Monaco royal couple to paint the town red

Staff at the five-star Oyster Box hotel are hard at work preparing for the arrival of Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene.

The hotel, in Umhlanga, north of Durban, will host the royal couple for an exclusive cocktail evening on Thursday. By yesterday, a portrait of the couple was on display in the reception area and Monaco's flag had already been erected.

The couple arrive today for a meeting of the International Olympic Committee.

Oyster Box GM Wayne Coetzer said 450 guests had been invited to the cocktail reception to celebrate the couple's marriage.

The guest list - which includes Swazi King Mswati, who is believed to be close to the Monaco royal family - consists of most of the couple's friends, sporting colleagues and other dignitaries who will be attending the 123rd session of the committee's meeting, which ends on Sunday.

Notable by their absence on the guest list are President Jacob Zuma and Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.

Also attending the Olympic meeting are Zuma, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.

Security at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, where the Olympic committee meeting got under way yesterday, was tight, with only accredited media and delegates able to gain access to the venue.

Though the royal couple's highly anticipated reception is only two days away, arrangements, including decor, food preparation and security, began weeks ago.

"The colour for the day is red and white. We're going to have lots of red and white flowers, ranging from white and red roses, as has been requested by the couple," Coetzer said.

"The actual decoration of the room will start shortly."

He said to complete the South African "feel", traditional Zulu dancers will perform.

Negotiations to have the Grammy award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo perform were still under way.

The hotel has already brought in its private consultant chef, Luke Nair, to work with their resident chefs.

Nair and 60 others assigned to work on the cocktail function have already started work.

"This is one of the biggest events hosted by Oyster Box and we want to be prepared. We're preparing whatever needs to be done well in time and keeping it on the side and ready for the day," he said.

Coetzer said that executive chef Kevin Joseph prepared the menu as per the couple's request.

Though he could not reveal the details of the menu, Coetzer did say that traditional South African ingredients, including boerewors and pap, would be used in the canapés.