2011 was the year of the royal wedding. On the British side, Kate Middleton and Prince William finally got married, as did Zara Phillips and her long-time love Mike Tindall. And over in Monaco, Prince Albert – the head of state – finally settled down with his longtime girlfriend Charlene Wittstock who became Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco.
If you followed the relationship of Prince Albert and Charlene, you will know that there was some controversy surround their wedding and, in fact, their entire relationship. A few days before the wedding it was rumored that Charlene had tried to “escape” via France, and that her passport was revoked in a French airport to prevent her from leaving. This came after it was revealed that Albert had fathered a child by another woman during his relationship to Charlene. During the ceremony, Charlene was clearly overcome with emotion and she cried through most of it. At the time, it was widely speculated that the tears were due to sadness at being forced to go through with a wedding she didn’t want.
After two years of silence, Charlene has given an interview with Times Weekend Magazine where she states that the tears she shed on her wedding day were tears of joy, not tears of sadness or despair. In fact, she labeled her wedding day the same way most women do – as the happiest day of her life. She also admitted that at one point she began crying because she realized that her tears would be misconstrued as sadness rather than happiness and create a buzz. Whoops!
Her Serene Highness also says that she feels a very strong kinship with Queen Maxima of The Netherlands. Charlene, who grew up in South Africa, traveled to Monaco to be with Prince Albert, and had to adjust to a very different lifestyle which is similar to what Queen Maxima did – leaving her native Argentina to be with King Wilhem-Alexander (then The Prince of Orange).
In the interview, during which she also spoke about her relationship with fashion designer Raf Simons of Dior and her charitable endeavors, Princess Charlene also spoke about her relationship with The Duchess of Cambridge, saying that “she’s very sweet and lovely.”