Princess Charlene in gold sequins in Monaco: lovely or unflattering?

Princess Charlene has been so much perkier lately. “Perkier” being a relative term, I suppose. Considering two weeks ago she seemed awkward, depressed, druggy and unhappy during an interview with CBS News, Charlene has greatly improved. These are photos of Charlene and Albert back in Monaco, at Monaco’s annual Red Cross Ball, one of the biggest events of the year for the tiny principality. I still can’t find the designer ID on Charlene’s gold-sequined and white-skirted dress. My top guess is Akris. Just because Charlene wears a lot of Akris, and while this is giving me some Chanel vibes, I don’t think it is. Anyway, I really dislike the dress. Charlene’s proportions are difficult, I think, for most eveningwear. She has swimmer’s shoulders and slender hips. Designers should make sure that she doesn’t look so top heavy – which is exactly the problem here. There’s too much going on up top. Too much sparkle, too many sequins. But look… she’s actually touching Albert! Without needing to excuse herself to throw up! They’re showing affection to each other. Amazing.

I tend to think Charlene is probably pretty happy right now. It probably helped that she was at the Olympics – she loves the Olympics. And I think it was kind of nice of Prince Albert to really “let” Charlene stay for a week to attend so many of the swimming events. Remember, Charlene was an Olympic swimmer. And she’s from South Africa, and South African swimmer (and HOTTIE) Chad Le Cleos had a really great Olympics, scoring a Gold Medal and a Silver Medal in head-to-head matches against Michael Phelps. Chad and Charlene are friends – and Charlene had invited the South African swim team to Monaco to prepare for the Olympics too. I think Albert gave his wife what she wanted and needed: some time to enjoy one of her greatest pleasures. The Olympics, spending time with her countrymen, hanging out with swimmers. It was Charlene’s Best Week Ever. Sigh… she has to wait another four years to have that much fun again.

And much like Duchess Kate and Prince William, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Charlene and Albert were able to produce an Olympic baby.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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74 Responses to “Princess Charlene in gold sequins in Monaco: lovely or unflattering?”

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  1. DailyNightly says:

    Does she have cheek implants? Her face looks odd.

    • corny says:

      make up from ringling brothers
      snow white and her dwarf, Milky.

      and where are the stylists, that dress does nothing for her figure, rachel zoe, clinton kelly…anyone?

  2. brin says:

    Work it, royals.

    • Trashaddict says:

      LOL! Play that funky music, white boy. Oh, but honestly he makes me want to puke.

  3. Suze says:

    She’s really a beautiful woman but this look does absolutely nothing for her.

    It’s going to be a big letdown in all the Europe royal houses once the Olympics are over, isn’t it? Maybe there will be a crop of little princes and princesses come next spring.

    • Genevieve says:

      I’m thinking the dress did exactly the opposite of what her body type required. She would have looked better in strapless or shoulder baring full-length, fitted down the bodice (she is lovely and trim), with something flowing or providing a bit of volume near the hemline.

      I have a similar body type- tall, with those linebacker shoulders. I always try to counterbalance the shoulders, or just go with a simple and stark neckline.

      But, hey- as Kaiser said, at least she didn’t look like she wanted to vom, lol.

    • TTT says:

      Doubtful.

  4. GiGi says:

    I always get the feeling that she really *wants* to be in love with Albert. Like she should be happy but she’s not but she’s still willing to try?

    • DeltaJuliet says:

      That’s how I kind of feel about it. Like, if he treated her better and paid attention to her, she would be all about him. It makes me sad actually and hits a little too close to home 🙁

    • Liv says:

      I don’t know, I’m not buying this whole he’s-hating-her-she-wanted-out-thing…I’m a bit torn.

      • Veruca says:

        I saw pictures on another site where he looks happier to be with her, too.

        If they’re faking it, they’re at least doing a better job of it.

  5. Mourning the Death of Music says:

    The last picture made me think of the late Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta.

