MONACO (AFP) – Monaco's medieval royal house threw open its princely marriage to the tiny Mediterranean realm's tax-shy denizens on Friday as the ruling Grimaldi clan prepared to welcome a glamorous new member.
Balding sports administrator Prince Albert II, 53, was to marry South African swimming champ Charlene Wittstock in a ceremony heralded by a late night rock concert by Californian nostalgia rockers The Eagles.
On the eve of the ceremony, the happy couple joined a 15,000-strong crowd of their subjects and residents of their low-tax municipality to cheer the 1970s band at the stadium of Monaco's recently relegated football team.
They may have made the appearance to lay to rest persistent rumours that the statuesque 33-year-old blonde athlete has cold feet about going through with the marriage, but they appeared to share the joy of the crowd.
A smiling Charlene, who already appeared relaxed and content earlier on Thursday when she arrived for a wedding rehearsal, even tried out some dance steps with His Most Serene Highness as the fans cheered.
Charlene showed off her swimmer's shoulders in a black bustier, despite reports that she is seeking to modify her exercise routine to achieve a more classically elegant shape, and Albert wore a dark jacket.
The Eagles played their standout 1976 hit "Hotel California" early in their set, but kept the crowd amused by dedicating "Love will keep us alive" to host Albert, a former playboy who has kept Monaco waiting for a bride.
Charlene, meanwhile, was due to become "Princess of Monaco" shortly after 5.00pm (1500 GMT) Friday, when Philippe Narmino, Monaco's top legal official and president of the state council, pronounces the couple man and wife.
Late Friday the entire enclave will resound to the pulsing electropop of 63-year-old French showman Jean-Michel Jarre, then on Saturday the couple will wed again in a Catholic ceremony attended by celebrity guests.
The plan is not just to rejuvenate the seven-century-old Monegasque brand of the Grimaldi family, which runs a principality that has grown rich on offshore banking, tourism and casino receipts, but also to cheer its subjects,
This communication strategy seemed to hit a snag this week when French media reported rumours that Charlene had learned a new dark secret about her former playboy husband and had tried to flee back to South Africa.
The palace firmly denied the reports, as did Charlene's family, including her father Mike, who is in Monaco for the wedding. The Monaco public, while relishing the gossip, appeared unperturbed as the ceremony approached.
"I'll let the music run its course," said an 86-year-old local who still remembers the 1956 nuptials of Albert's father Rainier and Hollywood siren Grace Kelly. "It's a happy day. Monaco has seen enough grief."
But, reflecting the view of many who talked to AFP, he also moved quickly onto the next big question: "The important thing is that there be an heir."
Albert has illegitimate children with two other women but has yet to produce a royal heir, a matter of some concern to Monaco constitutionalists, who fear instability should the throne revert to his sister Caroline.
Since the 13th century, Monaco has been run by the Grimaldi family, the crown passing through the male line. In 2002, fearing Albert would die without an heir, Monaco changed its constitution to allow a princess to inherit.
If Albert should die in the absence of any heir, Monaco would become a French protectorate, and might lose its lucrative tax-free status.
Albert's mother, US film star Grace Kelly turned Princess Grace, died in a car crash in 1982. Her daughter Caroline lost her second husband Stefano Casiraghi in a 1990 motorboat accident.
The other royal sister, Princess Stephanie, has also been unlucky in love, in the words of Wednesday's edition of Le Parisien "marrying almost as often as she falls in love" and finding herself betrayed by her bodyguard lover.
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