Charlène of Monaco

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Charlène of Monaco (June 2013)

Charlene Lynette Grimaldi, Princess of Monaco (* 25. January 1978 as Charlene Lynette Wittstock in Bulawayo , Rhodesia ) is a former South African swimmer and since her marriage to Prince Albert II. On 1 July 2011. Princess of Monaco .

Life

Origin and childhood

Charlene Wittstock is the daughter of Michael Kenneth Wittstock (* 1946) and Lynette Humberstone (* 1957). Her father has his own business, while her mother has worked as a swimming instructor in the past. Wittstock was born in Rhodesia, today's Zimbabwe , but grew up with her two younger brothers Gareth (* 1982) and Sean (* 1983) since 1990 in Benoni , a city east of Johannesburg . Because of better training conditions, she moved to Durban as a teenager .

Baptism entry of Martin Gottlieb Wittstock, great-great-grandfather of the princess, in the church book of Zerrenthin (1840)

Her great-great-grandparents, Martin Gottlieb and Louise Wittstock, emigrated to South Africa in 1861 with Gottlieb's parents and eight other siblings from Zerrenthin in the Uckermark via Hamburg on board the San Francisco . The Wittstocks lived there as day laborers and searched unsuccessfully for diamonds.

Swimming career

Charlene Wittstock swim
Personal information
Surname: Charlene Wittstock
Nation: ZimbabweZimbabwe Zimbabwe
Swimming style (s) : Freestyle, back
Society: Seagulls, Tuks Swimming Club
Birthday: January 25, 1978
Place of birth: Bulawayo
Size: 1.77 m
Weight: 63 kg
Medal table
Medals

Wittstock initially competed for the Durban- based Seagulls and won the South African Swimming Championships in 1996. She celebrated her greatest international success in 1999 at the All Africa Games in Johannesburg. There she won over 100 meters back and 100 meters freestyle . She left her club in 2000 and joined the Tuks Swimming Club at the University of Pretoria . She was never enrolled at the university and did not take any courses there, but had free access to the swimming facilities, training courses, accommodation and sports halls. In the same year she was a member of the 4 × 100-meter individual medley relay of South Africa at the Summer Olympics in Sydney , which reached fifth place. Also in 2000 she won the gold medal over 200 meters back at the Mare Nostrum swimming competition in Monaco . In 2001/2002, in the course of the Swimming World Cup - the most important international series of short course competitions - she won one title each in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle and the 4 × 100 meter relay. The same season she also belonged to the Commonwealth Games 2002 in Manchester, UK , and won the silver medal. At the short course world championships in 2002 , she swam over 200 meters chest in sixth place. In January 2005, Wittstock returned to KwaZulu-Natal and has been trained by Brannislav Ivkovic, a former Tuks trainer, since then. She was able to regain her South African championship title over 50 meters back in April 2007.

Wittstock wanted to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , but had suffered from shoulder problems for a long time and was ultimately unable to participate. She ended her active swimming career in 2007. The US magazine Sports Illustrated published photos of her as a model for swimwear.

Relationship and marriage with Prince Albert II of Monaco

Grand-ducal crowned monogram of the royal couple: " A " and " C "

In 2000 Charlene Wittstock got to know the then Monegasque Hereditary Prince Albert in Monaco. She became known to a wider public when she accompanied Prince Albert II of Monaco to the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics and to the Formula 1 race for the Monaco Grand Prix . This fueled speculation that she might become the future Princess of Monaco. Her presence at the traditional Red Cross Gala in Monaco at the end of July 2006 fueled the wedding rumors. From May 2007 she was resident in Monaco. Since then there has been regular speculation about an engagement; however, these rumors have always been denied.

Monegasque princely family
Coat of arms of Monaco.svg

SD Prince Albert II of Monaco
ID Princess Charlène of Monaco

HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover

ID Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

  • Louis Ducruet
  • Pauline Ducruet

Wittstock now regularly accompanied the prince on official meetings. In 2008 and 2009 she took part in the traditional Rose Ball and the Red Cross Gala alongside Prince Albert. On June 19, 2010 Wittstock stood by Albert's side at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling .

