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Post by emmeline on Mar 17, 2012 11:00:17 GMT -5
There are certainly a few things that Charlene and the Melbourne Lord Mayor's wife, Emma Page Campbell, have in common. One is that they have both are married to older men, 20 years older, they are both blonde and attractive, and both seem media shy or at least awkward. Both appear to have little or no PR or media support up to the present, and this is likely to be due to an oversight or deliberate troublemaking by the palace, staff or minders - to me it suggests they are not personally media savvy or calculating. Another, they have established careers independent of their husbands, before they met their husbands - which seems for both of them to have been in their thirties, or late twenties. And another thing they have in common is that they both appear to have many envious people (pretending they are not) with a lot of time on their hands, willing to make all kinds of extreme judgements, make disparaging, vicious comments on them, based on appearance alone. Your jealous, posters, is obvious. It was very obvious from the beginning of your post where were you heading to, but with the last sentence "Your jealous..." is obvious too that you are a flunkie! Why do you guys keep coming to say over and over again your sistematic catch phrase "you are all jealous and envious" like you just did in this post? "To have many envious people [...] your jealous posters" I mean, really? Don't you peopl have no more arguments to fight this bimbo other than those two words? Just like you say that people that have "free time" to "hate" her here, well, let me inform you that there are people that actually have free time to worship her, wich is actually pathetic. So, either you are one of those people (because you have posted once) or...you don't have a clue about Charlene Lynette Wittstock, the biggest con artist Monaco has met.
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Post by sandsla on Mar 17, 2012 16:19:06 GMT -5
There are certainly a few things that Charlene and the Melbourne Lord Mayor's wife, Emma Page Campbell, have in common. One is that they have both are married to older men, 20 years older, they are both blonde and attractive, and both seem media shy or at least awkward. Both appear to have little or no PR or media support up to the present, and this is likely to be due to an oversight or deliberate troublemaking by the palace, staff or minders - to me it suggests they are not personally media savvy or calculating. Another, they have established careers independent of their husbands, before they met their husbands - which seems for both of them to have been in their thirties, or late twenties. And another thing they have in common is that they both appear to have many envious people (pretending they are not) with a lot of time on their hands, willing to make all kinds of extreme judgements, make disparaging, vicious comments on them, based on appearance alone. Your jealous, posters, is obvious. Emmeline, you took the words write out of my mouth...it is clear where this poster is going here. Starting off once again trying to justify Charlene as if her behavior is normal,, it is not, she is psychotic! Truly psychotic. She does not possess a few traits of a psychopath, Charlene possess all of them. She is the poster child for psychopathy and that is why we are so repulsed and disgusted, yet strangely fascinated by her and saddened and frustrated by the destruction she leaves in her wake. Albert seriously needs to get some help to figure why he is so attracted to psychopaths and over and over again lets them in his life, only to destroy it. Psychotic people are not capable of emotion, they do not have a conscience as to who or what they destroy, but they learn to emulate and copy what passes as human behavior, and feigning emotion is just a tool they learn to exploit to help them reach their agenda. If I thought Charlene actually had the capacity to have her feelings hurt or had any empathy towards others, I think myself and other people here might act differently towards her, but the fact is, that she only cares about what people have to say about her in a negative way, because it might interfere or get in her way with her own selfish goals. SHE DOESN'T WANT TO BE EXPOSED< AND THAT IS EXACTLY OUR REASON FOR POSTING ABOUT HER HERE, AND SHE HATES THAT!!!!! It has not one thing to do with her feigned insecurities that she uses to exploit Albert and others too naive or ignorant to see through it. When people come over here with posts like yours, it seems only an attempt to run interference and to help justify Charlene and her actions. It is almost always by trying to tear others down or make comparisons to Charlene' own weaknesses. Why is it so important for you to come over here to try to discredit people with negative opinions of her, especially with ridiculous claims of jealousy, which only feeds into Charlene's own illusion of grandiosity and her inflated sense of self importance. I love it when she herself, or enlists others to come over here to confirm her own vain glory. ;D
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Post by creativemind on Mar 18, 2012 13:44:12 GMT -5
There are certainly a few things that Charlene and the Melbourne Lord Mayor's wife, Emma Page Campbell, have in common. One is that they have both are married to older men, 20 years older, they are both blonde and attractive, and both seem media shy or at least awkward. Both appear to have little or no PR or media support up to the present, and this is likely to be due to an oversight or deliberate troublemaking by the palace, staff or minders - to me it suggests they are not personally media savvy or calculating. Another, they have established careers independent of their husbands, before they met their husbands - which seems for both of them to have been in their thirties, or late twenties. And another thing they have in common is that they both appear to have many envious people (pretending they are not) with a lot of time on their hands, willing to make all kinds of extreme judgements, make disparaging, vicious comments on them, based on appearance alone. Your jealous, posters, is obvious. ahahahaha! i love comedians!
