try something different. I like the dress but not the hat so much. They give off a flapper vibe to me. And I’m also a fan of her preference for clean lines and minimal frills. But that’s just me.
What’s with the dust ruffle dresses lately? Beatrice Borremeo looked good but she’s almost looking more royal than the other ladies. Still she looks good. Not a huge fan of Pierre, but I hope their marriage lasts.
We’ve said it before, but it really looks like these babies have renewed the relationship between Albert and Charlene. For some reason that makes me happy.
I think it’s part proud parent and part excellent PR. They are in love with their kids; they’ve both become so much more relaxed since the birth. But they also know that the people want to see the babies.
For some reason I never bought the run-a-way bride/Charlene is a miserable captive/the marriage is in trouble stories. I do think it is impossible for them to hide their delight for the children. They light up when showing off their pride and joy babies. I don’t think this means they were miserable prior to the little prince and princess. It seems once this kind of talk begins, this tends to be the thing many continue to say. To this day I read, “Charlene looks miserable” comments.
I don’t often care for Charlene’s style. I tend to like pixie cuts on young women with soft facial features. Kind of the retro look of Twiggy, Season Hubley and Mia Farrow. Every time Princess Charlene cuts her hair, I think there will be less and less of a chance to see a tiara moment. I get it, she is a long time swimming champ, but can’t we get a few old time princess moments from her.
I too didn’t believe the runaway bride story either.
I’ve seen the photos with the hand holding between these two which looks natural, whereas any contact between Kate and William seems forced? (eg the over the top hug at the Olympics between Kate and William which happened a day or so after the photo of Charlene leaning on Albert when watching the Olympics which looks natural.)
To be fair to the “Charlene is miserable” people, Charlene did look miserable in a lot of photos. But it may have had more to do with her not being comfortable having her photo taken or the pressure of trying to get pregnant. And then the uncomfortableness of pregnancy. Ever since the babies were born Charlene has looked so much happier. Albert, too.
I agree with KMR.
Lots of articles, that have since been scrubbed, popped up around their wedding. Not just the stories of her running away, but also the pre-wedding forced (that’s how it looked) March through Monaco ostetibly to meet well wishers. She wept entire time. Albert’s baby mama’s very public pap stroll through Monaco the day before the wedding. Culminating in the wedding where she wept and he appeared annoyed by her weeping as he did during the pap stroll.
My theory is that something happened, or perhaps she found out something, on the eve of their wedding. It took better part of the first year for her to relax – perhaps also adjusting to the spotlight – and to get over whatever happened on the eve of their wedding. It helped that the troublemaking babymama was banished from Monaco and is now settled in London where she keeps giving interviews implying that Charlene banished her and her son.
Not to mention the botox, fillers to settle. Her face and body language were so miserable.
This doesn’t rule out stress of trying to become pregnant.
These babies have definitely brought the spark back into her and into their relationship.
On a Kate note, I think Charlotte may have changed Kate and William’s relationship to something both lighter and darker. They seem cosier, yet Kate looks worse. The longed for baby girl, who is calmer and easier than her hellion brother seems to be doing a number on Kate whilst William doesn’t look as stressed and annoyed.
“Albert’s baby mama’s very public pap stroll through Monaco the day before the wedding”
Oh my gosh, that is horrible! And very unfair to do that to Charlene. I am rethinking my comment as anyone would be upset knowing that something like that was planned and would happen before your wedding.
Omg. You referred to Georgie as a hellion. Don’t forget that Charlotte is very lady-like already, lol!
Rhianon: I don’t think for a second that Georgie is a hellion, but you know that’s what WK think he is.
And describing Charlotte as ladylike makes me stabby an ragey.
Have I mentioned today how much I hate their gender imprinting on th kids with genders circa pre-feminism?
Just to spite them, I hope Charlotte turns into a hellion, just like her big brother.
I stand corrected, Herazeus. Will and Kate called him as much.
I will go you one further. I hope that Charlotte turns into Rhonda Roussey just to spite them.
I wonder if William is so enamored of his little Charlotte that she gets the majority of the doting and love that Kate looks to William for and she is a bit jealous? We’ve heard William speak of her in his glowing terms, but Kate (as far as I can remember) has only said she’s getting bigger.
Does he make Kate pay more attention to the raising of Charlotte as opposed to the “hellion” George? I know she said she wanted a boy when she was pregnant with George and William wanted a girl. While she was probably happy to be able to deliver the girl that William really wanted I wonder if she has usurped Kate’s space a bit with William. I think if he has any say over it, she will be a huge daddy’s girl.
