Here are some photos from this past weekend’s Rose Ball 2014, held in Monte Carlo, Monaco. All of the Grimaldis were there except for Andrea Casiraghi and his wife Tatiana (and their infant son Sacha). I don’t know why they didn’t come. Weird. Charlotte Casiraghi gave birth more recently than Tatiana, and Charlotte was there. Not only that, but Charlotte was pretty much the star of the event. This young woman… my God, she’s stunning. It’s like all of the Grimaldi, Kelly and Casiraghi genes were streamlined so Charlotte got the most beautiful combination.
Charlotte wore this pale, silvery blue Chanel gown to the Rose Ball. It’s a shapeless sack, but if you’re going to do a sack… I guess it helps if you look like Charlotte. Plus, she accessorized with a great red lipstick and a genuine smile. Her mom Princess Caroline also wore Chanel. I kind of think Caroline looks… tired. Hard living, perhaps. She’s also walking with a cane, so she’s injured somehow as well. I guess we’re just not supposed to ever mention her permanently absent husband, Ernst August, the Prince of Hanover. He’s off banging ladies in Africa. Maybe he has a permanent mistress? Something, I can’t keep up with him. We rarely see their daughter too – where is Princess Alexandra?
The youngest Casiraghi attended the Rose Ball as well – Pierre attended with his girlfriend Beatrice Borromeo (the girl in the peach ball gown) and they make an attractive couple.
And of course Prince Albert and Princess Charlene were in attendance. Poor Charlene. Although to her credit, she looks somewhat lively in these photos. Albert must have given her some time off from the insemination dungeon and Charlene was able to crack a smile at the ball. Charlene was the only royal woman who didn’t go with Chanel, which must have been awkward because Karl Lagerfeld was one of the big guests of the evening. Charlene’s sad, unattractive dress is by Akris. She tries so hard to make Akris a thing. Like, she wants Akris to be one of her signature designers, but it’s just not working.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Aw, Kaiser, thanks! Letting the royaloonies branch out a bit!
Charlotte is gorgeous, yes, but her dress looks like a rubber tube and her face is so shiny she looks like she just took a swim in an oil drum. And Caroline! My eyes my eyes. Crazy grandma for sure.
Charlene is fine if you just look at her from the waist up, and you crop out her date.
Pierre and Beatrice should rule Monaco. They are the only ones dressed well and looking regal.
Suze,
What?!? No comments about the earrings Charlene wore?!?! I’m shocked at this dereliction of duty! You might need to have your Royal Loonie credentials forcibly removed!
Look at her earrings! It’s part of her Ocean Tiara Parure!!!!
*swoon*
Charlotte and Caroline look awful.
And Pierre and Beatrice do look fabulous.
I like the earrings very much! LOL.
The Ocean tiara is not my jam – I don’t blame Charlene for not wearing it. Maybe as a necklace, it converts, right?
Yes, the tiara is convertible. My guess is there are several other pieces. I’d love to know if it is a full parure or just a demi.
Since it’s a funky tiara it might need to be *seen* to be fully appreciated. IMO most tiaras are that way especially the artsier ones. Also, some people wear tiaras better too. The Swedish really, really know how to rock a tiara but a lot don’t (Luxembourg I’m looking at you). It seems to be a taught or a learned thing….
LadySlippers, i am wearing a tiara right now. And I am sure you are. I love them in any shape or form and I think only Beatrice and Charlotte have a chance among this group of looking right in one.
I think Char’s dress was designed to look like a lick of swirling deadly ocean. Hence the choice of ear bobs.
@Liberty, LadySlippers – I always picture both of you wearing tiaras. But not the ridiculous and puny Ocean – oh no! I see you Liberty sporting the mighty Fife and LadySlippers the Cambridge Lovers Knot.
Dream big, ladies ; ).
@Suze,
What?!? You gave Madame Liberté the Fife?!?
*splutters and turns red*
I love the Fife!!!
Although I’m slightly mollified by the fact I have the CLK. I do love me some pearls.
*pouts*
@Madame Liberté,
I think your avatar should be the La Liberté painting. I think if it every time I see you. 🙂
http://www.youthareawesome.com/immortalized-beauty-famous-artists/
I’m still sniffling. So I dug me up some bling in my time of need. Sometimes only sparkles can chase away the rain.
Madame Liberté can have the Fife *hiccup* but I am SO not sharing the Empress Josephine Tiara. No way. No how. *hiccup* *stares defiantly with arms crossed at Suze*
Ah, don’t fret, LadySlippers. I just thought, for some reason, you would like the pearls.
I agree that all the Royal ladies here would fight over the Fife – if any of us knew where it was!
