her romance with Albert, her Olympic career, her illness… We tell you everything!
From the basins to the Rock, a look back at the destiny of Charlene of Monaco. Find out everything there is to know about the 57-year-old former swimmer, from her childhood in Africa to her unexpected marriage to Prince Albert.
An essential figure of the Grimaldi, Charlene of Monaco has won the coveted heart of Prince Albert of Monaco. Who is the South African, former Olympic swimmer who came to settle on the Rock? What studies has she done? Comment Did Albert II make his marriage proposal? Who are his children? We tell you everything about the 44-year-old princess.
The latest news on Charlene of Monaco
Where a grandiose Charlene of Monaco?
Before being called Charlene of Monaco, the ex-swimmer was known as Charlene Wittstock. The princess was not born on the Rock. She was born on January 25, 1978 in Zimbabwe and left the country at the age of 12 to settle with her family in South Africa. It was his mother Lynette, a competitive diver, who passed on the swimming virus to him. Under the colors of the rainbow nation, she is in the starting blocks of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The same year, she snatched gold in the 200m back of the Monaco International Swimming Meeting – this is where she met her future husband, Albert II of Monaco.
Charlène of Monaco keeps very strong attachments to the country in which she grew up. In March 2021, she returned to South Africa to attend the funeral of the King of the Zulus, moved to tears. Her return to the Rock will be caused by health concerns, and she will ultimately spend several months away from her family.
Which studies to follow Charlène of Monaco?
It was at the age of 16 that Charlène Wittstock abandoned her studies to devote herself to her career as a swimmer. In 1994, she prepares the competitions full time. His career, however, was cut short: in 2002, she hung up the jersey due to a shoulder injury which prevented her from qualifying for the Beijing Olympics.
It is far from the rhinestones and sequins that Prince Albert asked the swimmer in marriage. It’s in his book Albert II of Monaco, the prince and the man published in 2018 by Fayard editions that the man recounts the moment he took the plunge. “We were in Charlene’s apartment. I was sitting on the edge of the bed, she was getting ready to go out. ‘Before you go, I told him, I have something to ask you. So.“
Charlène of Monaco, she assures that she does not expect to have the ring on her finger. “Albert is my love, my friend, he is everything to me. But at the time, I didn’t think about the future at all. In my mind we were gonna stay…as we were“, she testifies in the same book. By agreeing to marry, she embraces the life of the man but also of the prince and the responsibilities that come with it. “My husband cannot be a man like the others”she conceded again.
What are the children of Charlene of Monaco?
If Albert II of Monaco was father of two illegitimate children When he met Charlene of Monaco, the latter had not yet tasted the joys of motherhood. And the family quickly grew: on December 10, 2014, she gives birth to twins. Jacques and Gabriella, inseparable, and who make the inhabitants of Le Rocher happy when they appear on the balcony for official Monegasque events.
The two children have a busy schedule: when they are not at the François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré primary school in Monaco, they have many activities, such as sailing, lessons on the marine environment and initiations to diving and rescue at sea. And Charlène takes her role as mother very seriously: “For me, the family is the first of schools and nature is an educational environment in itself”she believes with the magazine Point of view.
What disease does Charlene of Monaco suffer from?
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene did not celebrate 10 years of marriage. In 2021, the princess returns to her native country for the funeral of the King of the Zulus. She was supposed to spend 10 days there – she was staying there for nine months. The longest time away from Europe and its children. In South Africa, she underwent a dental operation but contracted a serious ENT infection which prevented her from taking a plane back. Over the weeks, rumors of separations swell.
But Charlene will eventually come home in November 2021. “I went through a very difficult period, but I was blessed to be supported and loved by my husband, my children and my familyfrom where I draw all my strengththe princess told News24. I feel much stronger physically. The road has been long, difficult and painful. I don’t want to go too fast, but today I feel calmer.” On April 30, 2022, she made her first public appearance at the Monaco E-Prix in the arms of Prince Albert.
What links does Charlene of Monaco have with Africa?
Although she has been engaged to Albert of Monaco for 12 years, Charlène does not forget her people and her land. It is committed to numerous associations working in Africa. In 2012, she created the Charlène de Monaco Foundation, which aims to provide a better world for children “of any origin”. Degraded programs in 40 countries mainly guaranteed for learning to swim.
In the summer of 2022, she is launching an initiative called Feed2gether, to fight hunger in South Africa. “We have heard the cries of our children and we refuse to let hunger have the last word in Rainbow Nation.”pleaded the princess to the South African media News24.