Oh, Charlene, You Were Doing So Well

Charlene Wittstock, set to become Princess of Monaco next summer, has made some eyebrows go up and made me slap my head in an interview given to the UK’s Tatler. Oh, where to begin? In the first place, I have to wonder what Charlene was thinking giving such an interview to Tatler of all people, but that is a minor issue compared to what she talked about. One would be tempted to ask Charlene if she would like some cheese with her whine. She complained about being “subject to jealousy” since coming to Monaco, which she admitted “comes with the territory” but seems like an odd thing to say. If you knew it came with the territory, why even mention it? Charlene, you are a young Olympian who looks great in a swimsuit who lives in a palace and is about to marry the Prince of Monaco -the last thing anyone wants is to hear you complain. However, she went on.

“The people I mixed with in Monaco didn’t relate to my South African mentality or humor.” Well, again, that is to be expected Charlene, Monaco is a completely different country from South Africa on a completely different continent. You are moving on to their turf and it is your duty to adapt to the Monegasque, not for the Monegasque to adapt to you. She also said, “Although I have met some wonderful people since I’ve been living in Monaco, I regard them all as acquaintances. I only have two people I consider friends here.” And would one of those two select people be the Prince himself? This really blew my mind and I cannot help but wonder how many of those “acquaintances” thought they were friends of Charlene before she said such a thing. She comes off in this as having an attitude that a great many people are not ‘good enough’ for her friendship. Of course, many princesses of Monaco have come to the country and struggled to gain acceptance but talking like this a year before the wedding is certainly not going to help that situation. I also cannot help but point out, after the years she has spent with Albert and the considerable time she has been a common feature in Monaco, well, Charlene, dear, if you have only two friends at this point that might say more about you than it does about them.

Some may think I am being too harsh here, but I cannot help being astounded by this. I have never had anything against Charlene, I have always given her the benefit of the doubt and sincerely hoped that she be given a fair chance and not be constantly judged by the impossible standards set by Princess Grace. However, I cannot imagine any Princess of Monaco saying these sort of things, especially at such a time as this. As I recently pointed out here things were far from easy for Princess Grace when she first arrived in Monaco but she never publicly complained about it or even mentioned it. Charlene also said that, as Princess of Monaco, she wants to modernize the principality and even named names saying she wants to see a Starbucks and a Manolo Blahnik shoe store installed in the country. Again, Charlene dear, I am trying to be as generous as I can but saying you want to “modernize” the country by means of a coffee shop and a shoe store just makes you look shallow.

There was more talk about adjustment problems adapting to high society life but, as you can tell, I was very disappointed by the interview and as someone who wants the best for Charlene who will be the next Princess of Monaco, I don’t think she did herself any favors here. From what I have seen, regardless of her intentions, she seems to come off as critical and a bit condescending; not exactly the ideal for a woman about to marry into the Princely Family of Monaco especially when she has already been a familiar face for several years. I’m sure it will also annoy some people that her first ‘revealing’ interview was given to a British magazine instead of a French-language publication. This really seems to me to make Charlene look bad and I cannot imagine what she could have been thinking going on record in this way.