Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene joined French President Emmanuel Macron and thousands of mourners in Nice on Tuesday for a solemn national tribute marking the 10th anniversary of the 14th July 2016 terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 86 people and injured more than 400.
Held in Place Masséna, the commemorative ceremony brought together victims’ families, survivors, emergency responders, elected officials and national dignitaries to honour those killed when Tunisian extremist Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck nearly two kilometres through crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais before being shot dead by police.
The Princely Couple attended alongside President Macron, former French Presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, senior government officials and representatives of the institutions that responded to one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern French history.
In a poignant opening to the ceremony, the names of all 86 victims were read aloud as 43 children from Nice and 43 adults who had responded on the night of the attack—including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, doctors and municipal workers—each placed an olive branch on one of 86 iconic blue chairs, modelled on those that line the Promenade des Anglais and engraved with the name of each victim.
Addressing the gathering, President Macron paid tribute to those who lost their lives and to the first responders whose courage helped save countless others.
“We have forgotten no name, no face, no story,” he declared, praising those who rushed to help amid the chaos. “They were, in the barbarity of that night, the worthy children of French fraternity.”
Macron also reaffirmed the Republic’s commitment to those still living with the consequences of the attack.
“Ten years on, the Republic stands beside you. It remembers, it supports, it protects and it fights,” he said, while promising that efforts to establish the full truth surrounding the events of that night would continue as judicial investigations into security failings remain ongoing.
Representatives of victims’ associations reflected on the long road to recovery, stressing that resilience does not mean forgetting.
“One never turns the page after losing a child, a parent, a friend or a part of oneself,” said Patrick Prigent, president of Life for Nice.
As night fell, nearly 20,000 people gathered once again on the Promenade des Anglais for a moving public tribute. A drone show involving 2,016 illuminated drones filled the sky, spelling out the words Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité to the music of Calogero’s Les Feux d’Artifice. The display concluded with 86 blue beams of light projected into the night sky as the names of the victims were read once more.
The youngest victim was just two years old; the oldest was 79. Nearly half were foreign nationals and around 30 were Muslim, a reminder of the diversity of those whose lives were taken that evening.
The anniversary was also observed beyond Nice. Before kick-off in the Women’s Football World Cup semi-final between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, players and spectators observed a minute’s silence while the stadium’s giant screens displayed the heart-shaped emblem created from the names of the victims.
Throughout the day, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene spent time speaking with the families and friends of victims who had gathered for the ceremony, offering their personal support and sharing a moment of remembrance with those whose lives were forever changed by the tragedy. Their presence underscored the close ties between Monaco and Nice, and the Principality’s continued commitment to standing alongside its neighbour in honouring the victims of one of the Riviera’s darkest days.
Photo credit: Frédéric Nebinger / Prince’s Palace