  6. phaksi says:

    I actually like the dress. Chad is only 20 Kaiser, so its highly unlikely anything would happen with him and Charlene

  7. Jackie O says:

    i am starting to get the feeling she is just as nuts as he is. maybe they will last…with lots of drama behind the scenes.

    princess grace sure did raise 3 strange children. the oldest doesn’t seem as bad, except for her horrific taste in men.

    • LAK says:

      Oh Caroline is just as wild as her siblings. Just has/better ways of appearing regal – coughbetterpublicist/litigiouslawyerscough

      She keeps her shenanigans within royal circles mostly but she’s done some eye raising things in her time.

    • cupidityrox! says:

      I wouldn’t be so quick to compliment Caroline. She’s a known snob & a bitch to boot

      • Jackie O says:

        given the dysfunction of her siblings, stating she does not seem as bad, was not meant as a compliment.

  8. GoodCapon says:

    Rock that hair, Charlene!!

    I hate the dress though and they’re not fooling anybody with this faux love.

  9. vic says:

    It was always ridiculous that she was some sort of poor little kidnap victim.

  10. Bailey says:

    I still think it looks like he makes her skin crawl.

  11. mk yarwood says:

    She’s not in love with him, but they must be coming around to the understanding that will remain throughout their marriage. She is too timid to tap a swimmer this year, but in 4 years….

    • cupidityrox! says:

      Albert has no such qualms & is probably tapping a few swimmers of his own. I expect if she falls pregnant then look out for any suddenly pregnant olympian as well

  12. cupidityrox! says:

    I saw them together on Piers Morgan. Their seats were so far apart & marching band could have passed easily between them. And she was very careful not to look at him throughout

    • noble says:

      Instead of this being the celebitchy site it should be called the I hate Prince Albert and Princess Charlene website. I think you need to look again. If you saw the same interview with Piers Morgan that I saw she did look at Albert many times and they did not sit far apart. They look perfectly fine to me as they always have. Since she has become Princess there sure has been a lot of people saying negative things about her and him. Before she became Princess I never heard anything negative about her. Someone sure did not want her to succeed Grace Kelly and him to get married. They gave her a hard time when she married Prince Rainier also. The press said a lot of bad things about him and her especially in the French media. But she still succeeded and Charlene will do the same because she is a strong accomplished woman that does not appear to worry about what others say or think. What makes you people hate them so much and make up stuff that is not even there is ridicolous. People just love scandals I guess especially about royals. I will never believe any gossip about them I am one of those people that does not believe everything I read without any concrete proof. Leave them alone!!!!!!!

  13. Nonny says:

    That hair! I wake up in a cold sweat dreaming about getting a haircut like that! And laquer tram lines…..I feel queasy!

  14. Ladyfoot says:

    She was probably never in love with him, how could she be? But obviously she had no qualms about his looks and personality when she dated him for years so let’s not feel too sorry for her now. Anyone with a half a pea size brain and an ability to read knows he’s the opposite of faithful. But oh that money and title, how it helps one’s eyesight and affection.

    • Rumorhasit says:

      I like how he appears to be wearing contacts on this night, or at least he left those unflattering glasses in his other jacket. I see this as an attempt of a supremely spoilt, and entitled man to attempt to meet his spouse halfway on just ONE thing. Cause per photographic research, hes’ worn those God-awful glasses everywhere, all the time, his entire adult life. The conversation had to go something like this, ” I found out on our wedding you’ ve fathered a child with another woman, now can you at least try to look like a somewhat attractive man, who has some kind of game? For me…if I stay? “

  15. Cathy says:

    I don’t like that dress on her. The cut isn’t right. It’s just plain ewww.

  16. Abby says:

    She is so pretty, but I haven’t liked any of her clothes lately. That being said, they look a lot happier here than that terrible CBS interview. Just an odd couple.

  17. Isa says:

    Wow the last picture gave me a Princess Diana vibe! Dont ask me why. I think it reminded me of her dancing with Travolta. Hope she doesnt have the same end.

  18. RHONYC says:

    she’s lovely.
    he’s unflattering. 🙁

  19. francesca1 says:

    Is she determined to make her already-massive shoulders seem even more so? Ugh.

  20. Loulou says:

    None of the Monaco royals showed up to this other than Albert and his aunt Elizabeth de Massy who wore a gorgeous dress. The gold sequin dress is supposedly Dior. It makes them look spotty in pictures. Albert was quite drunk, presumably because the Ball’s family stalwarts stayed away from the parody. His wife’s body is the product of steroid use which some say will hamper chances of becoming pregnant. As per the SA swimmers, she only knew their coach who was hers in years past.

  21. kibbles says:

    If this guy weren’t a royal, he’d have to advertise on Craigslist to get laid let alone be able to marry a woman half as beautiful as Charlene. Please. I doubt she was ever truly in love with Albert, it was for the money and title. The end.

  22. RobN says:

    I saw the Piers Morgan interview and my impression was that she may just be kind of stupid. Not imprisoned, not faking anything, just kind of not very bright. We tend to assume that public personalities like this are smart because they travel in fancy circles, but she may just be a bit of a dim bulb.

  23. mek821 says:

    Why did she go through with the marriage? I will never understand.

    • Reece says:

      Supposedly his goons took her passport when she tried to run just before. France wouldn’t give her asylum.

      • RobN says:

        This explanation assumes that she hasn’t learned the word “no”. Cause if I didn’t want to marry somebody and a priest asked me if I would, I’d say no. Quite clearly and quite strongly.

  24. Christine says:

    Why does she wear her hair so short? It’s severe looking.

  25. some bitch says:

    My proportions are a lot like Charlene’s- broad shoulders, narrow hips, tall with long limbs, and it really is a pain in the ass trying to find great outfits! It’s hard to find clothes that work for the shoulders, fit in the hips and don’t make you look top heavy.

    That being said, the dress isn’t great but Charlene has an incredible figure, lovely and tall like Diana.

  26. lisa2 says:

    I like the look. She looks happy and they look to be having fun. I would have like him in a darker jacket.. His white blended too much into her dress.

  27. Stacie says:

    I totally agree with you Princess Charlene does actually look bright and happy .

  28. Reece says:

    That dress is just boring, ugly, it’s so grandma.

  29. Mitch Buchanan Rocks! says:

    Charlene reminds me a lot of Brigitte Neilsen back in the eighties.

  30. Scout says:

    She is very pretty and happier here than I have seen before. Sorry, though, I don’t like the dress nor do I think it flatters her.

  31. Eleonor says:

    After that disaster mess of the interview, I suppose they’ve changed her druggies.

  32. barb says:

    I can’t quite figure out what it is about Albert that is so unsettling. I get a real mean vibe from him…something about his expressions, especially when he’s looking at her, that are so cruel and cold. He’s a scary guy.

  33. TG says:

    I am probably a year or so too late with this post but will someone please explain why she was even picked to be the bride to this buffoon? I mean why, if the object was to find a bride for the prince in order to give him an air of respectability, did they pick this woman who has clearly not been vetted properly. Why not find a professional bride? And one that is attractive. I mean that is what Prince William did. Not saying he and Kate aren’t in love but you can see she is very professional about her job as the bride of the prince and these monaco people should take a lesson from the British royal playbook, well the revised playbook, obviously not from Queen Elizabeth’s children, since they have all been spoiled royal messes as well, but her grandson for sure.

    • TTT says:

      Not sure what you mean by professional. I don’t see anything wrong with her. She seems classy and elegant enough.

  34. e.non says:

    yikes… looks like one of her cheek implants is migrating. i wonder if her meds have been adjusted to make her ‘happy’.

    ugh. he is just so repulsive.

  35. carol says:

    She has a great body but that dress sure doesn’t do her justice…it makes her shoulders look even bigger. But she’s lovely anyway.

    She does look perkier… it must be the Olympics afterglow. She looked like a totally different person there, cheering on the SA team and hugging Le Clos’ parents. She was very obviously in her element, it must have done her good. Apparently she has a spunky nature and is pretty fun to be around. I suppose that only goes outside the royal circles though :/
    Apparently she had the chance to hang out a bit at night at the Olympic village. There’s this German article which talks about her popping over at the ‘German House’ one night and there bumping into a friend from the old days, the former German Olympic swimmer Franziska van Almsick who was there as a commentator for a German network. They laughed, joked and Charlene looked totally laid-back. She did an interview for a German magazine and said she still gets goose bumps remembering the athlete parade at the Sydney games.
    It’s a small world, after all…;) maybe she bumped into a former BF…who knows?One of them was there as a commentator for an Italian network.
    I guess we’ll just have to wait it out…and see if her good spirits are a lasting thing or she’ll sink back into her hole.

    http://www.bunte.de/society/olympia-2012-london/charlene-franziska-van-almsick-sie-feiern-gemeinsam-bei-olympia_aid_34228.html

    http://www.rp-online.de/gesellschaft/adel/royales-treffen-der-badenixen-1.2936155

  36. TTT says:

    She is really gorgeous.

  37. Lady Satan says:

    I like the dress, but it needs to be more fitted to be flattering. It’s too loose through the sequined bit and it looks bag-like.

    I wonder if C is looking less druggy because she IS less druggy. In her interview she seemed nervous & unused to dealing with press/interviews. Could it be she was dosing herself with Xanax (or something similar) to deal with being in the public eye? Maybe now, as she feels more self-confident, she is skipping the happy pills.

  38. Lushus L. says:

    I don’t know. In the fourth pic Albert looks kind of cute and cuddly, like Winnie the Pooh Bear. A wealthy Pooh Bear. 😉

  39. DianeP says:

    He is just nauseating. I feel so sorry for her. No amount of wealth or power would be worth being married to him.

  40. Snow pea says:

    I think she looks dumb as a box of hammers and she can’t dress herself to save herself. They are the kind of people, who, if they moved in next door, you’d give em a wide berth.

    They are just so ridiculously UNCOOL. I just do not understand how all that money and privilege and they somehow look like a Verne and Bertha.

    He just looks like a spoilt brat, she looks utterly absurd. PLUS, she may look passable now, but google her before pics and she was a spotty, plain, snaggle toothed wench. Ugh CANNOT STAND THEM!

  41. Palefire says:

    Omg why is she trying to look dress like Brigitte Neilsen !!! Noooooo she needs a better hair stat! Sexier clothes! Not that crap, she needs to go the Brigitte Bardot route not Brigitte Neilsen!

  42. mln89 says:

    her makeup looks nice. her hairstyle and her dress are atrocious.

  43. erika says:

    WOW!!!! OMG!!!

    each pic keeps getting better and better! that or they kept drinking champagne inked with anti-depressants/ectasy! but good! yeah….he looks alive

  44. Lexi says:

    Fake, fake, fake, fake fake!

  45. jes_sayin says:

    So. Awkward.

  46. MJO says:

    He looks like Tim Conway from the Carol Burnett Show.

  47. Ravensdaughter says:

    Blinding! Thank goodness the whole dress wasn’t this way. Or, she should have just gone all the way and gotten a sequined dress with the colors of the S African flag. She did sponsor the swim team-go bold!
    O wait-this was the Red Cross Ball-sequins verboten altogether!
    Albert is the same as always-a twit…

  48. Marsh says:

    Beautiful Princess!!

  49. RdyfrmycloseupmrDvlle says:

    wow, she is succeeding in MAKING herself look as unattractive as possible!! Why do lovely women cut their hair off?? Very few women can pull it of…..anna wintour, yes….Halle Berry, yes….this chick? Hell no. Grow your hair back and wear something more flattering. Shes dressing like shes 80.