Princess Charlene of Monaco puts on a united front as she shares festive snap with husband’s family

195

View
comments

Princess Charlene of Monaco today posted a Christmas photo with her husband Prince Albert in an apparent show of unity after it emerged he will appear in court in the new year to fight explosive claims he fathered a third love child with a secret girlfriend. 

The royal,  42, sported a cosy grey jumper as she posed in front of a grand Christmas tree with her daughter Princess Gabriella, six, her husband, Prince Albert 62, and his sister, Princess Stephanie, 52.

Also joining the family was Stephanie’s children Camille Ducruet, 21,  Pauline Ducruet, 26, as well as eldest son Louis Ducruet, 28, and his wife Marie.

Charlene had her hair slicked back, showing off her new half-shaved hairstyle she debuted in Monte Carlo earlier this month. 

Sources in the Mediterranean principality say she has had a ‘terrible’ year as lawyers for the billionaire couple brace themselves for the court case that opens in Milan, Italy, in February.   

A second picture showed Albert II, sporting red Christmas pyjamas and matching crocs, as well a a ‘Joyeux Noel’ Santa hat while hugging his six-year-old twins Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.

A third – a solo shot of Charlene – showed her kissing the family’s pet dog, while she donned pearl earrings and gave fans a close up of her new hair style.

‘Merry Christmas to all our friends and families, love you all,’ the caption read.

Earlier this week Charlene posted a picture, showing her beaming with her husband  on a Western-themed family day out with their twins.

Albert, who already supports two illegitimate children, is alleged to have had a relationship with a 34-year-old Brazilian woman which resulted in a daughter in on July 4, 2005. 

The claim, which his lawyers dismissed as a ‘hoax’, is particularly painful as he was dating Charlene at the time, having met the former Olympic swimmer in 2000. 

Albert received a handwritten letter from the child, who is now 15, in September this year reading: ‘I don’t understand why I grew up without a father, and now that I have found you, you don’t want to see me.’

Legal papers were also filed, as lawyers for the claimant called on Albert to undergo a DNA test – just as he did before finally being identified as the father of two illegitimate children born in the 1990s and early 2000s.

‘This was before Charlene and Albert were an item, but the latest case covers a time when she was already in love with him,’ said a source who works closely with the Monaco Royal household.

‘Charlene has had a terrible year, with one family crisis after another including Albert going down with Coronavirus, and now she’s gearing herself up for this hell.’

Billionaire Albert became the first head of state in the world to test positive for Covid-19 in March.

The princess, whose maiden name was Charlene Wittstock, was an Olympic swimmer for South Africa when she first met Albert at a Monaco aquatic competition in 2000.

They began dating soon afterwards, before Charlene married into the House of Grimaldi at a star-studded wedding in July 2011.

Their twins – daughter Gabriella and son Jacques – were born three years later and are seen as the family’s official heirs.

By this time, Charlene had come to terms with Albert’s hard fought legal battles with women who eventually won financial settlements over children they had with Albert – even though he originally denied their claims.

In May 2005, just before he was enthroned as Prince of Monaco, Albert confirmed he was the biological father of Alexandre, whose mother was Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo.

A DNA test in May 2006 also confirmed Albert was the father of Jazmine Grace, the result of an affair with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent he met while she was on holiday in the South of France.

Jazmine was born in the 1990s and Alexandre in 2003. The Brazilian woman says she travelled around the world with the Prince in the 2000s.

Her Italian lawyer is, by coincidence, called Erich Grimaldi – the name of the Grimaldi Royal Household of which Albert and Charlene are a part.

Mr Grimaldi said he had filed papers with specific details of his client’s love affair with Albert, including trips to Brazil, the USA, France and Russia.

While in Moscow, the lovers are even said to have had a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who gave the Brazilian ‘a warm hug’, according to court papers.

Now Albert is said to be ignoring all correspondence from his alleged third daughter, instead leaving the matter to his legal team.

Albert’s lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, has described the allegations as a ‘a hoax’, saying: ‘There are no intimate photos, no tangible facts surrounding a possible relationship.’

Mr Lacoste said he was also considering filing a counter claim for ‘attempted fraud and blackmail’ because the claimant threatened to publicise her story if no cash was forthcoming, Mr Lacoste told France’s Le Point magazine.

Neither Albert’s daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, now 28, nor his son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, 17, can claim the throne of Monaco, according to negotiated financial agreements.

The line of succession instead favours Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, who have just turned six, and who frequently appear in their parents’ social media posts.

Charlene is known for being exceptionally quiet and soft-spoken, leading another Monte Carlo resident who has known the couple since before their marriage to speculate that her new hairstyle may be a sign of distress.

She pointed to a series of unsettling incidents in Charlene’s career as a royal, which included the princess being in floods of tears throughout her wedding to Albert.

‘They were saying she was very home sick, and was desperate to get back to Africa,’ said the friend.

‘This was a time when there were already rumours that Albert had yet another love child conceived during his time with Charlene.

‘It was said that Charlene got news of the child when she was being fitted for a bridal gown in Paris. The rumours subsided for a while, but now they have exploded again.’

In an interview with the South African magazine Huisgenoot a year ago, Charlene confirmed that her fairytale lifestyle came with deep problems.

Charlene said: ‘People are very quick to say, “Oh, why isn’t she smiling in the photos?”.

‘Well, sometimes it’s hard to smile. They don’t know what’s going on in the background.’”

She added: ‘I have the privilege of having this life, but I miss my family and my friends in South Africa and I’m often sad because I cannot always be there for them.’