Monaco's Prince Albert and Princess Charlene are said to be one of the most mismatched
royal couples out there. But did they really spend their honeymoon in different hotels?
"I think the party starts now."
Long before Prince Albert and Princess Charlene walked down the aisle, the prince had a reputation
for getting around. Over the years, Albert dated plenty of gorgeous women — Brooke Shields and
Claudia Schiffer among them — but showed no signs of settling down. The press even dubbed
him the "playboy prince." Speaking on Good Morning America in 2005, royal historian Robert Lacy said:
"He's got too many girlfriends, pretty blondes. And I think the
people feel the sooner he settles on one of them, the better that will be."
Albert's womanizing captured the attention of his father, Prince Rainier,
who worried that the prince would never produce a legitimate heir. In 2002, Prince Rainier helped
change Monaco's constitution so that, if a reigning prince had no legitimate children,
the line of succession would pass to the prince's siblings and their offspring. It
was widely understood that this amendment was a direct result of Albert's free-ranging love life.
But the prince did eventually make it down the aisle at the ripe old
age of 53. That being said, the ghosts of his playboy past continue to haunt him,
at times adding pressure to his marriage to Princess Charlene.
Over the years, Prince Albert fathered at least two children outside of his marriage. In 1992,
an American realtor, Tamara Rotolo, filed suit claiming that she and the prince had
conceived a daughter, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, during a brief summer romance. Rotolo's suit
was initially dismissed, but a DNA test found that Jazmin was, indeed,
Albert's child. In 2003, the prince faced a similar situation when a second DNA test
revealed that he also had a son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, the result of a years-long
fling between Albert and an Air France flight attendant named Nicole Coste.
Then, in 2011, just days before Albert and Princess Charlene got married,
reports of a secret love child erupted.
"Is this fairy tale turning into a nightmare? Numerous
reports have surfaced that the future princess-to-be has bolted for the airport."
One Monegasque parliamentary aide told Le Journal du Dimanche:
"Rumors have been swirling for three weeks. We're talking about a hidden child,
but the whole issue would be whether he's over five,
because Charlene and Albert have officially been together for five years."
In the end, not much came of these reports,
unless you count adding stress to Albert and Charlene's marriage.
In spite of all the strangeness surrounding Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's wedding,
the pair officially tied the knot on July 1, 2011. Afterward, the couple jetted off to South Africa,
where they were expected to spend their honeymoon in newlywed bliss. But that's not what happened.
Upon arriving in South Africa, Albert and Charlene went their separate ways. The prince checked into
the Hilton Hotel in Durban, while Charlene opted for a suite at an undisclosed hotel in
Umhlanga Rocks, miles away from her new husband. Palace officials
tried to justify the arrangement to the press, saying that Albert
had to perform some royal duties during the trip. Journalist Peter Allen told ABC News:
"The explanation is that he wanted to avoid the traffic in the morning to get to early
meetings. So he stayed [at the Hilton], leaving poor old Charlene 10 miles up the coast at a
seaside hotel [...] You have to ask, why couldn't Charlene have stayed in Durban? It's a mystery."
The early days of marriage were challenging for Charlene. Unlike her husband,
the princess didn't have a royal upbringing, so she came into the relationship knowing how
her life would change behind palace walls. Unfortunately, one of the things Charlene
likely couldn't imagine was being asked to change her body to fit royal standards.
The princess altered her workout routine to get the results that were expected. But she wasn't
overweight. Charlene was an Olympic swimmer. Unlike Princess Diana or Princess Catherine,
Charlene had powerful arms, a muscular back, and a strong neck. According to Vogue UK:
"In preparation for the perpetual camera-readiness expected of her as first lady of Monaco, she
[...] cut out weight training and increased her stretching time to give her body a leaner line."
Albert told Vogue UK that he loved his wife just the way she was, saying,
"To me, Charlene never looks more beautiful
than when she is natural—without makeup and her hair pulled back."
However, the princess' transformation from an Olympic powerhouse to royal-approved
slimness makes one wonder whether that's true.
One of the biggest red flags in the royal marriage is that the pair has chosen to live separately.
While Albert resides in the stunning Prince's Palace of Monaco, Charlene has traded a life of
luxury for a casual two-bedroom apartment nestled above an old-fashioned chocolate
factory. A far cry from Albert's 12-century seaside castle, the princess' home lacks the
Mediterranean views and private chefs of her husband's. But her apartment is conveniently
located about 300 yards from the palace, meaning she's never too far away from Albert.
It seems to be understood that Charlene uses her apartment to
enjoy some alone time. As one neighbor told the Daily Mail:
"'We often saw [Charlene] outside the Palace and she would usually
be alone or with a bodyguard [...], never with Albert. It was obvious
she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace."
"It's not all been plain sailing behind the scenes and there have been issues."
Another local told the outlet:
"There was a while when there was a sense that she was a reluctant princess,
but this is different. There's obviously something not quite right either with her
or the marriage and for whatever reason we're not being told what."
As if things were not tense enough between Prince Albert and Princess Charlene,
new rumors of a third love child emerged in 2021. This time, though, there was a lawsuit
to go along with the chatter. A Brazilian woman simply known as "Mariza" filed a paternity claim
against Albert in Italy, her country of residence. Per court filings, Mariza met Albert in a Rio de
Janeiro {REE-oh day zhuh-NEH-roh} nightclub in 2004. The prince apparently lied about his
identity, telling Mariza that he was a Canadian diplomat. The pair allegedly embarked on a wild
fling that involved jet-setting to places like Lisbon and Milan. But when Mariza got pregnant
with her daughter, she said that Albert stopped responding to her text messages.