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 8:05:06 GMT -5
In case anyone missed my earlier posting, representatives from the Government of Monaco (especially the tourism office) also accompanied Charlene on this trip. The government has distributed video starring Charlene as the face of Monaco who made a sensation in Australia with everyone loving her. Before I post the videos, it bears repeating - Charlene did not make a sensation in Australia. Earlier articles bragged about getting big name Australian stars to accompany Charlene to the opening, but in the end - no one showed up. The so-called crowd that they are bragging about was "rented." Here's another article from the Bendigo Advertiser with more details about the rent-a-crowd (About 100 Strathfieldsaye Primary students and their parents lined View Street for the royal arrival after the school’s name was drawn from a hat.) and the use of children to assist Charlene in her sick quest to promote herself as the children's Princess of Heart.
Lucy savours royal moment at Bendigo Art galleryby CHLOE ROSS 17 Mar, 2012 Chosen: Lucy O’Connell and Margot Feast with the photo Lucy gave to Princess Charlene at the exhibition opening.
STRATHFIELDSAYE’S Lucy O’Connell had a royal moment of her own walking the red carpet at the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition opening on Saturday.
Lucy, 10, was chosen by Bendigo Art Gallery out of 130 of her grade 3 and 4 classmates for her watercolour painting of the iconic Alexandra Fountain to be presented to Princess Charlene of Monaco during her visit.
The fountain, funded by proceeds of the Bendigo Juvenile and Industrial exhibition, was similarly opened by Welsh royalty in 1881.
However, Lucy and her mother Sandy O’Connell did not expect they would be meeting the princess in person.
“We were told Lucy was allowed to wear a dress instead of her school uniform and she might be able to hand over the painting personally,” Mrs O’Connell said.
“I thought she would be giving it to (the princess’s) minder or someone else.
“Once the general public had left they told Lucy she could walk the red carpet – so my 10-year-old walked up the spiral staircase to find Princess Charlene standing at the top waiting to greet her.”
Watched by VIP guests and photographers, Lucy presented her artwork to the recently crowned princess and says she received a hug and kiss on the cheek in return.
“She was really pretty and nice, and she smelt like flowers,” she said.
“Princess Charlene thanked me and said when she went home she would ask Albert where they would hang it in the house. She said she wanted to put it in her bedroom.”
Lucy said her one regret was that she hadn’t left a message under the frame for the Princess Charlene.
“Dad said I should have written a message on the back of the painting to say we’re coming to Monaco soon, and if there was any chance of staying in a spare room,” she said.
About 100 Strathfieldsaye Primary students and their parents lined View Street for the royal arrival after the school’s name was drawn from a hat.
Students were asked to submit a painting to Bendigo Art Gallery of what made Bendigo a special place.
Gallery education officer Margot Feast thanked everyone for their hard work. “We wanted to tell them from next week all of their artworks would go up online on the gallery’s new website,” she said.
“They will all receive a certificate thanking them for their participation.’’
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 8:13:21 GMT -5
“She was really pretty and nice, and she smelt like flowers,” she said.
“Princess Charlene thanked me and said when she went home she would ask Albert where they would hang it in the house. She said she wanted to put it in her bedroom.” If you want to know why Charlene has been so successfully at conning Albert and his hanger-ons is statements like the ones she told Lucy. Do you really believe that this woman asked Albert where to hang Lucy's painting in the palace? But, con artists are experts at what to say to make people feel good. Wait and Watch. Now that Lucy has made Charlene's statement public, the Con artist will a PR stunt of it now and casually mentioned Lucy's painting hanging in the palace - that is if she hasn't dumped it in the trash already. Also, since the tourism office used this opening as a promotion tool, don't be surprised if you see little Lucy and her family in Monaco and at the palace - at the paid expense of the government.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 8:24:46 GMT -5
This video was uploaded by the Government's Communication Office - Monaco Info. Notice in the video that they speak to every one (to sing Charlene's praises) but Charlene! can you imagine - Monaco accompanies Charlene on this trip - yet no one interviews her!
