Princess Charlene, Prince Albert, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella of Monaco attend picnic on Sept. 9, 2023.Photo:Pierre Villard/SC Pool - Corbis/Getty
Pierre Villard/SC Pool - Corbis/Getty
Summer is over and school is starting — in Monaco, there’s just time enough to enjoy the traditional"U Cavagnetu" picnic.
After a summer break, Monaco’s royal family attended the Principality’s annual “Picnic Basket” event on Saturday. Dating back to 1931, the popular open-air “End of Summer/Welcome Back” tradition combines elements of a colorful festival and a garden party. Featuring a mass, costumed musicians and Palladian dancers as well as an aperitif toast and arrays of local foods, this year’s edition attracted over 1,000 Monegasques to Princess Antoinette Park.
“It’s a fun event, a really nice moment of the year,“Prince Albertof Monaco told PEOPLE last year, describing the picnic’s return after a two-year absence.
Held beneath a grove of olive trees with barbecue and ice cream served, “It’s just a great, very informal, setting,” Albert, 65, said. “The mass, which opens it up is a little formal, but then it goes right into a picnic and there’s a little cocktail party atmosphere. It’s just wonderful to be able to walk around and have ‘tell me about your summer-type conversations” with people you know.”
Charlotte Casiraghi at her family at the Monaco picnic on Sept. 9, 2023.PLS Pool/Getty
PLS Pool/Getty
The royal picnic break arrived at the end of a long back-to-business week, which included at least four joint appearances for Prince Albert and Princess Charlene.
The annual weekend event coincided with the publication of a new interview in which Prince Albert personally denounced renewed reports of a marital rift as “lies.”
Split reports were published in Geman, English and French tabloids while the family was away from Monaco for summer vacation. Appearing during the “private time” period traditionally reserved for a family vacation (a prolonged August sail off Corsica this year), the stories are similar to those that palace officialsformally denied to PEOPLElast March.
Speaking to the Italian newspaperCorriere della Serra, the Prince addressed the persistent rumors — including allegations that Princess Charlene left Monaco and moved to Switzerland — categorizing them as baseless.
Princess Charlene, Prince Albert, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella at Monaco’s picnic on Sept. 9, 2023.PLS Pool/Getty
While Princess Gabriella had a return to the royal spotlight last weekend, accompanying her father to a sports tournament, the picnic marked the family’s first ensemble appearance. It was also the first official public appearance in months for Hereditary Prince Jacques.
Prince Albert had a few words for the Italian newspaper about the royal twins, saying they remain inseparable. Jacques “is still small, only 8 years old, but in a couple of years, I will start preparing him for his responsibilities. Jacques and also Gabriella are being readied – you can’t separate the two twins, you can’t make any distinction.”
His plans for Gabriella, he continued, “are essentially the same ones I have for Jacques.”
“She will have the same attention and training, and just as many responsibilities,” Prince Albert said. “There is a role for her too in the Monaco of tomorrow.”
He continued, “And brother Jacques will need her. She will take on responsibilities, just as I have always relied on my sisters, Caroline and Stephanie. I can’t do everything. The commitments in a royal family must be divided up.”
Monaco royal picnic on Sept. 9, 2023.Pierre Villard/SC Pool - Corbis/Getty
Asked to reflect on the one anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, Prince Albert recalled that he and Princess Charlene attended the history-making monarch’s state funeral and King Charles’ coronation. He suggested, “When it comes to kings and princes, it’s like the army with generals with stars. I can’t compare myself to King Charles.”
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This week will include thefirst day of schoolfor Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella before Prince Albert and Princess Charlene depart for South Africa next weekend.
source: people.com
