The Princess bride: Monaco comes to a standstill as stunning Charlene and Prince Albert exchange vows in religious ceremony...

Wearing an off-the-shoulder Armani dress, the new Princess Charlene on Monaco looked serene and beautiful as she wed Prince Albert in the courtyard of the Prince's Palace.

The groom looked smart in a cream summer uniform of Monaco’s palace guards, with his sleeves embroidered with oak and olive leave.

The palace said the stunning gown took Armani's team 2,500 hours to prepare, of which 700 hours was spent on the embroidery alone, using 'kilometres' of platinum-coated thread sewn into 130 metres of off-white silk.

The gown would have been heavy for the new Princess, as she would have had to carry the weight of 40,000 Swarovski crystals, 20,000 mother of pearl tear drops and 30,000 'stones in gold shades'.

The dress's crowning glory was the five-metre long train made from 20 metres of silk tulle, which took 100 hours to make.