Suze,
I actually like pearls better than diamonds so you are spot on. There’s only a few all diamond tiaras that I like.
The Fife is a stunner ain’t it?
Charlotte looks like she put on a nylon sack. And that pashmina looks like my grandma’s curtain.
Caroline looks like an old lady.
Pierre’s girlfriend looks okay, but a bit too princessy.
Charlene is the best by far. She looks classy and elegant. If only the skirt wasn’t see trough.
In the picture together, they look more like they’re about to go into the Big Brother house, not like a royal family.
Beatrice is not princessy. She IS a princess.
Nah, whatever. I think titles in the 21st century are stupid.
She looks too princessy.
Stupid or not they still exist.
Okay.
No she isn’t a princess. Beatrice Borromeo is the daughter of Count Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo, (Count of Arona) and his second wife Countess Donna Paola Marzotto. She’s now ‘only’ dating the son of a princess. But that doesn’t count.
She is a very clever girl but also annoying as hell.
Sorry, this is not Princess Beatrice of York. This is a different Beatrice and she’s not a princess. She does look damn good, though.
You need to see her dress in motion. The “flaps” are fantastic.
@paola, do tell….
@BW,
Have a link so I can see Beatrice’s dress in motion? I’ve seen more stills and it does look intriguing. I’d still like a slightly more saturated colour though.
She may “be” a princess, but I agree with Tatjana that nobility titles are worthless. Or rather, they are only worth whatever people are willing to attribute to them. They have no intrinsic value whatsoever, being the result of ancient – and often not so ancient – transactions, usually involving money (only rarely true merit, let alone true nobility of character). My own family was given a nobility title back in the 16th century because they lent money to the crown.
More to the point: one CAN look “princessy” even being a princess. 🙂
Caroline looks pretty much like how most woman that age do without a bunch of plastic surgery. I admire her for that.
I think she’s still stunning. Her taste in fashion leaves a lot to be desired though.
Tessy,
Caroline is only 57. I think years of smoking and maybe lack of protection against the constant sunshine in Monaco have given her more wrinkles than she probably would have otherwise. Still a lovely woman, IMO.
I menat her dress, not her face.
Memme, she is the same age as me, and I know younger women who haven’t smoked and sunned themselves who are as wrinkled as she is. One in particular who could nearly pass as her twin.
It seems that once you get into your 50’s its more or less a crap shoot. Genetics perhaps, some skin is thinner and then even more doesn’t tolerate the abuse of the sun, booze and ciggies. But you’re right, she is lovely and I really appreciate that she hasn’t turned herself into the joker.
I can’t believe how dowdy Caroline looks! And Charlene, always with waves of stress rolling off her. They all try too hard to be glam.
Ooh waves of stress! Supports my theory about the deadly ocean frock.
*snort*
Waves of stress… That’s it.
Charlene face is what is terrible, like her dress isnt that actively bad, but That Face? member when Jack Nicholson played The Joker? And then wore skin colored makeup? THAT
Caroline could let go of the Chanel Ingenue schitck already That is awful
Charlotte looks happy and healthy but that is a Baby Blue Sack dress
Pierre’s come up in handsomeness over Andrea is 100% complete
I’m sure since Char recently gave birth she didn’t want to wear something form fitting just in case she wasn’t back into shape yet, but that girl is so pretty she can wear anything.
+1
Yeah, I don’t mind the silhouette of the gown. It’s the fabric I can’t get behind. I can’t stand shiny fabric, whether it’s satin or lame, I can’t. She is stunning, I could just stare at her. Not in at all creepy way.
Is it just my eyes or is it not a dress but a tunic with very loose pants that Charlotte’s wearing? And the pants look unhemmed too.
I think Charlotte looks like a hot mess.
At first look I disliked Charlotte’s dress too, but it has grown on me and now I’m giving it a pass. Maybe because she looks so genuinely happy and bright, unlike the other members of her family… I would give the hot mess award to Caroline, only because I have the same silk evening coat as she is wearing and in my house it’s called a bathrobe…. Or maybe to Charlene because she consistently exudes an aura of inner hot mess.
Eh, apparently she wasn’t wearing pants (just saw pictures from other sites), but it does look like a two-piece gown.
@LadySlippers, I think she looks beautiful! I don’t really mind the dress.
@lenje,
Charlotte IS being very avant garde here but it doesn’t work for me. I get that it will work for others as that’s the nature if avant garde.
Avant garde? Really?
That looks like a dress Lindsay Lohan would wear.
LadySlippers
I can’t see this dress as being avant garde at all. Do you mean it’s avant garde for her?
IMO it looks ugly. Not fashion forward or aquired tastes, but just ugly.
@Tatjana @Florc,
I still think it’s very avant garde fashion wise. I also think it’s fugly.
curious footwear as well … ??
