The Melancholy Marriage in Monaco: Prince Albert Rainier and Princess Charlene

How sad to see the bizarre pre-wedding events in Monaco in the week before Prince Albert married South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock.

Albert made a wife and a princess of Charlene but he has also taken her for a fool.

Charlene dated Albert for six long years before becoming princess of the tiny principality on the riviera. She was well aware he had a young son and a teenage daughter, born out of wedlock to two different mothers, before she dated him.

What a shock for the poor girl though to hear that her fiance, days before the royal wedding, was being asked to give a DNA sample to settle the question of paternity in a third case of unplanned pregnancy. This time, the accusation was that randy Albert, 53, had fathered a child while he was going out with Charlene.

So, not a great week in which to become Mrs Albert Rainier and Princess Charlene (hardly a traditional christian name for a royal but let's leave that aside).

The contrast between the royal wedding pictures emanating from Monaco and the royal wedding pictures from London in April 2011 could hardly be more poignant. Prince William and Kate looked supremely relaxed and happy on their wedding day despite the magnificently awe-inspiring setting of Westminter Abbey and the world-wide coverage of their big day. Albert and Charlene, however, looked as happy as if they were at the dentist's for root canal treatment.

Poor Charlene forced the odd smile but her tears were more genuine and Albert looked horribly grim. The tension was such that they could hardly manage a peck on the cheek when it was time to kiss-the-bride.

The wedding of Prince Albert and Charlene had more in common, chillingly, with the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana than with that of William and Kate. Like Diana, Charlene has been selected because Albert is required to produce an heir for the palace in Monaco. Although he has illegitimate children, only a legitimately born child of Albert's can inherit the throne. If the Prince doesn't produce an heir, than one of his sisters' children will become royal ruler after Albert. (Albert has 2 sisters, Caroline and Stephanie.)

Like Prince Charles, Albert has shown no inclination whatever to marry until, if you like, the last minute. He's 53. Until he married Charlene, he'd dedicated himself pretty consistently to chasing women and fathering children whose existence he attempted to deny.

Like Diana, Charlene appears to have been in love with her fiance, although the pre-wedding events are bound to have strained her devotion. Like Diana, too, Charlene has found herself in the odd situation of marrying a man who does not give any indication of actually wanting to marry her.

It's all a far cry from the fairy tale wedding of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace - Grace Kelly - back in 1956. That marriage was a love match and Grace brought exactly that - grace and elegance - to Monaco and Monaco's royal family, the Grimaldis.

It's a fairly safe bet that Princess Grace would be horrifed at Albert's behaviour and compassionate about the mess Charlene finds herself in as the miserable newly-wedded wife of an unreformed playboy.

With the wedding and honeymoon over, it will be fascinating to see how the next stage of the royal marriage plays out. If it's correct that Albert is using Charlene as Charles used Diana - simply to produce an heir and a spare - then he may try to keep his wife in the marriage for enough years to achieve that goal. The newly-minted Princess Charlene, however, may bridle at that prospect, and bolt.

It's strange that these two contemporary royal matches have such echoes of past royal weddings. Charlene and Albert seem to be in a similar situation to Charles and Diana, the love of one unrequited by the other. And William and Kate seem to be more in the situation of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly - a genuine marriage in which a commoner marries a royal and instantly brings new life and glamour to a rather stuffy, unglamorous royal family.

It will be interesting to watch their stories unfold.