The fragile return of Charlene of Monaco on the Rock
“In agreement with her doctors and while her recovery is on the right track, their Serene Highnesses have agreed that Princess Charlene can now continue her convalescence in the Principality, with her husband and children.” After long months spent in South Africa and then in Switzerland, Charlene of Monaco is therefore the eldest back on the Rock. The news was announced by the Prince’s Palace of Monaco on Saturday March 12, 2022, via an official press release, two days before the birthday of Prince Albert, who celebrated his 64th birthday with his wife on Monday March 14.
A reduction without a doubt for the Monegasques, among whom the absence of Charlene of Monaco alongside the Prince for their ten years of marriage on July 1, 2021, had raised many questions and speculations. That summer, an investigation by the German weekly Bunte, which devoted its front page to the princely couple, did not beat around the bush: the couple’s divorce was imminent. One rumor among others, related in particular to the mental health of the 44-year-old former professional swimmer who had been away from the Rock for several months at the time.
A first convalescence in South Africa
In March 2021, Charlene Wittstock is in South Africa, the country in which she grew up and for which she was a swimming champion, to attend the funeral of her friend, the Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. In the weeks that followed, the Princess – who is done discreetly – communicates via Instagram where she posts, on April 2, 2021, a snapshot of her family to celebrate happy Easter holidays to her subscribers. Then nothing until the following month, when she shows up… in South Africa. From May 18 to 28, Charlene of Monaco publishes four photos of the wildlife rescue mission she is carrying out, with the South African Anti-Poaching Unit (South African Anti-Poaching Unit).
This humanitarian trip was originally supposed to last only “ten or twelve days”, according to the confidences of the person concerned at the microphone of the radio. South Africa 702 in the summer of 2021. More Princess Charlene extends her stay.
The first rumors are emerging, especially since the couple has not been seen together at an official event since the Sainte-Dévote ceremony in Monaco on January 26, 2021. Bunte will affirm in his investigation that the Princess has actually been in South Africa since the end of January.
“It does not breathe happiness…”
Faced with the rumor that swells, the Rock decides to communicate: the mother of Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella contracted a “serious infection of the ENT sphere” during her trip, according to the terms used by the Palace, which prevents him from taking the plane. On the spot, she must alternate heavy surgical operations and periods of convalescence, according to the recommendations of her medical team. The last operation she underwent would have taken place in early October 2021, an operation under general anesthesia to treat this infection. A month earlier, the Princess was rushed to hospital after feeling unwell.
A “painful” period
In June and August 2021, the twins, accompanied by their father, visit their mother in South Africa. At four and then as a couple, the Monegasque clan poses all smiles on Instagram. What extinguish all the rumors of separation? Some Internet users are worried about the state of health of the Princess but also about the relationship of the couple. Many believe they perceive a melancholy in the eyes of the Princess.
“It does not breathe happiness …”, writes a user. “I find her sad Charlene, (…), the photos of the couple ring false”, or “Charlene is unhappy like stones”, can we still read.
Already in early July, the wife of Grace Kelly’s son is also trying to silence the rumors: “Albert is my rock and my strength and without his love and support, I could not have gone through this painful period”, assures she in an interview with the South African media News 24.
A month and a half before the publication of these reassuring family portraits, the German media Bunte claimed that Charlene of Monaco was then looking to acquire a property near Johannesburg, and that her “friend and self-taught millionaire Colleen Glaeser, 47, would have helped her set up a company in South Africa to conduct her business there”.
Rest in Switzerland for “general exhaustion”
However, after eight months spent thousands of kilometers from the Rock, Charlene does indeed land on the tarmac of the Monegasque heliport. We are at the beginning of November 2021: her children and her husband are waiting for her there, a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Reunion rewarded by a photographer and once again shared on the official Instagram account of the Principality in stride.
The pictures tend to illustrate the happiness of reunion, the joy of a close-knit team. The former professional athlete even returned with a dog called “Khan”, a Rhodesian Ridgeback still a baby male, the fifth protagonist of these ideal family portraits.
But on November 16, Charlene of Monaco is again absent during a ceremony to hand over the package from the Monegasque Red Cross, when she was expected to participate. Also absent during the Monegasque national holiday three days later. Only a few days after her return, the Princess left the Principality again. Direction a private Swiss clinic kept secret. On November 25, Albert II opens up to Stéphane Bern for Paris Match.
I want to insist on this because I know the rumors, the princess does not suffer from any serious or incurable disease.
“Charlene was really exhausted. A general exhaustion, physical and moral. So much so that we decided together, and with our close families, that the best choice would be that she could rest calmly, outside Monaco, for obvious reasons of discretion and comfort, so abroad, the time of a therapeutic retreat that will allow her to recover definitively.On her return, she was aware that her state of tired deep did not ask her to meet her obligations, and that she had to get help“, he assures, evoking, for the first time, the fragile mental health of his wife.
Before denying new rumours: “Fortunately, and I want to insist on this because I know the rumours, the Princess does not suffer from any serious or incurable disease”.
Read also:
- Grace Kelly, the Hollywood star to the Princess of Monaco
- Stephanie of Monaco, freed from the Rock