Charlotte is so beautifull but her dress is an ugly bag.
Well, she *might* be able to roast some meat in all that tin foil. Easter IS coming…
😉
Hahaha, or bake a potato.
Oh dear. I did limit myself didn’t I?
You also use tin foil in preparing camp meals. She comes with a lot so you could camp for a couple of weeks at least.
Gah! I had no idea the Ocean Tiara/Necklace had matching earrings! I was about to yell about Charlene never breaking out her good stuff – but I’ll take the earrings as a consolation prize.
*kisses*
At least someone noticed parts of her Ocean Tiara Parure being trotted out.
I noticed LS, however I’m not a fan of the ocean suite and it seems like neither is princess sadface.
It could be that Sad Face/Plastic Face just simply has no Sparkly events to wear it to.
Or the weight of the Ocean Tiara bothers all her scars right above the hairline.
*sigh*
There’s just something slimy about the whole family to me. Charlotte is pretty, but I’m sure she’ll starting oozing sleaze in a few years, too.
*Something* slimy Dahling? Oh you DO need to look up their history, it’ll put the uncertainty of the Grimaldi’s sliminess firmly to rest.
Three cheers for the slimy Monegasques Princely Family!
Ooh, sounds juicy! Will do!
Ernst of Hannover truly is the worst husband a princess can ask for. Not only he’s got a health condition but he’s also f+cked up in the head.
You know what’s odd about Caroline and Ernst? That they had a daughter who, although she is still very young, seems to be the sweetest and most grounded of that crazy inbred family.
Suze,
They are crazy but inbred is harder to argue.
GoodNames,
The history of the Grimaldi’s makes most daytime soaps tame and boring.
I was thinking of the Hanover side. I agree, the Grimaldis are pretty good about marrying out.
I feel like Charlotte kind of wasted her potential. By all accounts, she is super intelligent… to have a baby with a guy so much older and not try for some kind of career. Eh.
yeah, it all feels a bit anti-climatic after how “spectacular” she was held to be. I hope she finds fulfillment, though, however that looks for her. She still has many years ahead of her.
Lord, I hate Charlotte’s dress. Wtf is with that fabric and shining? No good at all, nor for a formal event like that nor for anything else. None should go out dressed in a shining alien-like gown (unless you are Tilda Swinton).
I like Beatrice Borromeo’s dress but not its colour, too pale, it washes her out. I think even Charlene did good, her dress is cute and elengant yet simple, but it doesn’t really ‘pop’ or anything.
Agree on both your opinions of Charlene and Beatrice’s dresses.
Much too shiny and overall unflattering. Big dislike!
Charlotte’s dress likes kind of like silver lame (as in lamay –
sorry don’t have an acute symbol on my keyboard). It does look
like something from Space Odyssey or a David Bowie video. And
what about Caroline’s blingy running shoes? Charlene’s dress
would have looked nicer without the black swirly accents on her
dress. And finally, does Karl Lagerfeld wear the same outfit
to everything?
He does!! I LOVE that karl lagerfeld is always around them and appears in the family shots. He brings the perfect touch of surrealness to it all. If only he brought along Choupette too…
I love Charlotte’s dress, at least the intent of it. I agree if it wasn’t so shiny it would be better. I have never understood Charlene’s appeal. I think she is not very feminine or attractive. Her husband is ugly bit he is a rich prince so he could have gotten better IMO.
I don’t know, TG. Albert is a piece of work. I don’t think all the tiaras in the family jewel stash could woo me into letting Prince Toady hop on my charms.
You might be right @Punkymomma. But u can’t help but think there is a Kate Middleton type somewhere in this world that would take him. I actually thought he was gay because he looks so feminine but according to all of you on here he has children by other women, if I am rember ing correctly. Of course that doesn’t mean he isn’t gay though.
@TG the rumors about Albert is that he’ll sleep with anyone, man or woman. Personally, I think that while he could have found someone ‘normal’ to marry him, I think he wanted a woman of a certain stature (remember, Charlene was an Olympic athlete, which has a lot of cache).
And I think now that Andrea and Tatiana have gotten married and legitimized their son that the line of succession is just going to go to them, and that’s why the tension has visibly eased between charlene and Albert.
The whole Grimaldi clan is ‘a piece of work’. I wouldn’t let Albert (or any other Gramadli relation) come near me at all. And it has nothing to do with the possibility that Albert might play for both teams. NOTHING.
“hop on my charms” – lol, i love that. I haven’t followed Albert much, so I can’t really comment on his reputation. I might be alone, but I do see a soft resemblance to Grace Kelly in Charlene facial’s features. I’ve often wondered if that didn’t play some role in his choosing her for her current position.