The city of Bendigo, south-eastern Australia, welcomes the Grace Kelly exhibition from March 11 to June 17, 2012. The intense excitement around this exhibition reflects the admiration of the Australian population for the beauty and the unusual life of Princess Grace. Princess Charlene personally held to inaugurate the exhibition, despite the absence of Prince Albert II, held by his obligations to France. The unique style of Princess Grace Kelly is highlighted in this exhibition: a selection of models of his wardrobe, some of her favorite jewelry, rare photographs and film clips ... What prolong the myth of a Princess unforgettable.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 8:34:10 GMT -5
Now, here's the video from Monaco's governemtnal tourist office.
The Principality has a surprising popularity in Australia, despite the 16,000 miles separating the two countries. Thousands of pre-bookings have already been conductedto explore the exhibition Grace Kelly, who is revealed in Bendigo, from March 11 to June 17 A small event that could be followed by other cultural exchanges, as the arrival of the Ballets de Monte Carlo and many others. Catherine Fautrier, Ambassador of Monaco in Australia, working to develop several projects related to the founding of the Princess Charlene and that of Prince Albert II on environmental issues.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 8:52:05 GMT -5
Has anyone notice that besides the rent-a-crowd (the people in front of the barricades), the actually number of people who came to view the opening arrivals (behind the barricades on the side walk) is actually very small? Considering that he city of Bendigo closed off the street for the day, you would think that there should have been a larger number of mere gawkers just to see what the fuss is about. This is how Monaco always shoot themselves in the foot and always end up losing money on their promotion of Charlene instead of the authentic Monaco attraction people are really interested in. from everything that I read, there seems to be a real interest in the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibit. But, that's not good enough for Charlene's flunkies who always have to make everything about Charlene - who people really do not care about. The facts speak for themselves, however Charlene's flunkies make up their own press and then actually start believing it. Thousands of people attended the members only showing of the exhibit (a special exhibit entry earlier that day for members who did not get a ticket to the opening night) and the public first day of the exhibit, but these people did not come out on the streets to see Charlene and the other arrivals. Cute flower giving kids and the larger rent-a-crowd lining the stairway The highest official that greeted Charlene was the premier of Victoria and his wife. The gallery Director and these officials are waiting for Charlene to arrive. You can see the small "crowd" behind them. They even had street performers (Chinese dancers) to lure and entertain the "crowd."
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Post by royalpauper on Mar 19, 2012 10:19:36 GMT -5
A real carnival! Wonder where is the bearded woman and the two headed man?
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Post by axelle on Mar 19, 2012 10:22:23 GMT -5
This video was uploaded by the Government's Communication Office - Monaco Info. Notice in the video that they speak to every one (to sing Charlene's praises) but Charlene! can you imagine - Monaco accompanies Charlene on this trip - yet no one interviews her! The city of Bendigo, south-eastern Australia, welcomes the Grace Kelly exhibition from March 11 to June 17, 2012. The intense excitement around this exhibition reflects the admiration of the Australian population for the beauty and the unusual life of Princess Grace. Princess Charlene personally held to inaugurate the exhibition, despite the absence of Prince Albert II, held by his obligations to France. The unique style of Princess Grace Kelly is highlighted in this exhibition: a selection of models of his wardrobe, some of her favorite jewelry, rare photographs and film clips ... What prolong the myth of a Princess unforgettable.Good call once again!
