Inside Princess Caroline of Monaco’s three incredible royal weddings

Perhaps a sign of the decade, Princess Caroline of Monaco’s wedding to Philippe Junot had less of the pomp and rigidity of previous royal weddings. A young Princess Caroline, the eldest daughter of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III, married banker Philippe Junot in an outdoor courtyard ceremony on the grounds of the Royal Palace of Monaco on June 29, 1978.

Guests stood in the sunshine and watched as the bride arrived on the arm of her father wearing a Marc Bohan for Christian Dior gown and a floral headpiece and veil. The flowing dress was truly of the moment, constructed with lightly embroidered organdie with a sheer lace bodice, it was in stark contrast to the extravagant gown her mother had worn 22 years earlier. The house of Dior had hastily made changes to the gown after Bohan’s designs were leaked just days before the wedding.

Following the religious ceremony, the bridal party walked through the streets of Monte Carlo, stopping at the Chapel of Mercy, where Caroline laid her bouquet on the Altar of the Virgin, as is customary.

Later appearing on the Royal Palace’s historic balcony, the press cried out for them to kiss, but instead the playful couple blew kisses to the cameras below.

Princess Caroline’s second wedding, to Italian socialite and businessman Stefano Casiraghi, was an intimate affair. As her first marriage had not yet been annulled, Princess Caroline and Stefano Casiraghi could not partake in a religious ceremony, so instead the couple married in a civil service on December 29, 1983 inside the Chamber of Mirrors room of the Prince’s Palace, in front of a handful of guests. The bride’s only luxury was donning another Christian Dior gown, this time a simple beige silk charmeuse dress with a matching bow nestled in her hair.

Following her beloved second husband’s tragic death in a boating accident, Princess Caroline would marry for a third time, this time to Prince Ernst August of Hanover, head of the royal House of Hanover. The bride wore a Chanel suit when they made their vows in a secret ceremony on January 23, 1999, with no advance announcement by the royal family of the couple’s plans to wed.Click Here: highlanders rugby gear world