Wyatt Mason 
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene tied the knot on July 1, 2011 in a grand two-day royal wedding, including a civil ceremony hosted in the throne room of the royal palace.
Prince Albert II, the reigning monarch of Monaco, had earned the reputation of a playboy due to his numerous relationships, and even had two children from these unions, whom he was forced to adopt following a much publicized court battle that involved a DNA test to prove that the royal prince was indeed the biological father.
However, our story is not about Prince Albert II, its about his beautiful royal wife, Princess Charlene, an Olympic swimmer and the daughter of a humble salesman in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Let us delve into the Cinderella story of how an ordinary salesman’s daughter became the Royal Princess of Monaco.
Who is Princess Charlene?
Born on January 25, 1978 in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Charlene Wittstock came from humble background, her father working as a salesman, while her mother was a swimming instructor. Growing up, Charlene was raised by her mother as her father was often away for work.
Being a swimming coach, Charlene’s mother taught her to swim, and the young girl took to the sport like a proverbial fish to water, and ultimately became a champion swimmer, winning a gold medal in 200-meter backstroke at an international swimming event in Monaco.
How Charlene Wittstock met Prince Albert II?
Charlene’s trip to Monaco changed the course of her life forever as it was here that she first met Prince Albert II in the year 2000. The playboy prince was mesmerized by her and as fate would have it, the two continued to bump into each other at various events around the globe, and were first seen together 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
A few months later, Charlene accompanied the prince to a charity event in Monaco, as rumors about their purported romance hit tabloid headlines.
Notably, Charlene had qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as part of the South African team, but announced her retirement in 2007, a year before the event. It is widely believed that Prince Albert influenced her decision as she moved to Monaco, shortly after her retirement.
The princess ‘training’
Meanwhile, following Charlene’s move to Monaco, rumors of a royal romance began circulating in the country’s media, but Prince Albert knew that his people will not easily accept an outsider, especially a commoner, as their princess. Therefore, Charlene had to undergo a sort of ‘royal training’ to become a princess, which included learning French and Monegasque languages.
As part of her training, Charline Wittstock began attending charity events, including those organized by the prestigious Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Giving Organization Trust.
Ultimately, Charlene and Albert announced their engagement in June 2010, and in 2011, she was named as the co-patron of the Giving Organization Trust, a clear message that Charlene was now ready to become a princess.
The hidden truth behind Charlene and Albert’s wedding
While the story of Charlene and Prince Albert II of Monaco may seem like any another Disney princess story at surface level, the truth is that the Prince was essentially ‘forced’ to get married because he needed an heir borne out of wedlock, or risk losing his throne to his sisters and their children.
As per biographers, Prince Albert had no intention of getting married, but a 2002 constitutional amendment by the Monaco parliament changed everything as it made the Prince as well as his sisters, and their legal heirs eligible for the throne. Thus, Albert’s elder sister Princess Caroline became the first claimant to the throne, and the Prince would lose his claim unless he got married and produced an heir.
According to reports at the time, Monaco authorities convinced Charlene to wed Prince Albert by entering into an agreement that she would be free to leave the marriage once she had produced a legitimate heir.
Happily ever after
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene tied the knot on July 1, 2011 in a grand two-day royal wedding, including a civil ceremony hosted in the throne room of the royal palace on the first day, while a religious ceremony was held in the main courtyard of the Palace Square on the next day.
The royal wedding was celebrated with great pomp because as this was the first time a European monarch was getting married after Albert’s father Prince Rainier III (who married American actress Grace Kelly in 1956).
Three years after marriage, the couple became parents as Princess Charlene gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl– Princess Gabriella Thérèse Marie, and Hereditary Prince Jacques Honoré Rainier– on December 10, 2014. Though Princess Gabriella was born first, her brother, Prince Jacques was made the Crown Prince of Monaco, due to Monaco’s male primogeniture laws.
Thus, Prince Albert II not only saved his throne, but also married one of the most beautiful women in the world, the daughter of a simple salesman, who became the Princess of Monaco.