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 19, 2012 14:08:09 GMT -5
I can't help myself. Kate just gave her first speech (which she apparently WROTE HERSELF). The media are saying she did a respectable job on her first speech. She appeared nervous at first but then relaxed. It might be fun to put the two videos side by side to compare them. I am going to respond to Hibou in this thread. I am not in the Saint Kate brigade because basically I am disappointed that for 10 years Kate did not forge a separate life for herself as opposed to being the perfect girlfriend for William. However, it is undeniable that Charlene and Kate are not in the same league, which is why you will NEVER EVER see any media in the UK doing any stupid Kate versus Charlene articles. It is beneath Kate and everyone knows this EXCEPT Charlene's media flunkies, Charlene's family, Charlene's flunkie, Kate haters (who stupidly believe that promoting Charlene will some how diminish Kate) and of course Charlene. Kate is naturally elegant, poised, intelligent and thus can be herself - unlike Charlene! Kate can be herself and keep her former life - which includes freinds, clothing, style, mannerism, hair, makeup, background - and most importantly face & body! Charlene had to change all these things about herself because her former self is trashy. Here's the biggest paradox in Charlene's life: Charlene's flunkies, her family & friends, Albert, Albert's family & friends all gave Charlene the advice to just be herself when they knew full well that Albert would have NEVER married her if she did not change who she was. Below is the full speech of Kate's first public address (which has made international news!) and the video of Charlene's full speech (3:24 – 6:05). Both speeches are the same length - 2:39 - and both ladies are nervous. But, the big difference is one lady is successful at being authentic in her presentation by having a positive effect on her audience mainly because only one is naturally poised, articulate, and intelligent - which is Kate because Kate is being herself!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 15:44:19 GMT -5
This is the speech of Charliz
Good evening everybody, My thanks go to The Honourable Premier of Victoria, Mr. Ted Baillieu for hisgenerous words,and to Andrew Cannon for his kind introduction I am also touched by the gracious hospitality of the great people of Bendigo, their city and their legendary Art Gallery,and so thrilled to be back in this great country! Australia holds a very special place in my heart. I often travelled here to train and to compete with my Australian mates, surely among the finest athletes in the world. The purpose for my visit this time is to open, on behalf of Prince Albert of Monaco, my husband, a rare exhibition dedicated to perhaps one of the most captivating personalities of all times. Knowing the life, talents and achievements of Princess Grace, where do we begin to tell the incrediblestory of such, an accomplished artist, a patron of the arts, a humanitarian, a Princess, and indeed a Style Icon. Princess Grace's beautiful style is a reflection of Her natural elegance, taste,character, and a rare command of colors and textures. A style so gracefully unique that it remainsan inspiration to all across generations and cultures. A style so much part of every facet of Heramazing life, including the beloved Princess and the devoted mother she was. Much admired and respected by the people of Monaco, Princess Grace was simply adored by Her three Children: Princess Caroline, Princess Stephanie and Prince Albert. All three inherited their mother'skindness, generosity and compassion. This evening, I am honored and proud to be here with you, in tribute to this truly inspirational Princess and also in tribute to the craftsmanship of those who designed and produced the masterpieces we are about to admire. And so Congratulations to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco,The London Victoria & Albert Museum, to Karen Quinlan the Bendigo Gallery director, and to everyone in your teams for making this fascinating Exhibition possible. Thank you [Admin Note: Lavetta's below link leads to the palace website. Everyone should know and then decide if they want to click onto the site]: Here is my source.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 7:20:51 GMT -5
The Australian reporter John Elder who interviewed Charlene published a longer piece about his weekend with Charlene. The article really reveals how utterly stupid Monaco looks in trying to pass off Charlene as some cultured, intelligent classy and naturally elegant princess when in reality Charlene is just a run of the meal athlete who struck gold with a fat balding scandal-ridden wealthy prince.
The restraints on the interview as told by this guy Lotfi Maktouf is absolutely ridiculous - which is why the reporter reveals them. Oh, this Lofti guy is really seriously CREEPY! why is he there and what role does in play in Charlene's life? His presence and "stage-managing" of Charlene's movements only adds fuel to the fire that Charlene is a "prisoner bride."
Some new revelations from the article 1. Children are bused to the Melbourne Aquatic center for Charlene's visit. Is anyone else bothered by Charlene's continued use of hauling in children wherever she goes to serve as photo props to fulfill her SICK narcissism to promote herself as some saviour of children. Charlene, there is something called you reap what you sow.
2. The reporter viewed some of Charlene's previous interviews and stated "she can come across as aloof and even charmless in television interviews, suggesting she's very much on the defensive."
