‘Charlene being back with us is the most beautiful thing’: Prince Albert says he was hurt by the ‘vicious’ rumours about his wife’s absence from Monaco and his family ‘missed the princess a lot’
- Prince Albert, 62, has said he was ‘hurt by the vicious rumours’ peddled about his marriage following his wife’s 10-month long absence from Monaco
- Charlene, 44, recently returned after 10 months away from the Principality
- Speaking to French Sunday paper Journal de Dimanche , Albert said the last year was ‘a test for my wife especially, who suffered greatly’
Prince Albert has said he was ‘hurt by the vicious rumours’ peddled about his marriage following his wife’s 10-month long absence from Monaco and said that it’s the ‘most beautiful thing’ to have Princess Charlene back with him.
Charlene, 44, recently to the to the Mediterranean Principality after spending time in a treatment faculty for exhaustion. Last week she was pictured with Albert in public for the first time since French media claimed she is receiving £10million a year to appear by her husband’s side at public engagements.
Now the royal, 62, has said the time apart was ‘a test for his wife’ but they ‘spoke often, despite the distance.
Prince Albert has said he was ‘hurt by the vicious rumours’ peddled about his marriage following his wife’s 10-month long absence from Monaco and said that it’s the ‘most beautiful thing’ to have Princess Charlene back with him
Charlene, 44, recently to the to the Mediterranean Principality after spending time in a treatment faculty for exhaustion. Last week she was pictured with Albert in public for the first time since French media claimed she is receiving £10million a year to appear by her husband’s side at public engagements.
Speaking to French Sunday paper Journal de Dimanche, Albert said the last year was ‘a test for my wife especially, who suffered greatly and lived through difficult times, far from her family. A test also for our children and for myself.
‘We missed the princess a lot. And we were obviously hurt by the malicious rumours that were peddled,’
‘But we were able to stay united despite the distance, we spoke to each other often.’
He added: ‘Today, Charlene is back with us and this is the most beautiful thing which could have happened. She’s better, we can finally spend time together. It is a relief and a joy for all of us’.
The interview took place prior to Saturday afternoon’s announcement that Charlene had tested positive for Covid.
Despite her health worries, palace sources said her diagnosis is ‘not worrying’ and she is self-isolating.
Speaking to French Sunday paper Journal de Dimanche , Albert said the last year was ‘a test for my wife especially, who suffered greatly and lived through difficult times, far from her family. A test also for our children and for myself. Charlene is pictured with her daughter last week
The interview took place prior to Saturday afternoon’s announcement that Charlene had tested positive for Covid. Prince Albert of Monaco Princess Charlene of Monaco and Patrick Dempsey pose for a photo outside the Red Bull Racing garage
During appearances at Monaco Fashion Week last month, Charlene told local media her health was ‘fragile’ and the road to recovery was ‘long, difficult and so painful’.
Charlene has rarely been seen with Albert since she spent some 10 months in South Africa last year. She contracted a serious sinus infection on a charity trip, which left her hospitalised and delayed her return to Monaco.
She returned home in November, but left almost immediately for Switzerland to receive treatment for ‘exhaustion’.
It comes as French media claimed she is receiving £10million a year to appear by her husband’s side at public engagements.
Charlene recently returned to Monaco and was seen last month with her children and husband for the first since November after spending time in treatment facility for ‘exhaustion’. The couple are pictured with Sebastian Vettel
While she use to be a regular at racing events, Charlene, pictured today, last attended the Grand Prix in 2019 – where she received a kiss on the cheek from Lewis Hamilton.
Leading French media reported the ruler of the tax haven Mediterranean principality was doing everything possible to keep Charlene ‘at his side at public events’.
Major French outlets that specialise in celebrity news said Charlene’s sudden re-appearance was welcomed by all Royal watchers.
‘But the Princess did not return at any price,’ magazine Voici reported. ‘She would have had her husband sign an ultra-confidential contract.’
Timeline: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene’s year apart
January 27 – Charlene is pictured with Albert for the Sainte Devote Ceremony in Monaco.
March 18 – Charlene is pictured at the memorial for the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, South Africa
April 2 – Charlene posts an Instagram picture of herself, Albert and their twins Jacques and Gabriella for Easter.
It is unknown where the image was taken.