According to Mariza's lawyer, Erich Grimaldi,
all she and her daughter want is for Albert to take a DNA test, but the prince refuses. In 2021,
Albert filed for sovereign immunity to avoid answering Mariza's claims in court.
Despite Albert's efforts to dodge these claims publicly,
they continue to impact him privately, putting significant pressure on Albert
and Charlene's marriage. Shortly after the rumors emerged, the princess began
spending long periods of time away from Monaco, leaving her playboy husband behind.
Nothing adds tension to a relationship like a step-parent's failure to accept their partner's
children. And, according to reports, the princess has had a tough time accepting her
husband's illegitimate children, even as they have slowly become more integrated into royal life.
In fact, Albert's former girlfriend, Nicole Coste, told the press that Charlene was unnecessarily
cruel toward her son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste. The boy, who has been excluded from the line of
succession, apparently went to stay at the Prince's Palace of Monaco for a time to get
to know his father and half-siblings. However, as his mother told the French outlet, Paris Match,
"[Charlene] changed my son's room,
taking advantage of his father's absence to install him in the employee wing."
This interaction was quite upsetting for the protective mother,
who expressed a desire for a more civil relationship with Charlene, saying,
"Given our respective ties to the prince, we should have made sure
to support each other cordially. In our situation, diplomacy had to prevail."
Coste's conversation with Paris Match did little to smooth tensions with Charlene.
Although the palace didn't deny the princess' behavior toward the boy, Albert condemned
Coste's public statement. Responding to his ex's public statements in Point de Vue, Albert said,
"It was inappropriate, I was furious."
Romantic partners typically rely on each other in times of need. But,
in Princess Charlene and Prince Albert's marriage,
things are a bit more complicated. In 2021, the princess experienced some health issues,
including a struggle with her mental health. Speaking to People, Albert explained:
"She was clearly exhausted, physically and emotionally. She was overwhelmed
and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life."
The prince was emphatic that Charlene's personal
battles had nothing to do with the couple's marriage, saying,
"These are not problems within our relationship;
not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature."
Even so, the fact remains that Charlene decided to seek treatment
for her issues abroad, and not by his side in Monaco.
"It has been obviously a very challenging time to be here."
Indeed, the princess spent four months healing at the luxurious Swiss health facility,
Clinic les Alpes . During this time, Charlene remained isolated from her family,
even missing her twins' December 2021 birthday celebration. As for her royal duties, Charlene
took a full hiatus from all things palace-related, opting out of Monaco's National Day that November.
Princess Charlene isn't the first royal bride to have a difficult time in her marriage. In
the 1980s, Princess Diana also struggled with royal life, especially as her husband, now King
Charles III, conducted an extramarital affair with his then-mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Royal experts have noted several parallels between Charlene and Diana, particularly
when it comes to their body language. Nonverbal communication expert, Judi James, told Express,
"Diana generally looked happy, but she could suddenly fall into a facial expression that
was incredibly sad and reflective, even during her engagement interview. Charlene has shown a similar
trait since her wedding, when her smiles of joy would slip into something much sadder-looking."
The sadness in Princess Charlene's eyes suggests that all isn't well
in the royal marriage. Couple that with the fact that the royal couple
rarely touch one another and it looks like trouble in paradise.
In the past, Princess Charlene was known to tailor her personal style to her royal role. But she
admitted in an interview for Vogue UK, she didn't just change her body to please Prince Albert;
she changed her fashion, as well. Before meeting the prince, Charlene confessed to
not worrying about things like fashion. At her first official outing, she explained:
"I thought it was all fun, fun, fun, and didn't give my outfit any thought."
Soon after, though, Charlene began to take the job
of dressing like a royal a little bit more seriously.
Over time, though, this sense of dedication has wavered. This was especially true in 2021 when
the princess shocked the world by shaving half of her head. Charlene's half-hawk cut
departed from the fairy tale princess image most royal women are expected to maintain.
Even more notably, though, it seemed that Charlene initially adopted this
rebellious hairstyle without her husband's approval. And,
apparently, it took some time for him to get used to it. The Princess told People,
"After the initial surprise wore off, the prince understood [the haircut] and likes it now too.".
Ever since their 2011 wedding, Princess Charlene and Prince Albert
have found themselves defending their relationship to the public. In 2022,
Charlene confronted the press head-on, telling Monaco Matin:
"You want to talk about rumors of divorce or my new home in Switzerland. [...] I
still find it regrettable that certain media peddle such rumors about my life."
The princess went on to applaud her husband for speaking out against divorce rumors, stating:
"Albert supported me enormously, we discussed these malicious articles
together and he did everything to protect me and our children."
While Charlene and Albert have long insisted that all is well in their marriage,
their body language says otherwise. Judi James, told FEMAIL that many of
the couple's social media posts make them seem distant from one another. She went on to say:
"Charlene's body language [...] defines her as a free spirit and she seems to be making no
compromises to signal emotional or even empathetic bonds with her husband. [...] There is no physical
touch, closeness or even eye contact between them in the photos she has chosen for social media."
This sense of separateness speaks volumes,
hinting that Albert and Charlene's marriage is not nearly as solid as they insist.