3. The palace has been successful in branded Charlene as someone who was a humanitarian long before she met Albert since Elder states the following about Charlene receiving the Golden Heart award: "The award was in recognition of her long commitment to teaching disadvantaged South African children to swim."
4. However, Elder wasn't fooled like the flunkie press by Charlene's tears at the show sine Elder also states this after the above comment: "Even so, in smiling footage and photographs from the ceremony, her eyes look startled, even pained."
5. People are instructed to bow to Charlene upon meeting her.
6. The most revealing thing for me from Elder's interview is how Charlene keeps the press from partially exposing all the WHOPPING lies that she has told about herself. They are a long list of things that reporters are forbidden from asking Charlene, including comparisons with Grace and "even her love of South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art." Of course we know why reporters cannot ask about her so-called love of poetry and art simply because she made that shit up - just as she made up some longtime humanitarian background of teaching disadvantaged and now she included handicapped children to swim. In reality, Charlene has only done this a couple of times with the entire South African Swim team as a public charity event.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 7:44:00 GMT -5
Please read the entire article and you will understand why Charlene will continue to do what she does best - LIE and CON people - and get away with it. NO ONE CARES ENOUGH ABOUT HER to do any kind of fact check on the many lies she tells. The paradox that Monaco faces is that NO SANE person is buying the empty shallow package that they manufactured and are currently trying to sell as the cultured naturally elegant and refined Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco, but people find charming the crass unintelligent funny wired awkward Charlene. Despite what Charlene and her flunkies think, this reporter also confirms what we have been trying to tell these fools for the longest - Charlene does not come across well in interviews. Well, her true self is exposed in these interviews.
Princess Charming
by John Elder, The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia) March 18, 2012 Sunday
What is it really like to be in the presence of royalty? John Elder spends a weekend with Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco.
When a bus drops a swarm of children at the front steps of the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, they are quietly sent around to the back entrance. Their chatter drops to a hush, and one little lad in outsize green-framed specs looks back nervously ... perhaps as Lot's wife did just before she turned into a pillar of salt. Standing in front of the main doors is a ferrety man with wrap-around sunglasses, a cheerless slit of a mouth and Terminator posture. He reeks of one thing: "Don't even think about it." Waiting off to the side are swimmer Sophie Edington and former Olympian Craig Jackson, a squad of diplomats, and a nuggety fellow named Lotfi Maktouf.
We're all waiting for Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco to arrive, but the mood isn't entirely serene. I'm on the other side of the entrance, under strict instructions to keep my distance, hold my tongue and otherwise act "humbly". I will get my interview with Her Serene Highness later in the day. For the moment though, I'm not to even say, "Hello, how are you doing?" because it hasn't been scheduled. Maktouf, a businessman and royal confidant, begs me, "Don't give me a hard time today ... Earn your afternoon interview." In his eagerness for everything to go smoothly, he is generating a weird kind of anxiety.
Meanwhile, I look at the security guard's stone features and wonder if the princess herself might be similarly forbidding. Since her marriage to Prince Albert of Monaco in July last year, she's been routinely dubbed "the runaway bride" because of reports that she got cold feet in the lead-up to the wedding, and was stopped by police at the airport while attempting to "flee the country" and return to her family in South Africa.
Maktouf has told me he was having lunch with Charlene "on the prince's instructions" on the very day she was said to be hot-footing it elsewhere, but it's a banned topic for discussion with the princess. And yet it seems to have clung to her public image. It's a story from which she can make no easy escape, in part because she can come across as aloof and even charmless in television interviews, suggesting she's very much on the defensive. In one interview, following a charity swim, she looks off to the side as she talks, doesn't smile and her tone remains flat. In another, in a palace-like living room, she holds herself in a mild hunch as if physically hurt. She verges on a smile, but it could as easily be the ambivalent expression one presents to an intrusive stranger on a train.
Last December, however, a more ebullient and emotional princess was revealed when Charlene was the recipient of the Golden Heart award at the Ein Herz für Kinder (A Heart for Children) ceremony in Berlin. The award was in recognition of her long commitment to teaching disadvantaged South African children to swim. Even so, in smiling footage and photographs from the ceremony, her eyes look startled, even pained. And so one question hangs over the princess, in a media-ruled world where princesses are eaten alive: "What's she really like?"
