Prince Albert of Monaco attended a football match with his twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, seven, in another public appearance without his wife Princess Charlene.
After a year of no-shows due to the royal recovering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’, the 44-year-old Princess was once again not seen alongside her husband Prince Albert.
The Prince, 63, opted for a red scarf and face mask as he took his children to the Louis II stadium in Monaco for a league one football match between AS Monaco and Reims on Sunday.
Prince Albert of Monaco (left) went to a French L1 football match with his children (Princess Gabriella, Prince Jacques, right) in another public appearance without his wife Princess Charlene
He took his two twin children, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, to the Louis II stadium in Monaco for a football match between AS Monaco and Reims on Sunday (stood next to AS Monaco’s Russian Vice President, Oleg Petrov, left)
The enthusiastic sportsman Prince Albert, who is the patron of Monaco’s football team, wore a red scarf and face mask, sat beside his children
The children wrapped up warm for a sunny, yet chilly day watching their father’s favourite football team, donning AS Monaco baseball caps (Princess Gabriella, left, and Prince Jacques, right)
The mother-of-two, 44, who was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility outside of Monaco in November, agreed to take part in the project more than a year ago according to creator of Blitz adventure Cédric Biscay. She is pictured with her husband
He wore a red scarf and face mask, sat beside his children and in front of AS Monaco’s Russian Vice President, Oleg Petrov.
The enthusiastic sportsman Prince Albert is the patron of Monaco’s football team, AS Monaco.
Sticking to the Covid restrictions, which are still in place in Monaco, Prince Albert wore a red mask while Princess Gabriella wore a white one, and Jacques a black facial covering.
The children wrapped up warm for a sunny, yet chilly day watching their father’s favourite football team.
Seven-year-old Princess Gabriella looked ever so cool with some beige sunglasses to protect her eyes and a red AS Monaco baseball cap to show her support for the team.
Her twin Prince Jacques also donned his own cap at some points during the match.
The children used binoculars to help see the players on the pitch at Louis II stadium in Monaco
Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, both seven, pictured playing with their binoculars at the football match between AS Monaco and Reims on Sunday
Thumbs up: Prince Albert, 63, gave a cheery show to other football fans even without yet another public appearance without his wife, Princess Charlene, 44
The Uber Eats league one football match ended with a loss for the Royal’s team of choice, only scoring one goal against northeastern French team Stade de Reims, who scored two (pictured, Prince Albert ahead of the match)
Sticking to the COVID restrictions still in place in Monaco at the moment, Prince Albert wore a red mask while Princess Gabriella wore a white one, and Jacques a black facial covering
The Uber Eats league one football match ended with a loss for the Royal’s team of choice, only scoring one goal against northeastern French team Stade de Reims, who scored two.
Princess Charlene was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility outside Monaco in November, within days of her return to the principality following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa.
The royal, who is recovering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’, hadn’t spoken publicly since her twins birthday in December.
It comes as the royal agreed to star in a manga comic that was released on Friday.
The wife of Prince Albert told the French newspaper Le Parisien she was ‘immediately seduced’ by the idea of participating in the sixth volume of the publication.
She has now revealed she agreed to take part in the project more than a year ago according to creator of Blitz adventure Cédric Biscay.
The Princess, who was absent from the match as she is recovering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’, hadn’t spoken publicly since her twins birthday in December (Prince Albert pictured with his children)
Absent mother-of-two Princess Charlene was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility outside Monaco in November, within days of her return to the principality following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa (pictured, Prince Albert, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques)
Prince Albert II of Monaco speaking with AS Monaco’s Russian Vice President and CEO, during the French league one match in Monaco
Prince Albert, right, pictured beside AS Monaco’s Vice President Oleg Petrov. This public appearance comes as a manga comic set featuring Princess Charlene of Monaco was released on Friday
Prince Albert, right, recently told a local newspaper Monaco-Matin: ‘Princess Charlene is doing much better, and I hope she will be back in the principality very soon’ (pictured speaking to AS Monaco’s Russian Vice President, Oleg Petrov
‘I am really looking forward to the release of the sixth volume of Blitz , magnificently inspired by Garry Kasparov and designed by Daitaro Nishihara,’ she said.
‘I was immediately seduced by the idea of participating in the Blitz adventure and I thank Cédric Biscay (writer and creator) for inviting me to discover the manga universe.’
Across four pages of the comic, she is set to be portrayed giving a conference in the Monte Carlo casino and meeting two children who are awaiting a chess tournament.
Charlene didn’t ask for any changes to be made to her elegant vignettes, according to Cedric, who thanked the Princess for collaborating, saying: ‘A big ‘thank you’ to Princess Charlene for his presence in the manga.’
Prince Albert previously appeared in the comics, serving as the hero in the fourth edition of the digital comic released in June 2021.
The royal recently revealed Princess Charlene is ‘doing much better’.
Speaking to local newspaper Monaco-Matin, Albert said: ‘Princess Charlene is doing much better, and I hope she will be back in the principality very soon.’
His comment follows the most recent palace update, which described Charlene’s recovery as ‘continuing in a satisfying and very encouraging way’.
However the statement also added that her stay at the treatment facility would ‘still take several weeks’.
Albert has remained vague as to the exact cause of Charlene’s illness, although he has said she is suffering from ’emotional and physical exhaustion’.
The palace’s recent statement mentioned Charlene is receiving ‘follow-up dental care’.
In her hometown, she was treated for an ear and throat infection she contracted in May, following a sinus lift and bone graft procedure she’d undergone prior to her arrival in preparation for dental implants.
Charlene’s recuperation was ‘currently progressing satisfactorily and very encouragingly’, the palace said in a statement in January.
But ‘her recovery and follow-up dental care are expected to take several more weeks’, it added.
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 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 unrecongised 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 infamously 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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