May 8 – Albert, Jacques and Gabriella attend a Grand Prix event in Monaco without Charlene
May 10 – Albert attends Monaco Gala Awards in Monaco without Charlene
May 18 – Charlene shares her first picture from her conservation trip in South Africa
June 1 – Prince Albert II, Jacques and Gabriella attend event at Oceanic Museum in Monaco
June 3 – New photos emerge of Charlene on her conservation trip
June 5- Charlene puts on a united front as she shares a photo with her family to mark her niece’s fifth birthday with her brother’s family and Albert and the twins in South Africa
June 7 – Albert and the twins attend the World Rugby Sevens without Charlene
June 17 – Prince Albert attends Red Cross Summer concert in Monte Carlo with his sister Princess Caroline of Hanover
June 18 – Prince Albert appears alone Monte Carlo TV Festival
June 24 – Charlene’s foundation releases a statement saying the royal is unable to travel and is undergoing procedures for an ear, nose and throat infection
July 2 – Charlene and Albert mark their 10th anniversary separately. ‘This year will be the first time that I’m not with my husband on our anniversary in July, which is difficult, and it saddens me,’ Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene said in a statement.
July 3 – Albert appears with glamorous niece Charlotte Casiraghi at the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping event, which is part of the Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco,
July 27 – Prince Albert attends Olympics alone in Tokyo
August 13 – Charlene undergoes a four-hour operation. The reason is not announced
August 25 – Charlene shares photos of Prince Albert, Gabriella and Jacques visiting her in South Africa
September 1 – Charlene is admitted under an alias to the Netcare Alberlito Hospital after suddenly ‘collapsing’
September 2 – She is discharged, with a statement from the Palais Princier reading: ‘Her Highness is closely monitored by Her medical team who said that Her condition was not worrying’
September 23 – Prince Albert attends the 2021 Monte Carlo Gala for Planetary Health
September 29 – Prince Albert is joined on the red carpet by actress Sharon Stone for a first look at the eagerly anticipated James Bond release
September 30 – Charlene releases a stylish video promoting her anti-poaching campaign from her South African bolthole
October 3 – Princess Charlene shares a photograph of herself smiling in front of a bible in her first snap since being discharged from hospital following her health scare
October 5 – Prince Albert attends Sportel Awards Ceremony in Monte Carlo with nephew Louis Ducruet
October 6 – Albert tells RMC radio Charlene is ‘ready to come home’
October 8 – Princess undergoes surgery in South Africa
November 8 – Charlene arrives back in Monaco. Prince Albert said within hours it became clear she was ‘unwell’
November 13 – Prince Albert attends Expo 2020 in Dubai without Princess Charlene
Following his return from the trip, Prince Albert holds an intervention with Charlene’s brothers and a sister-in-law in which Charlene ‘confirmed’ she would seek ‘real medically framed treatment’ outside of Monaco
November 16 – Royal household confirms Princess Charlene will not attend National Day celebrations on
November 19 – Prince Albert attends a Monaco Red Cross event without Princess Charlene
November 17 – Prince Albert reveals Princess Charlene has left Monaco and is recovering in a secret location
November 19 – Prince Albert reveals Charlene is in a treatment facility ‘elsewhere in Europe’ after a family intervention
January 25 – Charlene celebrates her birthday alone outside of Monaco
January 26 – Prince Albert is joined by his children and sister without Charlene at St Devote’s Day
February 27 – Prince Albert and his two children attend AS Monaco football match without Princess Charlene
March 14 – The royal palace announced Charlene had returned to Monaco.
April 17 – Palace released Easter Sunday family portrait of couple with their seven-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques
April 30 – Princess Charlene makes first public appearance at Monaco E-Prix
May 7 – Charlene joins Albert at Sainte Dévote Rugby Tournament
May 18 – Prince Albert takes twins to Disneyland without Charlene
May 25- Charlene appears with Gabriella at fashion show while Albert attends football game with Jacques
May 28 – Charlene and Albert appear together at Monaco F1
Conditions include Albert paying Charlene ’12 million euros [£10.2m] per year’, the outlet claims.
The revelations were followed up by rival publication Paris Match Belgium, which writes: ‘Prince Albert would himself pay a tidy sum to the princess so that she appears at his side at public events.’
Events that Charlene could now be contractually obliged to attend include the F1 Grand Prix and the Rose charity ball which has been rescheduled from March 19 to July 8.
The Royal Palace in Monte Carlo refuses to discuss specific financial arrangements, but the principality pays out some £40m a year to cover the institution’s running costs.
Royals are not salaried officials, however, meaning that Charlene would be reliant on Albert – a billionaire in his own right – for her own spending money.
