Rose Ball, Monaco: 2005 - 2024


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Florestane said:
On another note I've seen some little videos on Instagram and Alexandra took off her coat and was dancing. Her dress was quite different, quite conventional and she looks lovely.
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Can you post the link please. I did not see Alexandra wearing a coat. And I would like to see her carrying this dress
 
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Florestane said:
I don't dislike Charlene (contrary to what some people think) but I find it hard to fathom anything about her, she's a real enigma to me.

I suspect it suits her and Albert but it gives a weird message to onlookers and the local population must find it perplexing. Given that Albert and Charlene seem aware of public relations with the interviews and photo ops they give, you would think they would be a little more savvy. They wouldn't have to keep giving explanations if she just pitched up a bit more...

Anyway, whatever she does most of the time I personally think there are certain events she should turn up for - and this is one of them.
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i agree. its her job to be a princess. she had to attend.
 
princessrose said:
i agree. its her job to be a princess. she had to attend.
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It is not her "job" to be a Princess. She married Albert Grimaldi whom happens to be the Prince of Monaco and by marriage she shares his rank and title. There is no employer/employee relationship, she is not even paid for anything. The Bal de la Rose is a private affair, organized by a charity foundaton and held in a posh location of a sport club in Monte-Carlo. The Head of State, Prince Albert, was there. So the Princely House was represented.

Ilse said:
Just thinking, why didn t they invite Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa, after all she was born in Cuba.
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María Teresa left Cuba as a three years old toddler and has since then lived in the United States, Spain and Switzerland. The longest period she has ever lived somewhere is... the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. I think María Teresa considers herself a Luxembourgian. The party theme is also often just an "excuse" to dress up. What is Cuban? Fidel? Montecristo cigars? American oldtimers? The ball is also very much just money seeking money, having the charity as an excuse to attend a posh event.
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
She is no Sovereign Princess but just the wife of.
She has no institutional obligations except just being the wife of.
The Bal de la Rose is no institutional obligation. It is a fundraising event for the foundation of which Princess Caroline is the organizator. Therefore she is the Dame d'Honneur and her family is attending. It is just a party, no ceremony of state...



In essence it IS a small and meaningless affair. It is a bal. A dance event. And rich foreigners have to pay fees to attend, the revenues go to a charity. No more, no less. Every day there is a fundraising event somewhere in London. The Queen never attends. Boohoo to her too, then?

The big affairs are the Fête Nationale, Sainte-Devote, Christmas, the Laureus Awards, the Grand Prix de Monaco, the Diamond League, international congresses and symposia in Monte-Carlo, not an evening of dance and drinking champagne in a club. Come on...
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The point is that Charlene has been practically fading and missing since the birth of her kids. This even was just the last of a series she missed. I guess that noone would have batted an eye if Charlene had shown much more involvement and commitment in these years for others events and causes. It is not like she only skipped the Bal de la Rose and had a full pack of engagements in the last year.

Florestane said:
It's also not true that Caroline never attends the Red Cross Gala.
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You are right.:flowers:
 
The Rose Ball was the Glory af Princess Caroline, family and friend KL.
A people event for a people family.
Even Princess Stephanie did not attend and no critics

Princess Caroline never attends the Red Cross Ball anymore.

Princess Charlène always attend the Red Cross Ball.
She does not disserve such critics.
 
Well in essence, when the Princess wants to lead a more private life she has the right to do so, of course. She is lucky to be one of the royals which are zero funded by the taxpayer and can do what she wants to do.
 
princessrose said:
i agree. its her job to be a princess. she had to attend.
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It's also her job to be a good Mother. I think she rather likes that part of her job these days. Which is nice if you are the twins. Or think good parenting will help raise a child who will be head of state one day.
 
AdmirerUS said:
It's also her job to be a good Mother. I think she rather likes that part of her job these days. Which is nice if you are the twins. Or think good parenting will help raise a child who will be head of state one day.
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Is it not possible to do both?

Anyway, as one poster said several posts back she may have been ill - who knows why she wasn't there? We are all just speculating.

maria-olivia said:
The Rose Ball was the Glory af Princess Caroline, family and friend KL.
A people event for a people family.
Even Princess Stephanie did not attend and no critics

Princess Caroline never attends the Red Cross Ball anymore.

Princess Charlène always attend the Red Cross Ball.
She does not disserve such critics.
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Princess Stephanie isn't married to the Sovereign Prince.

Princess Caroline has missed 2014 and 2015 in recent years - not really long enough to be defined as never.

I think it's quite mild criticism - not to mention just people expressing their puzzlement as to her absence from a lot of events.

And it's a forum where people discuss things so I don't see why people can't express their different opinions.

