The Celebrities to Look Out for at The Monaco Yacht Show 2019

Pierre Casiraghi

With the Monaco Yacht Show 2019 getting underway this week, expect to see some famous faces in Monaco. From actor Robert Redford to the real Monaco Royals, we round up all the celebrities to look out for this week.

As a member of the Monaco royal family (he's the grandson of Rainier III and Princess Grace) it's likely that Pierre Casiraghi can be spotted hanging around in his hometown. Though he moved to Fontainebleau at a young age and lived in Milan during his student years, he has returned to the principality a number of times. His most significant visit took place in 2015 when he married Beatrice Borromeo in the gardens of the Prince's Palace of Monaco. Casiraghi is also a keen sailor; he recently accompanied teenage activist Great Thunberg as she made her zero-emission transatlantic crossing on board Malizia II. His interest in yachting and racing means that he's likely to be spotted at the Monaco Yacht Show: it's where he gave an exclusive interview to Boat International.

Image courtesy of Jonathan Glynn-Smith.

Robert Redford

For the third edition of the Monte Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean, Hollywood actor, director and producer Robert Redford will be recognised as the event's honorary guest. Redford has spread the message of environmental awareness through a number of his films and in 2012 launched the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, which aims to inspire Pitzer College students to create sustainability solutions. As an honoured guest, Redford will therefore undoubtedly make an appearance at the Gala which will take place in the midst of Monaco Yacht Show week on September 26, 2019. Held at the Terraces of the Opera Garnier, the glamorous event is chaired by HSH Prince Albert II of and serves as a fundraiser for his foundation. speaking ahead of the event, Prince Albert II stated that  "we are pleased to honour Robert Redford, who has been instrumental in raising public awareness about the environmental challenges facing the world”.

Redford is not going to be the only celebrity present at this prestigious event; the agenda lists Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman and Andy Garcia as the Masters of Ceremony and promises music performances by Gwen Stefani, Andrea Bocelli and Kool & the gang. The dinner will be followed by an extraordinary auction: show-stopping prizes include a private dinner at Versailles Palace, the opportunity to undertake an Arctic expedition with Prince Albert and a first edition of Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby signed by Gatsby actors Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Robert Redford as Jay Gastby in the 1974 film. Image courtesy of Creative Commons.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Yacht-loving celebrity and ocean conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio is a frequent guest at elite parties located along the Cote d’Azur. He was last seen off the coast of Monaco earlier in the summer when he chartered 52-metre motor yacht Nita K II for a romantic holiday with his girlfriend. Prior to this, he had been invited as the honorary guest to Prince Albert II’s Monte Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean in 2017. Monaco is clearly a place close to DiCaprio’s heart; it was in this location that he first launched his foundation back in 1998.

Leonardo DiCaprio speaking at an Ocean Conference in Washington. Image courtesy of Creative Commons.

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco and Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco

The second of the late Prince Rainier and Princess Grace’s three children, and only son, is the “King” of Monaco. As head of state, everything is under his watchful eye, whether it’s the operations of SBM (the state-owned company that runs practically everything in Monaco), the sanctioning of major building works or the Monaco Yacht Show. He’s also president of many organisations, including the Yacht Club de Monaco and the Monaco Ambassadors Club.

The Prince gave up his playboy lifestyle when he married the former South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock (the couple are pictured here with Hermann Bühlbecker and Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld). He has two children from previous relationships, 24-year-old Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and 13-year-old Alexandre Coste Grimaldi and in 2014 Princess Charlene gave birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella.

In 2015 Albert celebrated the 10th anniversary of his accession to the throne with 8,000 of his closest friends. The fun-loving monarch is a car enthusiast, an Olympian (he competed in five Winter Olympics in the bobsleigh) and a noted environmentalist, spearheading campaigns to save the bluefin tuna and combat climate change.

As first lady of Monaco, Princess Charlene is the most powerful woman in the principality and is making her mark via her charitable work.

Lewis Hamilton

The four-time Formula One world champion, and Bernie Ecclestone’s favourite driver, lives in a £10 million apartment in the Fontvieille district with his two bulldogs Roscoe and Coco. Hamilton is known as a celebrity often spotted on superyacht vacations, as well as his bling, his rap-star style and his scarlet Challenger private jet. He loves the Monaco lifestyle and lives in the same apartment block as Eddie Jordan.

Ringo Starr

The former Beatle and his Bond-girl wife, Barbara Bach, reside in the highly sought-after Roccabella apartment block, owned by the Pastor family. Monégasques have made him one of their own and, in September 2013, the French Ambassador to Monaco, Hugues Moret, presented Starr with the prestigious Commander of France’s Order of Arts and Letters. He originally came here for tax reasons, but calls here and his house in LA home.

David Coulthard

The retired Scottish Formula One driver has always had a connection to Monaco. His grandfather competed in the Monte Carlo Rally and two of Coulthard’s 13 grand prix wins were in Monaco. He’s lived here for 20 years and has no plans to leave, once commenting that he and his family like the security of the almost crime-free principality. He’s made money here, too, and reportedly sold the Columbus hotel, of which he was a co-owner, for £30 million in 2010. He and his Belgian wife Karen are regulars on the Monaco social scene when he’s not jetting around the globe as a BBC F1 pundit.

Novak Djokovic

The former world No.1 men’s tennis player, and most famous Serb, is a diehard Monaco fan. He moved here in 2006 and lives with his wife Jelena and baby son Stefan in an apartment just a short stroll from the Monte Carlo Country Club where the clay tennis courts are located. The couple are devoted to their two poodles, Pierre and Tesla, and are often spotted out and about. The champion’s favourite haunt is La Spiaggia – a relaxed Italian restaurant on the beach and one of the best restaurants in Monaco. Djokovic is a hero not only in his home country, where he set up the Novak Djokovic Foundation for children from disadvantaged communities, but here, too: the Monégasques love a winner.

Dame Shirley Bassey

It is fitting that Dame Shirley Bassey, a megawatt woman if ever there was one, should reside in Monaco. The Welsh diva has lived in her opulent apartment, lined with gold discs, gilt mirrors and black and white photographs of her with fellow stars and royalty, for decades. She famously has very different public and private personas and once off stage the feather boas and sequins are replaced by less eye-catching attire – although even her close friends are instructed to call her Dame Shirley. With record sales of more than 135 million, 42 albums and a career spanning nearly 60 years, she’s an iconic figure not only in Monte Carlo but also around the world.

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