On June 23, 2010, Charlene Wittstock's engagement to Prince Albert was announced through his house. Early April 2011, informed the Palace that Wittstock, the Protestant grew, the Catholic faith - the state church - in Monaco converted was. On July 1, 2011, she married Prince Albert II in a civil ceremony. An orchestra played a specially composed " Hymn to Princess Charlène" for the wedding . The church wedding took place on the following day, July 2nd, also in the palace. The celebrant was the Archbishop of Monaco, Bernard Barsi .

Coat of arms of Princess Charlène of Monaco ( alliance coat of arms Grimaldi-Wittstock)

On the occasion of the wedding, Monaco had a further 2 euro special coin minted in 2011 . It is the official currency and shows the portraits of the royal couple in profile, with Charlène's head in the foreground partially covering that of Albert II.

On May 30, 2014, the Monegasque palace announced that Charlène von Monaco was pregnant and the couple were expecting their first child together at the end of 2014. On October 9, it was announced that the royal couple were expecting twins. On December 10, 2014, Charlène of Monaco gave birth to Gabriella Thérèse Marie, Comtesse von Carladès and the heir to the throne Jacques Honoré Rainier, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux .

Interests

Princess Charlène was involved in social projects even before her marriage to Albert II, with a focus on helping underprivileged children. She supports her husband in his work with charities. She is also a global ambassador for the Special Olympics and appears repeatedly in connection with them.

Her private interests include surfing, mountaineering, modern art and South African literature. Charlène von Monaco is a vegetarian .

Web links

Commons : Charlène of Monaco  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official spelling of the name before the wedding: faz.net on July 1, 2011: Monaco: Charlene becomes Charlène (accessed on July 2, 2011), until then the official pronunciation of the name was "Scharlihn", the Monegasque speak the name because of the accent, and because it is a French name (according to Charlene Wittstock in the only ARD interview so far in 2011) but “Scharlänn”.
  2. ↑ Swimming career details & biography Charlene Wittstock July 1, 2011
  3. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt: Prince Albert today 50 - wedding in September? March 14, 2008
  4. ↑ Bunte: Charlene Wittstock's mother knows nothing about the wedding ( Memento from October 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Hellomagazin: Fürst becomes ambassador for Bordeaux wine
  6. ↑ Rosenball 2009
  7. ↑ Quote from the official wedding program: "Miss Charlene Wittstock, who professes Christian faith, has been admitted through a free and personal decision into full communion in the Catholic church." ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Monaco: Albert and Charlene are married at focus.de, July 1, 2011 (accessed on July 1, 2011) A video of the civil ceremony can be seen on YouTube : Prince Albert marries Charlene Wittstock in civil ceremony (accessed on July 5 2011).
  9. ↑ Monaco: Prince Albert and Charlene got married at tagesspiegel.de, July 1, 2011 (accessed July 1, 2011)
  10. ↑ faz.net on July 1, 2011: Monaco: Charlene becomes Charlène (accessed on July 3, 2011).
  11. ↑ A three-part video of the church wedding can be seen on YouTube; Part 1: Prince Albert marries Charlene The church wedding in Monaco 1 - Bild.de , Part 2: Prince Albert marries Charlene The church wedding in Monaco 2 - Bild.de , Part 3: Prince Albert marries Charlene The church wedding in Monaco 3 - Bild.de (accessed on July 5, 2011)
  12. ↑ 2euro-coin Switzerland: Monaco - 2 euro commemorative coin 2011 ( Memento of 15 January 2013, Internet Archive ) - Wedding of Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock.
  13. ↑ Communiqué de presse // 30 May 2014 , in: palais.mc (30 May 2014).
  14. ^ Spiegel online: Charlène von Monaco: Twins for the Principality , accessed on October 9, 2014
  15. ↑ Jumeaux princiers: l'annonce officielle ( Memento of December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ SO Ambassador Princess Charlene of Monaco hosts EKS lunch. ( Memento from March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
predecessor Office Successor
Gracia Patricia Princess of Monaco
since 2011 		-
personal data
SURNAME Charlène of Monaco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grimaldi, Princess Charlène of Monaco (full name); Wittstock, Charlene Lynette (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African swimmer, Princess of Monaco by marriage
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Bulawayo , Rhodesia