The broken fate of Charlene of Monaco, Gotha’s most mysterious princess

The main courtyard of the palace was transformed into an open-air church for the occasion. In 1956, the union of Rainier III and dazzling Grace Kelly was celebrated in Monaco’s Notre-Dame-Immaculé cathedral, but on 2 July 2011, the building was deemed too small to accommodate the 900 guests of this new wedding. Alberto therefore preferred an outdoor ceremony: the sun and the blue of the sea competed to greet this choice. Two months earlier, all the elite had gathered in London to see the wedding of Kate Middleton and William of England. All the crowned heads of Europe and beyond arrive in Munich once again. In the crowd they also recognize each other Karl Lagerfeld, Naomi Campbell, Roger Moore and President Nicolas Sarkozy. There was silence when Charlenegorgeous in a satin dress with a five-meter train designed by Giorgio Armani, walked down the aisle, escorted by her father. Is it the best day of his life? Not really, judging by his tense smile. Worse still, while she was placing her bouquet on the altar of San Devoto, as tradition dictates, the new princess of Monaco shed a tear, which her husband scolded in a low voice.

“The tension was enormous and I burst into tears,” she explained two years later in an interview with Times. The previous days had been very intense: many emotions mixed with many voices. The tabloids had claimed that Charlene had tried three times to flee the Rock to her South Africa and thus escape her dire fate. She says these were just gossip, but she has had to overcome a lot of them since she became a royal height. Even recently, her very long absence from Munich has fueled all speculation. For the princess, 2021 was a chaotic year, deeply painful, away from her two children, Jacques And Gabriella.

Before joining your destiny to that of the principality, did you imagine the self-denial that this function would require of you? “Don’t get me wrong, Charlene is not Lady Di,” said one of her friends on the columns Tatler, “I don’t think for a moment that she didn’t know what she was doing when she got married, but unlike Diana, Charlene has never dreamed of marrying a prince.”

An invitation that cannot be refused

When they met in 2000, Albert had not yet ascended the throne, but as heir to the throne, he already had obligations. He chaired a swimming competition in Monaco where Charlene, a professional athlete, won the 200m backstroke. When she presented the bouquet to her on the podium, she started shaking and stammered some congratulations. Then a year passed before their paths crossed again. Charlène Wittstock had returned to the principality with some of her friends: while she was sitting on the terrace of a restaurant, she saw the prince appear, who found the courage to invite her to dinner. “You need to talk to my coach,” she replied shyly. “No, that wouldn’t be the right answer,” Albert replied.

Early in the evening, send a Rolls for her. A complicity quickly develops between them: after a candlelit party, they flee to a night club where they dance until dawn. Alberto then invites Charlène to the palace: “I didn’t know what to expect, but we weren’t alone,” she said later. One of her assistants made a coffee and we admired the city from above. Before leaving him, the prince slipped her a note with her number on it. But returning to her hotel, the young woman lost the piece of paper: nothing serious, it is not difficult to find one of the most famous bachelors in the world.

Of the beginnings of this love story, hardly anyone will know anything. Charlene first appeared in public with her prince in February 2006 at the opening ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympics. Royal commentators wondered who this blonde-haired mermaid was, unknown to the elite almanac. The answer comes from sports reporters: Charlene Wittstock is a champion in her field, with numerous medals to her name. From the age of eight, she was like a fish in water, trained by her mother, a swimming teacher, and then, at sixteen, she joined the South African national team. Her dream? Win Olympic gold. But a bad injury prevented her from participating in the 2008 games. Charlène definitively gave up her career and devoted herself to learning her role as a princess.

Despite her good will, she was unable to adapt to life in Munich. She misses Benoni, the city where she grew up. “I was not born in Monaco and I was not even born a princess. But I’ll do the best I can », she promises her in an interview with Tatler on the eve of her wedding. However, Charlene will never learn French, the official language of the principality, and she will always be too discreet for the tastes of her subjects.

The fable cracks

The revelations about Alberto’s past, including two hidden children, and the incessant criticism of him by the press gradually undermine Charlène’s serenity. Her haircut, when she appeared with a shaved head at a Christmas party at the palace, is also the subject of criticism. “I know the comments all too well: ‘What are you doing?’, ‘It’s not real'”, she explained to the magazine. Point de vue, “And I have nothing to say to them, except that we are in 2021”.

In Switzerland or in Dubai?

Misunderstood, Charlène takes refuge in initiatives that are close to her heart: in March 2021, she flies to South Africa to participate in the fight against poaching. This return to origins, which was supposed to last only a few weeks, has turned into an ordeal of more than six months. A severe ENT infection prevents the princess from traveling: she undergoes several operations in quick succession. Her health is worrying: in her rare social media appearances, she looks thin, tired and sad. She suffers from her separation from her seven-year-old twins, Jacques and Gabriella. As the months went by, however, some wonder if Charlene went into voluntary exile. Her absence on the 10th wedding anniversary, July 2, 2021, feeds rumors of a probable separation of the royal couple. It is whispered that she has never loved him, that she has been deeply unhappy for years. To the Daily Beasta close friend tells of a lunch during which Charlene would have sobbed non-stop, ignored by Alberto.