The new Princess Charlene of Monaco tried to flee home to South Africa three times before her ‘arranged marriage’ to Prince Albert, it was alleged yesterday. The former Charlene Wittstock, 33, reportedly made her first escape attempt when she travelled to Paris in May to try on her wedding dress.
During the visit, she ‘took refuge’ in her country’s embassy in the French capital, sources in Monaco said.
The allegations, which are surprising considering she went ahead with the wedding on Saturday, emerged in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
It went on to report that later in May, Charlene made a second apparent attempt to escape during the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix. Then, last week, royal officials are said to have confiscated her passport en route to Nice airport via the helicopter service that runs between the Mediterranean principality and France. She was then persuaded to go on with the marriage. ‘Several sources have confirmed that an arrangement was reached between the future bride and groom,’ reported Le Journal du Dimanche.
Sources said the Monaco palace had hoped the glitzy wedding – attended by a host of celebrities and European royalty – would ‘overshadow’ new claims about secret children fathered by Albert.
Instead, Charlene was in floods of tears at one point, while her 53-year-old husband looked on impassively.
Meanwhile, the reception that followed provoked ridicule with tacky features such as a giant wedding cake that towered over the couple and a mirrored dance floor. Among the guests were Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, actor Roger Moore and Topshop boss Sir Philip Green and his wife, Tina.
Tomorrow the couple are due to fly to South Africa on honeymoon, presenting Charlene with her best chance yet of ‘escaping’ Monaco. If an ‘arrangement’ has been reached, however, it may be that Charlene’s principal aim will be to produce a legitimate heir for Albert in return for a multi-millionaire lifestyle.
The prince is due to undergo DNA tests because of claims that he has fathered a third, and possibly even a fourth, love child. He already has a six-year-old son named Alexandre through Togolese former air hostess Nicole Coste, and a 19-year-old daughter, Jazmin, with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent.
Both illegitimate children were kept away from Albert’s wedding to avoid ‘media exposure’, a palace official told Le Journal du Dimanche. But he also revealed that one of Charlene’s first duties in her new role would be to stand by Albert during another scandal related to his chequered private life. ‘The truth of the rumour is that Albert faces paternity tests following a claim by at least one former lover,’ said the source.