Either she’s working a heck of a lot more with the two kids at home and neglecting herself because of it or she is going into a depression of sorts and that’s affecting her. Either way, something isn’t right in the snow globe of theirs called Williamville and needs to be corrected.
Love the twins.
I absolutely hate the new haircut. I think she looks so much better with it longer. She looks like an elf. I know, that’s harsh. But the twins are cute and they even have more hair than their dad.
I’ve always thought Charlene looks better with longer hair. I didn’t care much for when she cut it short the first time and I really dislike the pixie cut.
The twins are adorable in what are probably designer outfits. I cannot with that hat of Charlene’s. Yes, cover up the too-short pixie cut, but do it with a better hat. Kudos for the black $60 Ralph Lauren which suits her frame.
Those blond babies are so cute. I cannot get enough of them. I applaud Charlene and Albert showing them off.
I love Charlene’s style. It’s very sleek and minimalistic. She’s a prime example of how to wear simple clothes. Her couture is impeccably cut and tailored. Her hair is great too.
My favorite style icon in that family is Caroline. I have been in awe of her for years. Some of her choices may be a miss, but she is always gorgeously presented.
Great post, KMR!
rhiannon, you are probably too young to remember Caroline in her teens and early 20’s. IMO she was the ‘It Girl’ of that time period. She was in Vogue magazine and made headlines for going topless. Despite being the culture… Princess Grace was none too happy.
Oh my goodness, I remember the dust up when she married her first husband, the older playboy Pierre I believe his name was. And the Princess Leia hair buns/ear muffs she wore on her wedding day, lol!! She was gorgeous then and now her daughter Charlotte is taking over her spot (although not today with that pink coat).
I think his last name was Junot. From what I read, she was quite the wild one. She was also a beauty.
Wasn’t she part of the Studio 54 crowd in NY?
Yeah, the European Royal women are not afraid of fashion the way the British Royal women are.
I go back and forth on Charlene’s style. Some outfits I really like and some outfits I hate.
What a lovely family. Albert, for all his flaws, seems like a genuinely good man. I like Charlene. Her joy with the babies is great to see–and so are the babies! Love love love.
Albert seems great with babies. You can find pictures of him with his older son, Alexandre, where he is adorable with him.
I like how it looks like Beatrice is giving someone the stink eye lol
I know right. It’s great.
Charlene attend a conference for healthcare workers. The Princess of Monaco does not use excuses not to do her work!
Adorable babies! Just love them!
I love Charlene’s new look. She can pull off that pixie do thanks to her amazing facial bones. She is just one classy looking lady and she takes risks with her fashions without being unchic. I am crazy about the plum dress and close-fitting hat. Also, think her photo with her daughter is just perfect. The way she kisses the baby and wraps her hand around the infant’s tiny one. Just lovely.
Why are we not seeing more photos of Charlotte and George, btw? The Cambridges are guarding the children’s privacy a tad too much. I’m all for giving them space, but people are interested in seeing how they are growing . Does anyone think Kate will take some more photos closer to Christmas?
I am another one who thought Princess Charlotte might be pregnant. But, one shot of Charlene holding one of the twins made me think for one second that she could be pregnant again, too. Princess Charlotte of Monaco is stunning. Her mother was too — in her day. Now, all that smoking and other bad habits seem to have aged Caroline terribly.
Pay heed, Kate. Take better care of yourself.
Charlotte Casirighi isn’t a princess. Caroline’s kids (and Stephanie’s kids) are like Princess Anne of BRF’s kids. Royal mother, not royalty themselves.
Speaking of beauties, have you seen Stephanie’s daughter, Pauline Ducret? What a beauty.
Charlotte needs to pay heed to that warning as well. She’s a smoker and sun worshipper like her mother and aunt. You’d think the younger generation would learn.
What adorable twins.
No to that hat.
Charlotte looks pregnant. Time will tell.
That dress looks brown to me, not plum. The one Charlotte holds (I can’t tell them apart) looks like they’re saying “Unhand me, woman, I have a principality to destroy!” Picture this in Stewie Griffin’s voice. The other one seems to be saying “Yes tiny people, I rule over you. Tremble before me.”
What beautiful babies and how happy and proud the parents seem!
It’s nice to see such a loving family. Wish we had more photos of W&K with their kids. Would love to see Uncle Harry in the mix, too.
Charlene is quite a fashionista, if you ask me. Takes chances and for the most part pulls things off with great ease. I liked the dress and hat. Her new hair style is becoming to her thanks to her beautiful facial structure. Still, will be hard to dress up and harder to grow out. She is beautiful, though. Seems so happy with her kids. Albert does, too.