This is what I'm thinking when a luxury Holden appears and there is Her Serene Highness on the back seat. She emerges with the beautiful and vulnerable gait of a giraffe, almost casual in a pale-pink pants suit (or is it that fashionable but tricky colour, "nude"?), with a blonde ponytail and the face of an excited schoolgirl who must remind herself to be a little solemn, as if she is in fact one of those children elected to present flowers to princesses.
She's clearly excited to see Craig Jackson, a childhood hero and coach, and Sophie Edington, a competitor from her days on the international swimming circuit and, more importantly, a friend. Edington attended the wedding in Monaco and seems to be the most relaxed person present. There is, however, a moment of formality, when various members of the party bob their heads while shaking Charlene's hand. I've been told that when I meet the princess, I need to give a little bow. This has been stressing me out; I've never bowed to anyone before. I'd been hoping to get some instruction, but this head bobbing seems insufficiently deferential.
The party then wanders through the doors and into the pool area. A group of children are standing in two lines, shyly agog. Later, when I ask Charlene if little girls treat her like a rock star, she says: "I don't know. Do they treat me like a rock star? For me ... I don't know myself any differently. I've always been surrounded by children during my swimming career. Giving them advice. I don't feel any different among children." Her Serene Highness was an Olympic swimmer, a Commonwealth Games medallist, and her visit to the aquatic centre is a nostalgic one: she took out a gold medal for backstroke in the 2002 World Cup here. In South Africa, as in Australia, sporting champions are a kind of royalty, anyway. Kids have always looked up to her.
When the children dive into the pool and perform a series of drills, Her Serene Highness stands close to the edge - not noticing or caring that the bottoms of her trousers are getting damp - her hands behind her back, chatting and at ease with her friends, but her eyes are often fixed on what the swimmers are doing. When they start kicking off the side and doing tumble turns over the lane rope, she cranes forward and seems to be making mental notes. Later she tells me, "I was learning something. I'm always looking at form and technique [for coaching] and I hadn't seen that before. I think I'll copy it."
After the demonstration, and a brisk walking tour, the princess heads to the centre's modest cafe, settles onto one of the plastic chairs and sips at a cappuccino while swapping stories with Jackson and Edington. When others are speaking, Charlene tends to rub at the cuticles of her thumbs with her fingertips - or at least she does when there's a giant journalist sitting nearby noting down her every gesture.
I have long thought how rotten it would be to have people constantly noting your every move and gesture, but here I am doing it. Is it any wonder if she freezes in the relentless glare of media curiosity? But here, in this cafe where little kids are running around with half-eaten sausage rolls in their hands, when Charlene speaks to her mates, she forgets who is watching and her hands paint wild pictures in the air.
Because she has such long, elegant arms, she takes up a lot of space with this gesticulation. Her face is equally expressive. Her eyes almost pop when she's telling a yarn; her mouth draws wide with amazement at what she's recounting. She is, in short, a live wire.
An hour later I talk to John Kelly by phone. John is Prince Albert's cousin, and Grace Kelly's nephew. Like Charlene, John Kelly was in Australia for the opening of the fabulous Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery. He told me about Grace at the annual Kelly family gatherings at their beach house in Ocean City, New Jersey. "I'd be hanging around as the youngster, and Grace would be sitting at the table playing cards and gossiping and laughing and telling stories. Just having a good time with her family."
The more he talked, the more I thought about Charlene unselfconsciously hamming it up with her mates. I'd been asked by Lotfi Maktouf not to "push Charlene into a corner with comparisons between her and Princess Grace", but I couldn't help but think of the old notion that men end up marrying their mothers. The story goes that Grace was the family's light and soul. When John visited his cousin in Monaco, he recalled the family playing exuberantly "in the rec room" as happy families do. After Princess Grace died in 1982, the rec room was closed down. Prince Albert told his cousin that Prince Rainier could no longer bear to go in there. The light had gone out. So perhaps there's something restorative at play in Albert's marriage to Charlene. For as John Kelly says: "She is just too lovely and a lot of fun. A really good gal. I just know that she and Albert have a great time together. They are fun to hang out with. She makes him laugh and have fun."