I highly doubt Charlene is reading this and wringing her hands in anguish. It would be interesting to know what the Monegasques think.

Duc_et_Pair said:
Well in essence, when the Princess wants to lead a more private life she has the right to do so, of course. She is lucky to be one of the royals which are zero funded by the taxpayer and can do what she wants to do.
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Absolutely. I also don't get the impression that Albert has a problem with this set up.

You say it's "not a job", she's just his wife - technically right. What I find interesting as an observer of the Grimaldi family for many years, is that isn't the model Albert was brought up with. His mother did very much treat it as a job and was often (notice I didn't say always) at Rainier's side for key events. On her death, Caroline (and to a certain extent, Stephanie) assumed that role.

When Charlene and Albert started out it seemed as if they were also going to follow the same route. Charlene did more public events as Albert's girlfriend than she seems to have done in the past few months. The fact that she has stepped out of the limelight for a bit seems a big change to me, that's all.
 
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Florestane said:
[...]

I highly doubt Charlene is reading this and wringing her hands in anguish. It would be interesting to know what the Monegasques think.
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There are only around 6.000 real monégasque citizens, being waaaay outnumbered by 32.000 foreigners living in the principality. My personal assumption is they do not care less about the whole thing: the sun is shining, the terraces overlooking Port Hercule will be full and people will be promenading the Boulevard des Moulins. Huh? Charlène? Not attending? Who cares?

:lol:
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
There are only around 6.000 real monégasque citizens, being waaaay outnumbered by 32.000 foreigners living in the principality. My personal assumption is they do not care less about the whole thing: the sun is shining, the terraces overlooking Port Hercule will be full and people will be promenading the Boulevard des Moulins. Huh? Charlène? Not attending? Who cares?

:lol:
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If on these forums we could only discuss things that stirred up people in the street of a monarchy than there would be a lot less posts (on some forums none) :lol:

What does matter is that loads of money was raised for the P.Grace foundation at the ball, and i'm not so sure that that *is* discussed in Monaco, but does that make it less important?
 
Beatrice made everyone else look underdressed..
 
With all the focus on the ladies' wardrobes.... what about monseigneur le Prince? An overweight man should never wear a white tuxedo. Who tells the Prince that a black and well-tailored suit is the best friend to an overweight man?
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
With all the focus on the ladies' wardrobes.... what about monseigneur le Prince? An overweight man should never wear a white tuxedo. Who tells the Prince that a black and well-tailored suit is the best friend to an overweight man?
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He's always had a bit of a love affair with white jackets - he carried them off better in his younger, slimmer days. Personally, I think they make him look like a sommelier...
 
Yes, that it is white is one, but that it it looks like a formless, wrinkled, way too big confection suit in a city studded with fine tailors, is what baffles me... He indeed looks like a sommelier. I thought maybe it is because Monaco is at the Rivièra but it is only March, no summer in sight.
 
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Well I really don't mean to be grumpy but I found little to admire in the outfits of the princely family. It wasn't a good year for my taste and a missed opportunity to interpret a potentially stunning theme - as soon as I saw Mr. Lagerfeld posing with them I knew why I was disappointed . However, lovely to see Alexandra in attendance. Charlene's absence is sad because the Rose Ball used to be attended by the sovereign's wife and was the first big social event of the season. Charlene appears to have decided to break this tradition now she hasn't appeared for two years. But perhaps she may start to attend again in the future. Perhaps she feels that Caroline as leading lady of this event is right to be accompanied by her brother, I share some people's thoughts about Charlotte:ohmy:
 
Of course, as a big fan of P Charlene, I'm very disappointed at her absence. I would like to believe there was good reason for that.

It was a stunning theme, and I agree with EllyC, that the Royal ladies disappointed with their outfits, no imagination and colourless. Beatrice's dress was a bit over the top for me. The best dressed lady on the night, as LeeZ pointed out, for me was Camilla of Two Sicilies and Bourbon. A beautiful floral dress that suited her well and the theme too.

There are no pics of P Albert dancing and many of Pierre and Beatrice on the dance floor. Does that maybe indicate that they opened the floor and he maybe left early?


Sent from my iPad using The Royals Community
 
I really can't understand why these ladies let Karl Lagerfeld do what he does with them. Charlotte specially.

My guess is that she tries to put some sense of humour into her rose ball outfits, but it just doesn't work...

Caroline has done the same, sometimes. And with her allure she's usually able to pull it off. Charlotte tries to imitate her. But in her case it doesn't work. She ends up looking like a clown.

Beatrice is magnificent. I don't think she is overdressed. It a big ball event. The place to wear such a gown. It's not her fault if the rest of the familiy chooses to look that ridiculous.