A Royal insider based in Monte Carlo told Mail Online: ‘Of course the Princess enjoys huge perks, but ready cash is not guaranteed.
‘She’s been through a very difficult time, so it would make sense for Charlene to try and secure her own guaranteed income.’
Charlene first had a 10-month absence in her native South Africa, where she contracted and was hospitalised for a serious sinus infection that delayed her return to Monaco.
After her return to the principality in November, Charlene left almost immediately to receive treatment for ‘exhaustion’ at a Swiss clinic.
The Monaco palace has consistently denied media reports of a rift between Charlene and the principality’s ruler Prince Albert, who were wed in 2011, following the princess’ long absence.
Zimbabwean-born Princess Charlene was hospitalised after collapsing in September in South Africa, where she had been living for several months.
She underwent surgery in October for an ear, nose and throat infection after checking in under a pseudonym in a Durban hospital, a palace source said at the time.
Friends previously told Page Six that the mother-of-two ‘almost died’ while she was in her home country, while her husband spoke out to say she is suffering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’.
A palace statement released on December 23 revealed Albert and the couple’s children were planning to visit Charlene during the Christmas holidays, as well as asking for the family’s privacy to be respected.
It added that the princess ‘is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.’
Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.
Charlene returned to her husband and twins Jacques and Gabriella in November following almost a year in South Africa.
While on a solo charity trip to the country, she contracted a severe sinus infection which prevented her from travelling. She subsequently needed surgery to treat the medical condition, which again delayed her return to Monaco.
In the weeks after her arrival, Charlene remained absent from public duties.
Albert later revealed the family reunion had gone ‘pretty well’ in the first few hours, but it then became ‘pretty evident’ that Charlene was ‘unwell.’
He said the former Olympian ‘realised she needed help’, adding: ‘She was overwhelmed and couldn’t face official duties, life in general or even family life.’
Albert explained: ‘I’m probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It’s of a different nature.’
He went on to tell a magazine her current state was a result of ‘several factors which are private’.
Albert continued: ‘She hadn’t slept well in a number of days and she wasn’t eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.’
He said it is ‘not cancer-related or personal relationship issue’ and later said she is suffering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’.
He later confirmed Charlene has been admitted to a treatment facility for undisclosed medical issues, as she works through a period of ill health. The location of the facility was not confirmed, though several sources claim it is in Switzerland.
However friends of the princess spoke out to suggest the issues were more physical than Albert appeared to suggest.
Speaking to Page Six, a source described as the royal’s friend said: ‘It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue.
‘We don’t know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.’
The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in ‘severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery’.
Elsewhere friends of Princess Charlene gave Tatler a rare insight into what the royal is really like, insisting that the former swimmer is a force to be reckoned with.
One source rubbished any public perception that Charlene is ‘naive’ and trapped in an unhappy marriage with Albert, saying: ‘I don’t for one second think she did not know what she was doing when she married him.’
But one warned the mother of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, is not the type to be blindly controlled by the Monaco royal household.
‘Charlene is no Princess Di.’ one said. ‘She may come across as being extremely naïve, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is very good at keeping her smarts under wraps.’
Doubts about the central relationship of Monaco’s royal family are not new.
Several residents living in the narrow medieval alleys of Monaco Ville confirmed to MailOnline that before she left for South Africa Charlene was spending most of her time outside the Palace, living in a modest two-bedroom apartment above an old chocolate factory about 300m away, rather than in the 12th Century Palace itself.
‘We often saw her outside the Palace and she would usually be alone or with a bodyguard,’ said one source, ‘but she was never with Albert – it was obvious she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace.’
Princess Charlene of Monaco and her daughter Princess Gabriella of Monaco attend the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco
Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.
Born in Rhodesia- a previously unrecognised state in Southern Africa colonised by the British, she relocated to South Africa aged 11.
She had a successful swimming career and went on to win three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg, as well as representing South Africa at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games and winning a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay in the latter competition.
However the pair’s marriage has made numerous headlines over the years, with a third paternity suit emerging in December 2020.
Soon afterwards Charlene famously shaved half her head in the style of a punk rocker. Months later she left for South Africa.
The allegations in December 2020 claimed that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene were already in a relationship.
He has also fathered two other children outside of wedlock. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 29 and the result of Albert’s affair with an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 18, whose mother is a former Togolese air hostess.
Both children were struck off Monaco’s line of succession in return for vast financial settlements.
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