He also mentions that Charlene, like Grace, is a person of great thoughtfulness and compassion. During the lead up to Charlene's wedding, John's sister Maura died. He says Charlene took the time to call and let him know she had commissioned a special rose for the palace garden in Maura's name. "It was a wonderful gesture, very touching ... that in the midst of getting ready for the wedding, she took the time to think of that and think of Albert's cousin and include us in her thoughts. I just find her to be a pretty special person."
I'd meant to go home and change into a good suit for the exclusive interview with Her Serene Highness. But the day had passed talking to Charlene's friends and family and I realised I had run out of time and would have to attend the interview in a sports coat, chinos, a blue shirt and riding boots. I looked like an old farmer who'd come to town for the royal show. As I walked up the hill to the Grand Hyatt hotel, my shirt soaked through with sweat. I'd been told so many things not to ask the Princess - even about her love of South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art - that I was freaking out. Maktouf said he'd be sitting in on the conversation "and would be interrupting, making corrections ... I will stop you from asking the wrong thing." He said one thing that was crucial for me to understand was that Charlene was under permanent scrutiny, and that every word she says is "carefully weighed". Meanwhile, I'd tried out various ways of bowing in front of a mirror - and looked like a goose.
As I walked into Charlene's suite, she turned and threw out a warm and enchanting hand. For some reason, I clicked my heels together like a German count, dropped my head in salute, and in a voice better suited to a late-night telephone call said, "Your Serene Highness, hello."
She laughed easily at the fool that I was, and continued to laugh throughout the interview. And what did we talk about in those 15 minutes? Somehow it all came back to swimming.
She told stories of "stalking" the South African Olympic swimming team when she was 12, keen to watch their every move, lying on the bottom of the pool and looking up as they trained above. When on holidays, she says, people came up and asked if she'd teach their kids to swim. While not everybody can be a champion, she believes that "when you teach a child to swim, to help them further themselves, they then have the self-esteem to go even further".
These days she loves ocean swimming. I suggested this must be more meditative than training for races. "Yes, I just love to get in and swim ... When I retired [in 2007] it was a bit difficult because I was always contemplating whether I should come back or not. But watching all the times now, it's like, 'Whoa, I'm definitely not coming back.' So now I can just swim for fun."
I asked if the discipline of swim training had helped her adjust to a public life as an ambassadorial princess where there is always the demand to be on. "We do have a demanding schedule. When we do have to time to relax with friends, that's great ... but really, I've never known anything different. That's just the way it is."
The following day, Charlene and party drove to Bendigo, where she was opening the Grace Kelly exhibition. The word of her visit was kept so quiet that, outside the official party that included the Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and his wife, and dozens of schoolchildren waving flags, there was only a small scrum of regular folk who gathered over the hour beforehand to see what was happening. It was an almost nostalgically country setting, and a weirdly magical one in which Charlene appeared out of nowhere after the drumming pageant of Chinese dragons was done parading back and forth.
She emerged with her hair down and behind her ears. Her dress (she insisted on a local designer, in this case Johanna Johnson) featured jewel-like borders along the neckline, shoulders and waist. She paid no heed to the media gathering but stopped to pose for children with their digital cameras and phones, accepting flowers and cards and asking, "What's your name?"
Her speech was a modest affair, paying tribute to Grace Kelly as an artist and style icon, and to Princess Grace as a mother. She started out with a sweet "g'day" and then struggled with nerves momentarily. I couldn't help thinking of my question to her, as she relaxed in her hotel room the night before: did you dress up as a princess when you were a little girl?
"No. Never. I liked to dress up as Zorro."
All about Charlene Born in Zimbabwe in 1978, Charlene Lynette Wittstock is the first of three children. Her swimming-coach mum sparked her interest in the sport at a young age.
Charlene and her family relocated to South Africa when she was 11. By 15, she was a South African junior swimming champion.
At 22, Charlene was a member of the women's 4 x 100m medley South African team, which finished fifth at the 2000 Olympics.
After fracturing her ankle, Charlene retired from competitive swimming aged 29.
At 33, Princess Charlene married Prince Albert II of Monaco. While the ceremony itself was small, more than 5000 Monégasques followed the proceedings from the palace square.
