Princess Charlene of Monaco is ‘doing much better’, according to Prince Albert, who said he hopes his wife will be back in the principality ‘very soon’.
The mother-of-two, who turned 44 in January, was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility outside of Monaco in November, within days of her return to the principality following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa.
Speaking to local newspaper Monaco-Matin on Thursday, Albert, 63, said: ‘Princess Charlene is doing much better, and I hope she will be back in the principality very soon.’
The prince’s comment comes three weeks after 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’.
Princess Charlene of Monaco is ‘doing much better’, according to Prince Albert (pictured together), who said he hopes his wife will be back in the principality ‘very soon’
Prince Albert, Princess Caroline of Hanover, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella of Monaco appear on the palace’s balcony during the Sainte Devote Celebrations in Monaco on January 27, 2022
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. She is being cared for at a confidential location outside Monaco.
In November, Charlene was admitted to a treatment facility in an undisclosed location within days of her return to Monaco following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa.
Her husband spoke out to say she is suffering from ‘exhaustion, both emotional and physical’, while friends told Page Six that the mother-of-two ‘almost died’ while she was in her hometown of Cape Town.
Princess Charlene returned to Monaco in November, following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa. This photo was released to mark the reunion
The mother-of-two (pictured), who turned 44 in January, was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility outside of Monaco in November, within days of her return to the principality following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa
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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