Charlène of Monaco is back in her principality. The princess had spent many months in South Africa, even on her tenth wedding anniversary she had been to the Cape. Some rumored that she had secretly separated from Prince Albert II, some even trusted her to stay in her home country forever. But at least one thing was shown by Charlène’s long absence: the relationship between the princess and the principality does not seem to be particularly close.
The 43-year-old originally traveled to South Africa in the spring to campaign against rhino poaching. The princess visited a nature reserve where rangers dehorn rhinos to protect them from poachers and posted lots of photos on social media, on which she presented herself as an Amazon-like nature conservation warrior. Not long afterwards, it became known in local media that an oral surgery performed prior to her trip was delaying her return. Accordingly, Charlène suffered from severe earache, an ear, nose and throat infection and had to endure several operations in the following months. When flying at high altitudes, it was said that she could not compensate for the ear pressure, so the return to Monaco was repeatedly postponed.
So she was stuck in KwaZulu-Natal, the coastal province where she had once trained as Charlene Wittstock for her career as a competitive swimmer, and passed the time by promoting rhino protection and sewing blankets for poor children. This fueled rumors of a possible separation from husband Albert, even if the prince himself tried to dispel them. The tabloid media accused Charlène of neglecting her duties as a mother and mother of the country. “It was a challenging time here, but it was also wonderful to be back in South Africa,” said Charlène on the tarmac at Durban airport on Sunday evening before flying back. At first she had image reported their return. Prince Albert uploaded a photo of the reunited family on Instagram on Monday. It was “a reunion full of joy and emotions”, it said in the text.
The speculation during her absence shows once again that Charlène not only has fans in Monaco. The former Olympic swimmer didn’t have it easy as a princess from the start. Since her first public appearance with Albert in 2006, she has been compared to his mother, Grace Kelly.
Princess Gracia Patricia alias Grace Kelly also struggled to gain the respect of the Monegasque people.
(Photo: UPI / dpa)
Charlène not only looked similar to the Hollywood actress and Princess of Monaco, Kelly also initially had difficulties with the constraints of court etiquette, initially could not speak French and first had to fight for the people’s favor. But while Kelly – after many years – gained in popularity and even helped the principality, previously dependent on the ailing casino business, to an economic upswing by attracting tourists through its popularity, the relationship between Charlène and the people of Monaco remained somewhat distant.
In 2014 she gave birth to twins Gabriella and Jacques – finally, commented the public. After all, the continued existence of the principality depends on a male legitimate descendant, and Albert II had previously limited himself to illegitimate children.
Finally an heir to the throne: Princess Charlène and Prince Albert in January 2015 at the official presentation of their twins Jacques and Gabriella on the balcony of the palace in Monaco.
(Photo: Eric Gaillard / Reuters)
In 2015, Charlène publicly said a few sentences in French that did not sound memorized, surprising some observers, although the French press commented directly: Grace Kelly only needed one to two years to learn French, Charlène had four years of private tuition and used four more years as a princess. And to this day, the French media accuse Charlène of having difficulties mastering “the Molière language”.
At least outwardly, Charlène managed to break away from her mother-in-law, who died in a car accident in 1982, by constantly new hairstyles. Just before Christmas last year, she showed herself with half-shaved hair – no big deal for a woman in the 21st century. On the other hand, there is little leeway for a princess to express a possible rebellion, and so the sensation was great. Your comment in the Point de Vue To this: “Sure, of all the royals I’m probably the one who has tried the most varied of hairstyles, but I’ll keep going. It’s my decision.”
An appropriate hairstyle for a princess? Charlène surprised last Christmas with an undercut.
(Photo: Eric Gaillard / AFP)
She missed her family very much, stressed Charlène again and again on social media during her stay in South Africa. Photos of a visit from Albert and the twins show daughter Gabriella with a strange hairstyle: a pony that tapers to a point on the forehead. Gabriella cut her own hair, Charlène writes about the photo on Instagram, she tried to save what could be saved. But somehow the hairstyle is reminiscent of that of the princess. The question is who was trying to rebel?