The wedding bouquet deposited by H.S.H. Princess Charlene in the church of Saint Dévote

In the Catholic tradition, it is customary to offer one’s wedding bouquet to the Virgin or to a holy martyr, as is the case in Monaco, with Saint Devote, in the church bearing his name.

Sainte Dévote occupies an important place in the hearts of Monegasques, as does her church, even if she is very small. Young women who marry at Sainte Devote church leave their bouquet there.

Grace Kelly had married in the cathedral but had also dropped her bouquet in the Sainte Dévote church, as Charlene Wittstock did, in order to express the couple’s thanks to the saint. And like 1956, people massed in numbers in 2011 and it was a moment of extreme joy and very strong emotion.

The bouquet of Charlene Wittstock (composed of gardenia, lily of the valley and orchid flowers) was therefore not a bridal bouquet like the others since it was a fundamental element in the organization of the princely wedding. Princess Charlene was very moved at the moment of this symbolic gesture: she could not restrain her tears while a song, mixing the voices of a young woman and her daughter, filled the place of her grace.