Insecure bride Charlène of Monaco was "in a daze" shortly before her wedding

Shortly before Charlène Lynette Wittstock married Prince Albert II of Monaco, she was gripped by doubts. Now photographer Julian Lennon has revealed what the bride confided in him on the day of the civil ceremony.

On July 1, 2011, Charlène Lynette Wittstock married Prince Albert II of Monaco in a civil ceremony. The church wedding took place the following day.

Before the now 46-year-old walked down the aisle and became Princess of Monaco, Julian Lennon was allowed to photograph her during the preparations.

The bride experienced a rollercoaster of emotions during these two days, as the wedding was to change her life completely.

Shortly before the civil ceremony, she was sitting in a hotel room surrounded by several assistants, hairdressers and stylists. At that moment, Wittstock turned to Lennon and spoke about her fears and doubts.

Charlène: "Jules, I don't know if I can do this"

"She just sat there and stared in the mirror, stunned," Lennon recalls in the business magazine Forbes."Then she turned to me and said: 'Jules, I don't know if I can do this'."

As the eldest son of Beatles musician John Lennon was not clear what Charlène was doubting at that moment, he asked again: "What are you talking about?"

Charlène's answer: "I can't. I'm not sure I can get the photos right. There are too many distractions."

So the former South African professional swimmer wasn't doubting her future husband or love in general, but the many commitments surrounding the wedding were getting to her.

Lennon said to Charlène: "Let me be a fly"

Julian Lennon, who is also a friend of Charlène's and has lived in Monaco for over 30 years, tried to reassure the bride. "This is a historic moment, just let me be a fly on the wall," he said.

After that, he just stayed in the background, giving the bride her space but continuing to photograph her.

Lennon took hundreds of photos that afternoon. He particularly liked a picture of Charlène looking melancholically into the mirror.

This picture now also adorns his first photo book "Life's fragile moments", which was recently published by TeNeues.

"I cropped the pictures of Charlène in a certain way and thought: Oh my God, there it is. It's Princess Grace, it's the 1950s," says Lennon of his vision. "So I converted all the images to black and white."

He continues: "The photos look like they were taken a long time ago and not just before Charlène became Princess of Monaco."

More videos from the department