Princess Charlene, Doing Fine

Since her first official engagement at the Red Cross Ball, HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco has been keeping a pretty busy schedule. She and the Sovereign Prince re-opened the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique (which now includes a Charlene Salon), then there was a classic music festival in the neighboring town of Menton (once a part of the Grimaldi dominion many years ago), where the new Princess let her hair down and was given a very warm welcome -and a *very* large armfull of flowers, from the adoring crowd and then, last Friday both attended the 50th anniversary of the Stade Nautique Rainier III where, again, the welcome was exuberant. No gaffes, no stumbles, no "scenes" and not a hint of trouble, just a Prince and Princess of Monaco, comfortable, at ease and still newlyweds who (as you can tell from the many photos of each occasion) still have a hard time taking their eyes off each other. If all of those who were trying to cast doubts and who made a habit of saying unkind things could see just how silly -and sad- they look based on the example of the Princely couple, well, perhaps it would all stop.

What is even more telling, considering all the "doom and gloom" so many were spouting, is the public reaction at every place the new couple have visited, whether in France, Monaco or one of the nearby towns within the 'Monegasque community'. I wonder if the gloomy gus types realize how out of touch they are? On each and every occasion the welcome has been warm and exuberant, even moreso than the always polite and friendly welcome given to the Sovereign Prince, who is a familiar face in these areas, but there are huge cheers for Princess Charlene, very large and very long rounds of applause, shouts of best wishes and as many photographs as possible. In short, the people love them. They see them, up close, they see what a happy couple they are, comfortable and at ease with each other (which they should be by now) and your average person without a heart full of malice is instantly attracted to that. Princess Charlene, despite a great deal of negativity hurled her way right out of the gate, has gotten off to an excellent start as the new Princess of Monaco. She has not let the naysayers get her down but, as the British used to say, has simply kept calm and carried on. Good for her and well done.