She looks like a big red flower (which is appropiate for a Cuban theme), and manages no to look overdressed but to make everyone else look underdressed.
 
Paranoia said:
I really can't understand why these ladies let Karl Lagerfeld do what he does with them. Charlotte specially.

My guess is that she tries to put some sense of humour into her rose ball outfits, but it just doesn't work...

Caroline has done the same, sometimes. And with her allure she's usually able to pull it off. Charlotte tries to imitate her. But in her case it doesn't work. She ends up looking like a clown.

Beatrice is magnificent. I don't think she is overdressed. It a big ball event. The place to wear such a gown. It's not her fault if the rest of the familiy chooses to look that ridiculous.

She looks like a big red flower (which is appropiate for a Cuban theme), and manages no to look overdressed but to make everyone else look underdressed.
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I'm convinced Mr Lagerfeld has a bet going (with Choupette) to see who he can persuade to wear the silliest outfit.

Mostly, Caroline can pull the stranger outfits off, purely through force of personality - with the occasional miss (I can't forgive her hideous see through, fluffy nightgown outfit at the Movida themed ball). To me Charlotte, although very beautiful, doesn't have her mother's charisma, so she fails when she tries to be quirky.

I liked Beatrice's outfit and I also quite liked Tatiana's but would have liked a different hairstyle. They were both certainly thinking of Cuba as being a chance to be colourful. Beatrice definitely stood out against all the muted tones.

I think Alexandra looked lovely once she had removed the dressing gown thing.
 
Unless one of the children was ill there is simply no excuse for the wife of the Sovereign Prince to skip out one of the Principality's signature events. Princess Grace found a way to combine her duties as a mother and her responsibilities as Princess of Monaco and so can Charlene. I think I agree with the poster who said that last year's excuse that Gabriella was sick was likely garbage.:cool:

I have been rooting for Charlene but this is very disappointing.


The sartorial star of the evening was Beatrice...she looked stunning as usual.
 
El debut de una princesa, un vestido de alfombra roja y una ausencia destacada en el Baile de la Rosa

El debut de una princesa, un vestido de alfombra roja y una ausencia destacada en el Baile de la Rosa

The debut of a princess on the red carpet and an absence in the Bal de la Rose


Los jóvenes de la casa Grimaldi devuelven el glamour al Baile de la Rosa - Fotos de famosos: las mejores galerías - Revista Semana

Los jóvenes de la casa Grimaldi devuelven el glamour al Baile de la Rosa

The youngsters of the House of Grimaldi give le Bal de la Rose all its glamour back
 
I think all the ladies looked lovely. They wore what they felt like and not a costume gown just because it is a themed ball. This discussion about the theme is very much like the MET Gala, there is a theme and very few dresses the part, even the person who organises it. As for Princess Charlene, she is the wife of the Prince Souverain, officially there is no role for the Prince's wife. Princess Grace did all the things she did, and in a certain way Pss Caroline followed, because Prince Rainier and Monaco needed the money and notoriety to keep it's independence. Pss Charlene definitely ads more fuel to the fire by not appearing along side her husband and his family. But she is her own personna. She might just choose not to go if she doesn't feel comfortable going. IMO she doesn't feel comfortable trying to fulfil or follow a role that shes finding hard to relate, she might suffer from anxiety or have some mild depression from the outside pressure that criticizes her all the time for doing or not doing something. Shes the first to admit she has few friend in Monaco and has it hard, maybe shes not a people's people and can't stand some of the 'falseness' of certain high society. If Prince Albert is fine with her not attending certain events, what is important is that he is supportive of her choices and opinion in private. If she is happy being with her children and working along side children with her Foundation it is her right as a woman, as a person and not just because she's married to someone.
 
Florestane said:
I'm convinced Mr Lagerfeld has a bet going (with Choupette) to see who he can persuade to wear the silliest outfit.
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In which case, some of us are voting for Mr. Lagerfeld. Year after year. ;)
 
Princess Charlene was not present to the bal de la rose but Caroline and her family was not present to the concert which celabrated the 10 years of the reign of prince Albert, princesses Caroline, , Stéphanie and their children are no more present to the Red Cross gala, they were not present to the princess Grace foundation at the palace in september 2015.


In december, Charlene was present at walk for the climat, she gave gifts , alone or with Albert to the children in the nurseris, in the homes for the old persons or handicaped persons.
Since the beginning of the year, we saw Charlene meeting the papa with Albert, she was attending the fests of the Saint Devote, she visited the refugees at Vintimille with Albert and she visited a school 2 weeks ago. She attended the events about the Saint Devote tournament
 
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