Charlene, Princess of Monaco returned to the Prince’s Palace on Wednesday, September 16, alongside Prince Albert II to welcome representatives from the Small European National Societies network. The appearance was formal, but the focus stayed on the meeting itself: a four-day exchange hosted by the Monaco Red Cross from September 15 through 18.
Princess Charlene wore a muted neutral ankle-length dress with an asymmetrical design and a low updo for the palace appearance. The restrained look matched the occasion’s tone, even as the gathering centered on practical work among smaller European Red Cross and Red Crescent societies rather than any policy announcement.
Monaco Red Cross hosts SENS
The Monaco Red Cross hosted the 10th edition of the SENS network ten years after the network’s inaugural gathering. Representatives came from Andorra, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Malta, with participants also present from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
That mix gave the meeting a clear working purpose. The network was created to encourage smaller national societies to develop lasting partnerships and strengthen their collective voice within the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, so the September 15 through 18 format brought the discussion into one room instead of leaving each society to work alone.
Questions on cooperation
Participants exchanged experiences on international cooperation, migration, youth engagement, climate change, mental health and emergency preparedness. Prince Albert II serves as president of the Monaco Red Cross, while Princess Charlene has served as vice president since August 2021, and Camille Gottlieb accompanied the couple at the palace and leads the organization’s Youth Section.
The palace visit matters less for ceremony than for the network it brought together. For the smaller societies involved, the next step is not a public announcement from Monaco but the practical value of the contacts built during the four-day meeting, which is where cross-border Red Cross work often starts to become usable.
Charlene, Princess Of Monaco joins Princess Gabriella at Saint-Jean celebrations also places Charlene in a separate public appearance, but the September 16 meeting put her at the center of Monaco’s Red Cross work with the Small European National Societies network.
