Monaco’s largest celebrity charity gala, organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, will not go ahead this year, with the war in Ukraine cited as the main reason.
An annual event since 2017 attracting A-list celebrities from around the world, the Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health has been a staple of the social season since its inception.
Organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to support ocean conservation and planetary health, it has been attended by the likes of such mega stars as Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, Katy Perry, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford, Sting, Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and Uma Thurman. But due to an unusual series of events in 2022, the foundation has decided not to go ahead with the bash in 2022.
“This year, the decision was made not to hold the Monte-Carlo Gala due to the international crisis. It seemed reasonable to us to put it on hiatus at least this year in this context of war in Ukraine and international instability,” Olivier Wenden, Vice-President of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, announced through Monaco Matin. “We felt that the gala was perhaps a little too showy in this difficult international climate.”
In place of the lavish gala, which annually pulls in the biggest donations for the foundation, Olivier Wenden says, “We are going to do things differently” with “slightly more intimate, private events carried by philanthropists who support the foundation and whom we thank because they help us make it possible to avoid disruptions in the projects we carry out and to continue to honour our commitments.”
He revealed that the first “intimate” event will be a Venetian-themed dinner for a hundred or so patrons at the Hermitage Hotel on 1st October, with a concert by French singer Mika.
The second, to be held on the 28th October in Singapore, is the Ocean Ball. This will be organised through the support of Jacqueline Deromedi and her son Jean-Marc who will privatise the showrooms at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, holding an auction to finance projects in Asia.
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Photo of the 2021 Monte-Carlo Gala by Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace