I thought this was interesting: Princess Charlene covers the latest issue of Tatler, in what they describe as “More Drama Than a Soap Opera.” Charlene entered some kind of treatment facility in Europe shortly after her arrival back in Monaco. Reportedly, Charlene was still physically unwell, and she had lost a significant amount of weight. Prince Albert also seemed to suggest (in a way) that she was struggling from severe mental health issues and perhaps some other issues as well. So far, Tatler isn’t spilling any tea, and I think this cover story is probably just a repetition of how Charlene got to this point. But the Daily Beast did have some new gossip:
Albert & Charlene are in “the final stages of a humiliating public unraveling.” The Daily Beast has been told by acquaintances of the family that Her Serene Highness Charlene has been deeply unhappy for many years. One source, who visited Albert and Charlene for lunch at the Palais Princier in Monaco several years ago, said that Charlene quietly sobbed her way through the entire meal. “Albert didn’t acknowledge his wife was crying at all,” the person, who described the meal as “extremely uncomfortable” said. “I couldn’t understand why she didn’t just get up and leave. I could only assume she wanted her unhappiness to be seen.”
Again, Charlene tried to flee Monaco several times before the wedding: Charlene’s apparent emotional disturbance lent credence to allegations in French newspapers that she had tried multiple times to flee Monaco in the run-up to the wedding as rumors and paternity claims swirled around the groom. The Journal du Dimanche reported that she first sought refuge in May 2011 at the South African embassy in Paris, where she was scheduled to have a wedding dress fitting. Her passport was reportedly taken from her and she was persuaded to return to Monaco. Reports in the Journal du Dimanche claimed that she made another break later that month during the Formula One Grand Prix, and again, just one week before the wedding, she was reportedly intercepted en route to Nice airport for a flight back to South Africa.
The Monegasque elite hates her: Another factor has been the snobbery of the Monegasque elite, whose initial lack of enthusiasm for Charlene based on her middle-class background—her father was a sales manager and her mother a swimming teacher—has been compounded by what they perceive as her failure to rise to the challenge of her role. Albert’s sisters are also said to have been unsupportive, with Caroline often named as a particular spreader of discord.
Charlene has been miserable since before the 2011 wedding. Albert is a huge part of why she’s so emotionally disturbed, and I don’t feel comfortable laying this solely at his feet. I do think that she had the freedom to move around and leave, especially after she had the twins, so I just don’t understand why either of them let it get to this point. I’m glad she’s in a treatment facility, I’m glad she’s away from him again, and I absolutely think she needs that kind of help. For Albert… he just should have taken the L in 2011 and let her go, let her be a runaway bride. This is just such a mess.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Backgrid.
How these two let it get this far ? French people can be quite snobby but to the point of making Charlene this unhappy ? Monaco doesn’t make international headlines like that so the story of a runaway bride would have died down quickly by now espacially if he then married another woman later.
I think its absolutely ridiculous that Caroline and Stephanie are giving her crap. I mean, I remember Caroline’s antics as a teenager, Princess Grace was beside herself. And didn’t Stephanie run away and join the circus with a “low-class” boyfriend? Talk about hypocrisy.
I think Charlene should stay in Switzerland, get 50/50 of the kids and let Albert go off and have 100 more love children whom he has no intention of acknowledging.
Yes, H! I came here to say the very same thing about Caroline and Stephanie.
When you’re that “elite” it is all about hypocrisy. Because you are of a certain birth, you’re allowed to do things that you look down on everyone else for. That whole family is trash. I hope Charlene escapes.
Why don’t they just divorce? They don’t live in the Bible Belt.
Because of being Catholic? Although you would think the church would frown on his other behavior more than a divorce.
Two things CAN be true. She may be problematic as much as the rest of them. She just appears more…vulnerable.
I think the warrior I’m her needs to get help and raise her children differently.
But she may not look at it that way. She appears detached as well. I don’t know her or her story. But if she believed he was a shit guy, she wouldn’t have left her kids there. I’ve been through hell on coals and had walking nervous breakdowns with zero support or money. If it’s the last thing you do, you fight for your kids.
So I’m on the side of 2 little children who may not know wtf is happening but they will. These headlines and such will affect them ineday. But we all grow up with issues.
Hopefully they’ll rise above.
Her husband holds the power in the marriage. How do you know she had a choice about leaving her children with him?
A man can be a wonderful father but a crap husband. The kids are raised by nannies anyway and those nannies may be wonderful.
My family includes two women with borderline personality disorder and I am almost convinced that Charlene may have a similar problem. This is a harrowing mental disorder that is hard to understand. You are miserable and highly volatile and can make the life of those around you sheer hell. It affects your family heavily and yes, sometimes you have to pretend nothing is amiss and let them be, even when they are crying at dinner in a public place -because there is nothing we can do or say to change their take on their situation in that moment. Trying to interfere makes things so much worse. My cousin can be a fun mom to her children sometimes , beautiful and intelligent – but also a mom who is anorexic, critical and has temper tantrums like a violent toddler. All we do is damage control and make sure they don’t harm themselves even though they seem quite normal to everyone who doesn’t know them well. It’s really hard for everyone involved.
I mean Meghan was driven to suicidal thoughts from the monarchy too. It’s just a toxic ideology and it doesn’t matter what the country is. No one should be born into that much power. It rots them from the inside out and misery loves company.
I mean, she’s showing how she feels by the haircut alone.
Right? did we not say that was a 100% cry for help? Poor Charlene
Good lord. Just divorce and be fair about custody. He has his “legitimate male heir”, that’s what this was ultimately about. And good lord given the scandals that whole family has had in the past an “amicable” divorce would be nothing! All of the treatment in the world won’t help if she just goes back to a situation in which she is desperately unhappy.
Carolina has been giving her shit? I mean I would understand she supports her brother unconditionally but she is not like totally free of “sin”. I was kid but I still remember her mess with August of Hanover. She is a messy person herself. This sounds like a totally shitty situation. Let Charlene be free, she provided already the heir for the throne. Let her go.
If she supports her brother unconditionally she would support his wife unconditionally as well.
Re: Caroline: I’m old enough to remember her mess with her first husband Phillippe Junot, & the subsequent messiness of the beginning of her relationship with Stefano Cashiraghi When you are on husband number three you should sit down and STFU.
Amen, sister! WTF? She had a WILd life! She and her sister were Paris and Nicki before Paris and Nicki! Talk about a complete lack of self awareness or empathy. Yikes!
Caroline was “gallivanting” with a tennis 🎾 player, a handsome (well he actually looked more like a buff junot) Argentinian, how low class of her. She followed him around the world, IIRC. How can she criticise her SIL origins?
Stefano Casiraghi was a 23 year old playboy speedboat racer from a moderately wealthy family when Caroline, then 3 yrs older, found she was pregnant. Doubt there would have been a wedding if not for that. She was divorced, so no church ceremony. I was a huge fan of Grace Kelley and followed her and her children, back in the day. She was also pregnant when she married #3. Not one to be bullying Charlene.
She’s always been the worst snob. I remember reading stories about her treatment of Albert’s prior girlfriends. She mean-girled them quite a lot. My guess is that she only married Hanover because for the HRH title, which was superior to the HSH, even if it’s mostly unrecognized.
No, she only married Hanover because she was knocked up. The HRH was a bonus. And it’s not exactly like that turned out well.
Caroline was also knocked up when she married Casiraghi. Both she and Stephanie have no room to criticize anyone, but because they are “royalty” they think they can.
That’s entirely why she married Hanover. I wonder if they would have even gotten married if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, but the upgrade in title is definitely the main reason why she married him, and it’s certainly the biggest reason why she hasn’t divorced him.
I remember reading a cover story on Charlene in Tatler long before these two got married, and it mentioned then that Charlene had no friends in Monaco, that she felt really isolated, so I was really surprised that those two got married.
IIRC Albert brought her whole family over to Monaco, got them set up with jobs, etc. before the marriage. I wonder if it was a move to set things up so that she would feel she had to marry him. It doesn’t seem like her family has mande any effort to publicly support her.
This is beginning to feel rather Britney 2.0.
Agree, it’s like Britney plus, or Dianamexit, or Japanese royal brides…
2021 has really taught us that certain ‘difficult’ females will be forced and constrained by baroque closed institutions that are run by narcissistic men and their flunkeys. And the pressure exerted by these sexist systems will push women to breaking point, purposely for the feeling of power by controlling men.
I absolutely believe he lured her back to Monaco, to have her locked up.
If they had a marriage contract why is it Charlene’s fault that it has come to this? I have no proof that there was a contract but the stories surrounding this marriage suggests that there was one which Albert reneged on. I think he was very happy being a bachelor but he had to get married and produce an heir and so he married Charlene. I think they agreed to stay together for ten years and Albert refused to follow through with the agreement.
She likely stayed for as long as she did because of her kids. I’m assuming she really wanted children and figured Albert was her last, best, chance for that to happen. And once she had them, she felt she had to stay with them, out of love and duty as a parent. I suspect she was also probably shamed into staying with Albert, from courtiers, her family and Albert himself. If you make someone feel guilty, trapped and like they’re wrong for wanting freedom, you can make them do anything without even lifting a finger.
Caroline had either arranged things or thought she was about to be able to arrange things so her son could inherit from Albert (I remember the articles at the time). She was allegedly furious when Albert actually married and had a legitimate heir. Caroline is notoriously hard to get along with (and very proud of the fact that her marriage makes her an HRH not a HSH) so I can imagine she was as nasty as possible to Charlene and did everything possible to drive her away and prevent her being accepted by Monaco’s upper classes.
I have no idea how Caroline thinks she has a right to being called HRH.
Ernst August doesn’t, as Germany did away with the monarchy and royal/noble titles after WW I in November 1918.
In addition to that, EA has no legal claim to any British titles that would make him a HRH.
No matter that he’s related to the former House of Hannover rulers of the UK, and is in the line of succession on # ~ 850++, or somesuch.
I agree. We need to stop using titles that the CITIZENS THEMSELVES did away with. I mean, we Americans don’t recognize the British royal family as our sovereigns anymore. And we shouldn’t give made-up titles to former German, or Greek, or Italian royal descendants when the people of those countries decided royalty shouldn’t exist anymore. We should honor the will of the people.
Talia, that is the impression I had regarding Caroline. That she was hoping Albert would not have heirs so that things would transfer to her and her kids.
Although I believe all royalty should be done away with, I do have some sympathy for why Caroline is so bitter. She should rightfully be on the throne right now, and her son the heir. She is older than Albert, and took over royal duties from her mother after the car accident. Only misogyny made her brother the ruler instead of her. There has got to be a big amount of resentment in her.
Well, same misogyny that made her ex a royal heir of whatever throne he supposedly can claim, or be in line to UK’s throne. If women were to be taken into account, he’d probably have been bumped down of any privileges, not only him, but also his male ancestors, generations before his birth. Sad Caroline.
Freedom of movement and freedom to leave are two different things. Wasn’t the gossip at the time that they drugged her to get her to go through with the ceremony? And we know she sobbed all the way through. If they did that to her before the marriage, I can only imagine how cruel they have become since. There is no way they will allow her to have access to her kids if she ever does manage to get out. And it seems to me that Albert going public inferring severe mental health issues is paving the way to a custody battle she has virtually no chance of winning.
That’s really terrible. Even Charles and Diana were able to successfully co-parent–on the surface at least. It would be a shame if he didn’t even allow her that. Unfair to the kids, too.
The Grimaldis are really fucked up. Albert’s father Rainier demanded that Grace Kelley underwent a fertility test before he would propose AND he demanded a $2 million dowry from her father!
At that point Albert was desperate to get married and produce legitimate heirs back in 2011. It’s the only reason I can think of that he wouldn’t just let her go. His father Rainier died in 2005 and changed the Monaco succession laws that stated no children out of wedlock could become legitimized (which is so hypocritical of Rainier because his own mother Princess Charlotte was illegitimate and became legitimized to preserve the Monaco dynasty). I think the public already knew about Jasmine, his American daughter, at that point. Alexandre (the son he had with the Togolese flight attendant) became revealed in 2005 to the public by his mom after Rainier had died. Jasmine’s mother was a one time summer fling and Alexandre’s mother is black, so marrying either of them was out.
Once he started dating Charlene, he knew he had to make this one stick. It probably helped she wasn’t from Europe and was a lot younger, she didn’t know much about Albert’s playboy lifestyle when he was young not being from Europe nor did she understand what marrying into royalty meant. Once she realized what that meant and was probably already super unhappy, she tried to make a run for it several times. But Albert knew no woman would ever want to marry him if Charlene left him so publicly and there would go his chance at producing legitimate heirs. I don’t get why that’s so important though because if he had had no legitimate heirs, the throne would have passed to Caroline and her children. What would be so wrong about that? Also now that Albert is head of Monaco, couldn’t he have easily changed his father’s succession laws himself? Not that Jasmine or Alexandre would want the throne anyways, they’re probably glad to live their lives the way they want.
My guess is that he saw an image that he liked: Blond, remote-looking, that reminded him of his mother. He wanted to marry a woman who resembled his mother, and have kids with that same look as well. Charlene was no more than a broodmare. They don’t seem to have anything at all in common, nor do they seem to have any affection between them at all.
Once she had children she probably stayed for their sake. Who wants to leave their children to be raised by someone who thinks it is okay to force a woman into marriage and his sisters who are snobby and the palace staff who are probably elitist.
I just don’t see the problem between her and Albert. It’s his family (especially Caroline because she wanted her son to be king) and the “Monaco” elite driving all this. Charlene and Albert made their peace. They’re friends and co-parents. It’s everyone else who wants them to divorce.
I mean him ignoring her crying at lunch is not being friends. He’s the absolute (or near absolute) monarch and could do anything he wants. He doesn’t have to obey his sister or his courtiers.
Ainsley7, didn’t you mean Monaco “elite”?
This seems like a hostage situation at this point.
That’s what it sounds like to me.
I’ve always been puzzled over this marriage: how could anyone, even his bride, think Albert was marrying for love? She was no 19 yo ingenue, she was a grown woman. And why would any grown woman tie herself to Albert if not for the money? Why would anyone in an marriage of convenience care about infidelity? Did she really love him for real? Did she know him at all, then?
I agree with the OP, he should have let her go back then, and married someone far more mercenary – someone who knew the score.
It’s cruel to let her be so unhappy, and still pretend to play happy royals. Even the Wales’ divorced, just let go already.
I think there are plenty of blond, German or northern Italian nobles out there–those of long-squandered family fortunes who make their way by hustling themselves in the society pages–who would have married him. German royals are a dime a dozen–Pumpernickel Courts, they were called. Little petty fiefdoms that were considered “royal” enough for the likes of European monarchs. Surely one of them would have relished marrying Albert for his money.
Lanne, that is why I think the stories about Albert being a sleaze are true. It shouldn’t have been hard for him to find some minor aristocrat who would be up for a marriage of convenience in exchange for the lifestyle, the serene princess title, and the ability to have discreet affairs. People in that wider circle must know something about Albert and his family that had them like “no.”
It’s one thing to accept your husband having affairs and it’s another thing entirely for those affairs to be public. It’s the humiliation…
Exactly. Also, for your husband’s children of those affairs to be made public. Not once, but THREE times. Albert really needs to get snipped at this point. He has his “legitimate” heirs, he doesn’t need anymore children.
Charlene had LESS freedom after she had her children. At any point Albert could leverage them against her, declare her unfit, lock her in a facility, etc… which I think is happening now. And Charlene did appear more affectionate towards Albert after the births of their children. He appeared put off by her display.
This sounds like a horror story behind the scenes.
Ah, I was wondering what exactly is keeping her hostage. But this makes sense. I guess she might care about her children even though she did abandon them for 6+ months
I doubt she was allowed to see them unsupervised their entire lives. They are raised by nannies hired by Albert and serve him, not her. We don’t know what they were used for by Albert against her and if he has alienated them against her on purpose.
Her South African trip looks like a mental breakdown.
I think Albert practices a specific kind of misogynoir. In that, he’s happy to have children with a black womxn but he will only ever let them be mistress. And he will only marry a white womxn. It sucks to be his wife tho because you’re just there to be a pure vessel that makes him look good in public.
I assume Charlene is racist (just based on how she treats his children). But yeah… it wouldn’t surprise me if Albert is emotionally abusive and that’s why she hasn’t left him.
He’s now painting her as unstable because Catholics didn’t believe in divorce and he wants public sympathy. The reason he never let her go or left her is because a happy wife is not a key ingredient in marriage for him.
That’s just my opinion tho.
He could be building the case for grounds for an annulment. I wouldn’t put it beyond him.
Let me tell you exactly how unlikable I’d be if I were held hostage by a hot mess family of upstarts who behaved as if I were beneath them and the new money society they surround themselves with.
I also don’t understand why media almost never talks of this family like the racists they are. Albert wouldn’t have a bride he had to trap into marriage if he could just marry as he liked. But none of them, not even Albert finds a brown wife acceptable and so here we are.
I know! I’d be a total pill too under those circumstances. She gave him what he wanted, a male heir, plus an adorable girl. She’s clearly suffering a great deal, both physically and emotionally. Get her the treatment she needs, then let her go. And don’t cut her off from her children. She might not be in a position to co-parent effectively right now, but with time and help she will be. She’s their mother. That’s what is best for everyone in this situation: Charlene, Albert, the children, and apparently his family who can’t stand her anyway. It’s not that complicated.
That family is Eurotrash. I’m old enough to remember Caroline going through a number of affairs with actors, and photos of her drunk in a nightclub with her blouse open and the girls on full display. Her third husband is a total boor and drunkard, got papped urinating in public and once tried to kiss the Queen. He’s been charged with assault several times and, most recently, the police had to be called on him during a violent rage. He attacked them with a knife and got dragged off to a psychiatric facility. She’s now estranged from him. I remember Stephanie having multiple affairs with a handful of actors, then married her bodyguard and later her head of security. She then ran off to the circus and married the elephant trainer but divorced soon after at which point she married an acrobat in the same circus but alas that marriage didn’t take either.
Exactly. Like doesn’t this whole house descend from the line of a courtesan?
Like I genuinely do not give a flip. These are the things ordinary people do every day so whatever. What I care about is the sheer audacity of holding yourself up as a higher social class and status than ordinary people people around you while simultaneously acting far worse than they ever have
Lol. It reads like fiction.
Wow. She literally ran away and joined the circus.
Cannot wait to see who’ll be marrying into any remaining royal families In the future. If 2021 has taught us anything it’s that it is all smoke and mirrors. There are very few Harrys. I really believe most royals are terrible souls at this point. They’ll go back to only marrying other royals and then soon it will be open season on incest.
I like how Tatler makes it seem like Charlene not leaving the table while crying is a much worse crime than Albert ignoring his wife crying. Ugh.
Yeah, that’s what caught my attention, too – how dare this women show the extent of her unhappiness, it made ME so uncomfortable. Like we’re supposed to give that guy a medal for enduring the sight of an unsmiling woman.
The image of her husband just continuing on with lunch, ignoring her tears, makes my blood run cold. If Charlene intended her tears to be interpreted as a cry for help to their guest, clearly they didn’t work.
They’d prefer their marriage to be on paper, on father here and mother there with each of them having lovers and the children being raised by nannies= Definition of perfect aristocratic marriage.
This family is bonkers. To me at least, Charlene is basically a hostage.
Yes, runaway bride would have been far preferable to this!
Does he honestly think any “bride” would have been cool with the paternity suits etc?
Wasn’t Grace Kelly from a “middle-class” background? I’m sure it’s more attitude (or wanting to fit in with their upper-class life) rather than her class background. But who knows.
Not sure why she couldn’t actually escape even before the wedding? Like did she sign a contract or something? Do we need a #FreeCharlene movement?
Nevermind, I guess GK was from a “affluent and influential” family. But I’m sure that still couldn’t compete against Monaco wealth.
Oh no – Grace Kelly had to pay a $2M dowry to marry Prince Ranier because Monaco was broke. Onassis coached Ranier to marry a Hollywood star to generate more interest in Monaco. He tried Marilyn Monroe, but she wasn’t interested. Grace Kelly was, for whatever reason – I think she had been “unlucky in love” and thought (?) it might work out. She also thought she would get to keep her career, but Ranier was having none of that.
Her family was rich. Her father was an Olympic gold-medalist and served as the director of physical fitness under FDR so they were connected. Plus Grace’s own connections in Hollywood insured that the rich and famous came to Monaco to party and gamble. Monaco, at the time, wasn’t as affluent a nation so they needed the income.
I’ve never paid attention to this royal story, so it’s completely baffling to me. Why would Charlene marry Albert in the first place, especially after she had run away from the wedding twice? It’s like something out of Barbara Cartland. Did her father lose her to Albert in a card game or something? It makes no sense to me – if you don’t want to marry a guy, you just don’t.
@Eurydice, THANK YOU! I can’t for the frickin’ LIFE of me BEGIN to understand how Albert was able to force her into marriage. Whatever he did to make her stay, it feels very dark to me. She wasn’t a naive teenager when they married, for cripe’s sake! I think that he’s mentally and emotionally manipulated her since they began dating. He’s always seemed like a slimy, creepy, unethical scumbag. Yet he’s “too Catholic to divorce.” I’m side-eying him and his staunch Catholic ethos.
I don’t know if the Jane Campion movie is any good but I read ‘The Power of the Dog’ and it was really interesting – I wonder if Charlene’s situation is like the female character in the novel. Stuck in an overwhelming situation, wilting and turning to alcohol under the rule of a slow mocking, tyrannical bully. That story about Albert eating and hosting guests while his wife just weeps at the same table is just chilling and gothic.
Just curious ( and I tried to check archives but may have missed it) exactly when was the big “charlene is a big racist who made Albert’s biracial son Sit at a different table/kitchen” come out? How closely timed was it to her leaving for South Africa? It may well be true but is it any chance it was part of a set up ?
wonder why she clings to him in the photos.