With a wink¹ and a smile, Monaco's ruler Prince Albert married South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock on Saturday in a ceremony attended by a who's who of European royalty³ and the international elite⁴.

摩纳哥国家元首阿尔贝二世亲王和南非游泳健将查伦·维特施托克上周六在欢笑声中举行了婚礼，到场的还有欧洲皇室名人成员以及国际知名人士。

Monaco's Prince Albert II (L) and Princess Charlene stand at the altar in front of a priest during their religious wedding ceremony at the Palace in Monaco July 2, 2011.

The 53-year-old married Wittstock, 33, in the courtyard of his palace at the foot of a vast white-marble double staircase lined with white flowers. Some 3,500 guests sat outside to watch the service on giant TV screens.

Albert's sisters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, both dressed in pink, smiled as they watched the couple marry in front of a crowd that included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and opera singer Renee Fleming.

The long white train of Wittstock's Giorgio Armani duchess satin gown, encrusted（包以外壳） with thousands of tiny crystals, spilled over the red carpet. The groom⁵ wore the white dress uniform of Monaco's Carabinieri royal guard.

"It was very elegant, very moving," supermodel Naomi Campbell, in a one-shouldered pale green dress, told TFI television.

After they exchanged vows⁶, Albert winked⁷ at（使眼色） his bride, who smiled shyly. Sitting on red velvet⁸ chairs, they held hands as a South African singer sang the Click Song, made famous by the late Miriam Makeba.

The wedding is the first of a ruling prince in Monaco since Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, married Hollywood star Grace Kelly in 1956. Rainier transformed Monaco from a faded gambling⁹ center into a billionaires' haven¹⁰, using his marriage to Kelly to infuse（灌输） the tiny principality with film-star glamour¹¹（魅力，魔力） .

Her death in a car crash in 1982 revived talk of the legendary¹² 13th-century curse of his dynasty -- the Grimaldis -- that has haunted his family during its seven centuries of rule. According to legend, a Flemish woman raped¹³ by a Grimaldi cursed the family for eternity¹⁴ never to find happiness in marriage.

Caroline and Stephanie have had a series of high-profile and disastrous¹⁵ marriages. Albert himself has been linked with a succession of models and actresses, and has admitted to fathering two illegitimate children.

Just days ago, rumors¹⁶ of discontent threatened to mar² the festivities. The palace strongly denied a report in the French weekly L'Express that Wittstock tried to skip town on a one-way flight to South Africa, and that it took "infinite persuasion¹⁷" by the prince and his entourage（随从，周围） to change her mind.