Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is partnering with the exhibition ‘Wedding of the Century: Monaco, 12–19 April 1956’

On 19 April 1956, the day after their civil wedding, Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace were married in a church ceremony at Monaco Cathedral. The wedding was broadcast live on Eurovision and watched by thirty million television viewers, thus becoming ‘the Wedding of the Century’ and remaining to this day the second most widely covered event in the world, after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Seventy years on, the Archives of the Prince's Palace and the Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco are paying tribute to this historic event through an exceptional exhibition in the State Apartments of the Palace, a film screening and talk in the Palace’s main courtyard on 20 July, as well as a series of events across the Principality, in which Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is participating with a photographic retrospective at the heart of its most iconic venue: the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

Since 25 June and until 13 September, the Atrium du Casino de Monte-Carlo has been hosting a selection of photographs from the Palace Archives. With the assistance of the Walter scenography studio, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is showcasing various highlights linked to the celebrations of the wedding of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly, which took place at the Group’s venues, notably in the prestigious Salle Garnier.

Ten life-size period photographs invite visitors on a true journey through time. It is an opportunity to relive the dinner and show on 15 April at the International Sporting Club and the gala held on 18 April in the heart of the Salle Garnier. It was on that evening that the premiere of the show *Hommage à la Princesse* took place, in the magnificent setting designed 78 years earlier by the architect Charles Garnier. On the Opera’s stage, the dancers of London’s Festival Ballet – including prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn – dressed in costumes by André Levasseur, performed a five-act production, choreographed by Michael Charnley, to music by Stan Kenton.

This was not, in fact, the only time that a Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer establishment had hosted the Princely Couple for a special event: in 1976, the Caves de l’Hôtel de Paris hosted the 20^th wedding anniversary of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. Forty-three years later, in 2019, to mark its refurbishment, the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo named its two finest Diamond Suites ‘Prince Rainier’ and ‘Princess Grace’, thus highlighting the strong ties between the Princely Family and Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer since the Group’s foundation in 1863.

‘The Wedding of the Century in Monte-Carlo: 15 & 18 April 1956’ – from 25 June to 13 September 2026
Atrium open daily from 10.00 am – Free admission