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 7:52:44 GMT -5
The award for the funniest and biggest lie from Charlene I asked if the discipline of swim training had helped her adjust to a public life as an ambassadorial princess where there is always the demand to be on. "We do have a demanding schedule. When we do have to time to relax with friends, that's great ... but really, I've never known anything different. That's just the way it is."
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 8:01:36 GMT -5
The award goes to Charlene for the best performance at pretending that she actually cares about the children that she had bused in for use as props for photos for her Princess Foundation. However, she has to share the award with the reporter John Elder for his performance of going along with Charlene's pretense that she only cares about the children in the pool. John astutely noted in the beginning of the article that the swarm of children were bused in for the visit and "they are quietly sent around to the back entrance".The party then wanders through the doors and into the pool area. A group of children are standing in two lines, shyly agog. Later, when I ask Charlene if little girls treat her like a rock star, she says: "I don't know. Do they treat me like a rock star? For me ... I don't know myself any differently. I've always been surrounded by children during my swimming career. Giving them advice. I don't feel any different among children." Her Serene Highness was an Olympic swimmer, a Commonwealth Games medallist, and her visit to the aquatic centre is a nostalgic one: she took out a gold medal for backstroke in the 2002 World Cup here. In South Africa, as in Australia, sporting champions are a kind of royalty, anyway. Kids have always looked up to her.
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Post by margarita on Mar 21, 2012 8:04:31 GMT -5
WOW!!! What an interesting article!!! Here is what striked me most: "I'd been told so many things not to ask the Princess - even about her love of South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art - that I was freaking out." ... I mean, Charlene herself stated that she is interested in South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art . We were all wondering whether she really knows much about it. Now it comes out that this really can't be the case ... otherwise they would not forbid questions about that topic (Wondering if anyone has already asked the right questions about that and she didn't know what to say. I mean: they are such amateurs but think about not allowing to ask questions about art and ethnic poetry? )
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Post by margarita on Mar 21, 2012 8:07:15 GMT -5
And here we have the uncle injury again. (Wasn't it cm7007 who met her in high heels in that period of time?)
At the time of her retirement papers wrote she had a shoulder injury. And as far as I remember her former coach said the same in any interview. Or didn't she even state a shoulder injury herself???
I don't get this!!!
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 8:11:05 GMT -5
Did anyone notice the comment that Elder makes about Charlene's Bendigo visit being a secret because of the small crowd. The Melbourne portion of the visit was a secret, but we all know that the Bendigo visit was heavily publicized by both Monaco and the Bendigo media. No one else in Australia cared because contrary to what the palace has been promoting for the last six years, Charlene does not have international (or even Monaco) appeal. The following day, Charlene and party drove to Bendigo, where she was opening the Grace Kelly exhibition. The word of her visit was kept so quiet that, outside the official party that included the Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and his wife, and dozens of schoolchildren waving flags, there was only a small scrum of regular folk who gathered over the hour beforehand to see what was happening. It was an almost nostalgically country setting, and a weirdly magical one in which Charlene appeared out of nowhere after the drumming pageant of Chinese dragons was done parading back and forth. Contrary to what Charlene's flunkies are promoting over the Internet, John Elder who was there got it right - there was only a small scrum of regular folk who gathered (behind the barricade)
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Post by MyAdia on Mar 21, 2012 8:16:55 GMT -5
WOW!!! What an interesting article!!! Here is what striked me most: "I'd been told so many things not to ask the Princess - even about her love of South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art - that I was freaking out." ... I mean, Charlene herself stated that she is interested in South African ethnic poetry and contemporary art . We were all wondering whether she really knows much about it. Now it comes out that this really can't be the case ... otherwise they would not forbid questions about that topic (Wondering if anyone has already asked the right questions about that and she didn't know what to say. I mean: they are such amateurs but think about not allowing to ask questions about art and ethnic poetry? ) Margarita, of course someone asked her a question about her love of ethnic poetry and contemporary art since these are the only few things besides swimming that Charlene has listed in HER OFFICIAL bio on the palace website. and of course, Charlene embarrassed herself with the response. Once day someone may reveal the encounter. But typical Charlene fashion, instead of actually improving herself and actually learning about the topics that she claims to love, she BANS any discussion about it. Charlene can manufacture a background and boast about it, but no one is allowed to question her about it.
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