Just a month after celebrating Princess Charlene’s 48th birthday, the time has come to blow out the candles for Prince Albert II of Monaco. The head of the Grimaldi family is twenty years older than her, 68, and he does so, as is almost always the case in his small country, at a delicate moment. Claude Palmero, the former guardian of his finances, continues his campaign of harassment and undermining against him. He has now published an explosive book in which he exposes the prince Albert’s bachelor apartment and reveals uncomfortable details of his prenuptial agreement with the South African.
Determined that these revelations do not spoil his birthday cake, Prince Albert has already filed a lawsuit against Palmero, accusing him of corruption and of betraying the royal family’s trust. Meanwhile, Charlene remains faithfully by his side. Along with their two children, the princes Jacques and Gabriella, the four form a real postcard-worthy family at the principal events of the principality. Images that are amplified by carefully staged photo shoots on their social networks.
«We support each other. She has resumed many of her activities, more public duties, to everyone’s joy,» Albert assured about his wife, whom he defends tooth and nail against many rumors that aim to sabotage their marriage. He spoke those words during an interview with Paris Match in which he recounted the curious beginning of their love story. A courtship that ended in a controversial wedding and that, to the surprise of many, has already surpassed two decades.
In that conversation, Albert acknowledged that theirs was not a classic love-at-first-sight tale. The Monegasque and the South African met in 2000 during a swimming competition. Their lives could not be more different. Charlene, passionate about sports, was the daughter of a copier salesman and a diving champion. “What we had was not love at first sight.” the royal admitted. In fact several years passed before they saw each other again. Their romantic relationship would not begin until 2005 and they made it official, in front of millions of people, at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Albert and Charlene: Scandals and Controversies
The beginning of the many legends and half-truths that populate the love story of Albert and Charlene was at their wedding. Their two lavish ceremonies cost a total of 60 million euros and welcomed 850 guests. The South African dazzled in an Armani dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline, a six-meter train and 40,000 Swarovski crystals. But even on the day of their ‘I do’ arose the controversies that often accompany the Monegasque royal family. The awkward kiss between the couple, and the fact that at one point the bride burst into tears, perhaps revealing the troubles to come.
Albert and Charlene of Monaco on their wedding day.
Days before the big day, rumors began circulating that Charlene had attempted to flee the country on three occasions with a one-way ticket to Johannesburg. A French magazine even published that the princess had been detained at Nice airport after allegedly discovering «a disturbing revelation» about her future husband’s private life. The rumors spread. It was suggested that Charlene had heard talk of an illegitimate child, supposedly conceived when she was dating Prince Albert in 2005. But the princess denied these rumors, which she called “hilarious,” and said: «Why would I go through all this effort to bring our closest friends to us if we did not want to marry?».
Subsequently they spent the first night of their honeymoon in South Africa, Charlene’s homeland, but it is said that they did so in separate hotels. Years later, in 2021, it would be there where the princess spent a long spell away from her husband and children due to a medical issue. An absence from public life that did not help to quell rumors about the health of their marriage. Let us remember that The Times even published that the marriage had been an arrangement, which explained those supposed attempts by the princess to flee. She would have agreed to the wedding for a substantial sum of money and with the condition of remaining married for at least five years and having a child.
The Challenge of Albert and Charlene to the Grimaldi Curse
Today those five years have long since been surpassed and despite all the headlines proclaiming their ongoing crises and the reports of the South African’s extravagances, they remain married. Determined to reach the “happily ever after” of fairy tales, they must overcome what is popularly known as the Grimaldi Curse. This Mediterranean version of the misfortunes that have affected for decades the Kennedy family is associated with the legendary bad luck that seems to have settled into the Monegasque royal family.
The legend of this curse goes back to the 13th century, when the first ruler of Monaco, Prince Rainier I, abducted a beautiful Flemish noblewoman and took her for a moonlit stroll along the principality’s picturesque cliffs. She did not succumb to his charms and, when Rainier tried to force her, she became a witch to take revenge. The woman vowed to die before yielding to his ignoble desires, and threw herself off the cliffs, cursing the prince’s family for generations to come with these words: «Never would a Grimaldi find true happiness in marriage».
If we look at how the Grimaldi house has fared over the last 700 years, it’s easy to understand why the curse remains a captivating myth. Certainly, the greatest tragedy the family suffered was the premature death of Princess Grace in a car accident in 1982. But the superstitious among us may find traces of witchcraft also in the unhappy marriages of Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie. Will Albert and Charlene be able to overcome the Grimaldi Curse and be happy forever?