@TG. You’re right. There’s a Middleton that would take him in a heartbeat. As to his preferences, I recall reading in several places he’s an equal opportunity orifice person. (Yikes, not meant to offend.)
Charlottle is sooo gorgeous!!! She did hit the gene pool lottery but WHY hook up with a man 15 years older. There are so many hot men her own age.
It looks like Charlene is injecting Botox and or fillers. There is something very odd about the way she smiles and it’s not just the misery she’s trying to mask.
You know those Grimaldi women: he’s the Starter Husband.
Charlene has had A LOT of work done. I mean a lot. Teeth, chin, ears, cheeks, lifts and so on.
The before and after pictures are so obvious even someone as clueless as I am saw it.
Isn’t he a comedian? And fairly good-looking? Seems like an attractive combination….Plus her father died when she was a very young child, so an attraction to older men is not surprising. I’m hoping she chose well instead of just doing the euro trash playboy thing….or is he one of those too?
He’s an actor and a well respected one too.
Everything I’ve read sounds like he’s a keeper.
Charlotte is stunning. Let’s hope she doesn’t age like her mother because Caroline was identical as a young woman.
I haven’t really been following them and I thought it was Caroline. That is exactly how I remember her as a young woman.
Am I missing something? Did all those marriages mean that Princess Stephanie got kicked out of the clan?
She might not have shown up due to something else…but she’s still in the family.
Where is Stephie? Also not seeing the great beauty Charlotte’s supposed to be. Drop her in any major city in the world and she won’t merit a second look.
Yeah, I agree. She’s pretty, sure, but not remarkable imho.
What is the world is Caroline wearing on her feet?
Ah. They are Channel Couture Sneakers. Ick.
oh lord. I missed that. why?
It’s not just a cane–it looks like Caroline had on sneakers? She must be injured to pair those with a ball gown.
You’re right! There’s a tread on those shoes. Balance issues? Recovery from surgery?
@PunkyMomma @Kori,
Apparently Caroline had knee surgery which explains the unusual footwear. (My guess is she probably had a knee replacement)
Why didn’t he just marry the black woman he had the child with? Albert looks like a stranger next to his wife. And what did she do to her face? SOmeone mentioned she had a baby. When did this happen, not to my knowledge. He might as well adopt his own kid and groom him to be king one day. It is unfair that he has a child and the boy is treated like a second class citizen.
Doesn’t he have several children?
Only two confirmed.
Charlotte had the baby, not Charlene.
Charlotte is gorgeous- check out last fall’s Gucci campaign. However, this dress is a fail.
Poor Caroline- she has had the worst luck, and I’m sure surviving that nut job husband aged her considerably. Isn’t their daughter an up and coming figure skater?
I miss Princess Steph as well- maybe she was training for Cirque de Soliel Masters?
Didn’t hate Charlotte’s gown until I saw the unfinished hemline! Can’t believe this US chanel! Also, is she wearing a wedding ring?
It does appear that way…or at least an engagement ring ?
That would be interesting as Gad is Jewish….
Is the princess’ life that bad cause poor Charlene looks like a wax figure?
Charlotte is just stunningly beautiful and but she always wears horrid Chanel Haute Couture gowns that do she does not pull off. I wish she stick to Giambatista Valli or Valentino.
Where is Choupette?
Where is Princess Stephanie these days? She seems to have slipped entirely off the radar, which is a shame as she was always the most fun and scandalous member of the Grimaldi family.
No one would look once never mind twice at albert if he wasnt who he is – at his wedding I thought he was elton john
People keep giving Caroline about looking dowdy but she looks injured. She is walking with a cane which isn’t obvious at first and she looks like she is wearing some kind of bedazzled slippers. She’s probably recovering from some kind of leg injury or surgery. And I think she looks great. Not a fan of the bathrobe type thing she is wearing but she probably wanted to be comfortable due to her injury or whatever medical issue is going on.
I’m a little disappointed Gad wasn’t there again to be with Charlotte again (he went last year) but she looks really happy. Not the hugest fan of her dress but she somehow pulls it off. Also I know some people think Gad is some older sketchy guy but he is actually a very successful comedian (if not the most famous in France) and he does not need Charlotte’s money. I saw him perform last fall in New York City (no Charlotte though but she was pregnant at the time) and he was very funny. I’ve been a fan of his for years.
You must have missed my comment up thread. Caroline apparently had knee surgery. My guess is she probably had knee replacement surgery which would account for the unusual accessories she sported at the ball.
Well, this family might be a hot mess, but the women (including Stephanie) are uniquely glamorous and interesting. And, despite her wrinkles and goofy designer sneakers, Caroline looks great.