Royal Guest List Update

Crown Prince Frederick, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark.
Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine of Sweden.
TRH Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex and HRH Prince Michael of Kent from the U.K.
TRH the Prince and Princess of Orange
TM King Albert II, Queen Paola, Crown Prince Philippe, Crown Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire and Princess Astrid of Belgium.
TRH the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
HSH Prince Alois and HRH Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein
TRH Lalla Mariam and Lalla Soukaina of Morocco
HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand
HRH Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad of Bahrain
HRH Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan
HH Prince Aga Khan IV
HM King Letsie III of Lesotho
HIH Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia
HIH Empress Farah of Iran
HRH Prince Louis Alphonse, Duc d'Anjou
HRH Henri, Comte de Paris, TRH the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme
HRH Prince Vittorio Emanuele and Marina Doria of Italy
TRH Prince Emanuele Filiberto and Princess Clotilde of Italy
TRH the Duke and Duchess of Bragança
HRH Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia
TRH the Duke and Duchess of Castro
TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia
TRH Princess Margarita and Prince Radu of Romania
HRH Prince Leopold of Bavaria
HH Princess Ira von Fürstenberg
HH Erbprinz Bernhard von Baden

The Glory Days of Monte Carlo

Perhaps at no other time in the history of Monaco were there so many elite and royal visitors to the principality as during the reign of HSH Prince Albert I, particularly during the years of his marriage to Princess Alice who first tried to make Monaco as famous for its cultural attractions as for gambling. One of the most prestigious visitors was HRH the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Arriving aboard the royal yacht Britannia the Prince was a frequent feature at the gaming tables. He usually came with Alice Keppel though he would also have friendly visits with his former flame, the famous actress Lillie Langtry who had a villa in Monte Carlo. He came incognito of course though there were precious few who could possibly have been fooled.

Some of the most prominent guests, and among the most lavish spenders, were the Russian nobles, notably HIH Grand Duke Michael (uncle of Czar Alexander III). The future King Gustavus V of Sweden also turned up. King Leopold II of the Belgians was a regular visitor and each time he came the (generally unsavory) monarch would go to the Princely Palace to pay his respects to Princess Alice. There were Arab sheiks, French aristocrats, German princes and even a Prince of Nepal who was restricted by his Hindu faith to only gambling five days each year. One of the more prominent royals to call was the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, a close friend of Prince Albert I, who would sail his yacht Meteor into Monaco harbor and have long talks with the Sovereign Prince on subjects from oceanography to archaeology.

However, the presence of the Russians and the King of the Belgians probably did not help the cause of attracting the one royal visitor most unsuccessfully sought after; HM the Queen-Empress Victoria of Great Britain. Princess Alice especially longed for a visit from Queen Victoria but the British monarch was adamantly against it. The Prince of Wales tried to convince her that she would enjoy meeting the new Princess of Monaco but Queen Victoria disapproved of the gambling that went on (particularly that of her son) and the most that ever came about was when Prince Albert and Princess Alice were invited by the Queen to tea at her hotel near Nice. It was, however, not an especially friendly visit and was kept short.