Notes and musings from the South of France

The Monte Carlo Beach Club.

Notes and musings from the South of France. Prince Albert II of Monaco officially opened the season in Monte Carlo with an exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum of the life of his mother, the late Princess Grace. This year is the 25th anniversary of her death. The opening was by invitation only. The exhibit includes Grace’s photographs, personal items, clothes (including her coat dress and hat that she wore when she arrived in Monaco for her wedding to Prince Rainier. Two weeks ago, on July 13, the exhibit opened to the public and will remain open through September.


Charlene Wittstock and Prince Albert II.

The wedding of James Packer and Erica Baxter.

The Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo and the Monte Carlo Beach Club are the center of activity during the season in Monaco. Rooms at the Hotel de Paeris run somewhere in the range of 1000 euros (approximately 1350 USD) per night and up. Drinks at the world famous bar of the Hotel will run you 22 euros.

The marriage-shy prince is still dating the beautiful Charlene Wittstock, the South African Olympic swimmer and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, and they attend all the royal functions together.

Meanwhile Princess Caroline’s daughter Charlotte Casiraghi has a new boyfriend, Alex Dellal. They were at the Valentino weekend in Rome together. He is the son of British millionaire property developer Guy Dellal and the Brazilian supermodel Andrea. Alex’s sister is also dating Charlotte’s younger brother Pierre Casiraghi, so right now everything’s keeping in the family. They were at the Valentino party in Rome also. Andrea Casiraghi, the eldest son of Princess Caroline is still dating Tatiana Santo Domingo, the daughter of Colombian beer magnate Julio Mario Santo Domingo and his wife Beatriz. They were at the Valentino party as well (are you keeping up with this?). After all that partying in Rome, all three couples flew back to Monte Carlo where they boarded Princess Caroline’s yacht Pascha III for a little “r & r” and cruised the Mediterranean along the Italian coast to Elbe and Sardinia. Anchors aweigh everybody! All three couples were back in Monte Carlo, however, to see the Gran Prix de Monaco.

Meanwhile, Her Grace the duchess of Marlborough – Rosita to her friends; the painter to her collectors, who was also at the Valentino party in Rome, flew from there directly to the South of France and the new house she has bought in St. Jean Cap Ferrat. The house is on the sea, on the Villefranche side of Cap Ferrat. Rosita will spend the summer there painting and enjoying the view. The duke, from whom the duchess is “estranged,” will not.

At the Valentino Party in Rome ...

Rosita, the duchess of Marlborough with Jackie and Jean Charles de Ravenal

Daphne Guinness and Karl Lagerfeld

Nicolas and Ines Villers

Gina Lollobrigida

Rupert Everett and Donatella Versace

Nati Abascal and her son the duc de Feria

Carolina Herrera and Alexandra Theodoracopoulos

Alice Bamford

Lady Vivien Duffield and Lynn Wyatt

George Livanos and Prince Ernst of Hanover

Lee Radziwill, Maio Durso, and Rosita, the duchess of Marlborough

Prince Pavlos and his princess checking her cell

Meanwhile, Lady Florence Packer, who lives in Monte Carlo, went to Cap d’Antibes for the wedding at the Hotel du Cap of her grandson James Packer, son of the late Kerry Packer to singer Erica Baxter. The bride’s wedding dress was by John Galliano of Dior.


	Joanie Schnitzer and her husband Irvin Levy.

	Douglas Schnitzer and sons at his mother's birthday dinner.

The three day extravaganza was reported to have cost $6 million. The wedding guests were flown to Cap d’Antibes and put up at the du Cap by the groom who is now one of Australia’s wealthiest men. Among the glittering guests were Katie Holmes and her husband Tom Cruise and their little daughter Suri. Mr. Cruise and Mr. Packer are both Scientologists. Also attending was the at this moment almost new owner of the Wall Street Journal Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendy and his son Lachlan, who used to run the New York Post.

Meanwhile, Irvin Levy of Houston, Texas gave a great big wonderful birthday party for his wonderful wife, the globe-gallivanting Joanie Schnitzer (also from deep in the heart of Texas) at Le Cesara, a restaurant on the beach near the Hotel du Cap where the Levys were staying.

Mrs. Levy’s two sons, Douglas and Kenneth Schnitzer and their wives and their children and Irvin’s children and Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Evie and Leslie Bricusse, Diana Quasha and Jim Mitchell, were also in attendance for the festivities.

And in St. Tropez, honeymooning, and spending some time in the son with their friends and Palm Beach neighbors Terry Kramer and Nick Simunek, were Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster.

And in Saint-Maxime, Princess Magdalena of Sweden and her boyfriend Jonas Bergstrom, along with her sister (the future queen) Princess Victoria and her boyfriend Daniel Westling were vacationing on the family estate.

Lulu van Antwerpen, Jim Mitchell, and Lady Florence Packer

Beth Whitney and Bill Bartholomo

Joan Collins and Leslie Bricussi

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