The couple announced their engagement on the 24th June

The Prince has now confirmed that he and his South African fiancé will be married in a religious ceremony on the 2nd of July next year not, as many expected, in the Monaco Cathedral but in an open-air wedding in the square directly in front of the Palace. This move, away from royal tradition, clearly indicates Prince Albert’s desire to be a very modern prince and a man of the people. A private civil ceremony, to be held actually in the Palace, is scheduled to take place on the 1st of July in front of 50 guests.

The decision may come as a surprise to Monegasques: the Cathedral has been renovated over the past few years and it had been assumed that this was in anticipation of an imminent Royal wedding.

Since the couple announced their engagement on the 24th June, the world has been waiting for them to reveal more concrete plans for the wedding.    

With over 1000 guests expected to attend the event, the preparations will need to include putting high-level security in place, organising accommodation and the mammoth task of catering for a lot of people who possess the most refined and exclusive tastes.

Post ‘Big Day’, the newlyweds will jet off to South Africa for their honeymoon, which the couple have decided to coincide with the International Olympic Committee summit in Durban on the 5th of July.

The televised wedding is expected to draw a massive global audience. In 1956, around 30 million viewers tuned in to watch Prince Rainier III marry the Hollywood star Grace Kelly.