To commemorate the wedding of its monarch Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock, the former South African Olympic swimmer, the principality of Monaco issued on 1 July 2011 a series of four postage stamps. The couple was married on July 1 in a civil ceremony in the throne room of the prince’s palace with only close family and several dozen guests. The following day, they exchanged vows in a Roman Catholic religious ceremony attended by hundreds, including Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, actor Roger Moore and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Prince Albert, son of the late Prince Rainier III and Hollywood legend Grace Kelly, met his future bride at a swim meet in Monaco in 2000.

The postage stamps have images of Prince Albert on the left and Princess Charlene on the right, with the Prince’s Monaco palace in the background in the center. The postage stamps were issued in 4 colors corresponding to different rates of postage of a standard letter: economy rate (€0.55), to France (€0.60), to the European Community (€0.77) and the rest of the world (€0.89).

Monaco also issued a special commemorative postage stamp with a denomination of €4,10 with the same design as the four regular issue postage stamps. The special issue stamp was on sale on July 1 and 2 only and only on a cancelled souvenir envelope with a limited edition of 2,000 numbered specimens, for a price of €10,00.

Also issued by Monaco to celebrate the wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene was a souvenir sheet (or block) which will be sold exclusively by Monaco’s Office des Emissions de Timbres-Poste at a price of €5, as part of the second part of Monaco’s 2011 philatelic program.

The souvenir sheet is also available on an official first day cover (depicted here) at a price of €6,50.

Stamp collectors can get more information on purchasing the stamps and Monaco's philatelic program at www.oetp-monaco.com.

Details:

Stamps:
Design: Pierre Albuisson, Cyril de la Patellière, Claude Andreotto
Engraving: Pierre Albuisson
Printing: 2 color-engraving and hot stamping
Stamp Format: 40 X 32 mm

Block (Souvenir Sheet):
Design: Georgi Chichkine
Printing: Rotogravure
Block Format: 100 x 120 mm vertical

Price of the FDC: €6.50
Size of the FDC : 230 X 162 mm

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