IT’S SO DIFFERENT FROM BRAAIS & BEACH DAYS!
Princess Charlene opens up about holidays with Albert & the twins
HOLIDAYS with family, a festive feast with all the trimmings and gifts galore. Sounds like a pretty regular kind of Christmas, all homey and cosy and filled with loved ones – just as this time of year has always been for her.
There’s just one big difference now: she’s swopped her Benoni family Christmas for the bright lights and lavish luxury of the tiny principality her husband rules.
Back in the day, the festive season for Charlene Wittstock meant dipping in and out of the pool and braaiing with her parents and brothers.
These days Princess Charlene spends her downtime by the fire in one of the many rooms of the Pink Palace in Monaco with her tousle-headed twins.
How do we know this? Because she told us so!
In an exclusive interview with the former SA Olympic swimmer, she gave YOU a window into her world in the run-up to Christmas – a holiday she loves all the more since becoming a mom.
For Her Serene Highness the festivities start on Christmas Eve.
“We have a mass together at the palace followed by a dinner,” the 39-year-old beauty tells YOU. “We then open our gifts together.
“On Christmas Day we’ll have a lovely lunch at our home.”
Making things all the more special this year is that her “whole South African family” will be joining Charlene, her husband, Prince Albert, and their twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques.
Charlene’s “whole family” means her parents, Michael and Lynette, and her two brothers, Gareth (37) and Sean (34).
“There are no similarities to a South African Christmas where there’s a braai by a pool or at the beach on Christmas Day,” she says.
“The weather is chilly here and everyone bundles up cosily next to the fire.”
And undoubtedly the twins will be the centre of attention. Her son and daughter are clearly the light of the princess’ life.
“My best Christmas to date was when I came home from hospital with my newborn children and celebrated Christmas with my husband,” she tells us.
Jacques and Gabriella will be spoilt by Father Christmas – and it will be the second time this month the tots will get to tear open presents.
The little prince and princess turned three on 10 December and the royal family marked the special occasion with “a little birthday party for family and friends”, Charlene says.
“They’re still babies really, and simple things make them happy.”
As for their gifts, the youngsters are like most kids their age.
“Like any little girl Gabriella loves tiaras and Jacques likes cars and fire engines. He’s a big fan of Sam le Pompier, a French fireman cartoon series.”
After their family Christmas, Charlene, Albert (59) and the twins will observe a special tradition in the south of France.
It’s called galette des rois, Charlene explains, and takes place at Epiphany on 6 January when families all over the region tuck into an oval-shaped cake with a little porcelain figure baked inside it.
“The purpose is to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem,” she adds.
“Everyone gathers around a table and the youngest hides under the table while the cake is cut. The child then serves it to all who are there and the person who receives the slice with the figurine in it is
‘My whole South African family will be joining us this year’
crowned king or queen.” Not that Charlene needs to be the winner to be acknowledged as royalty, of course.
IT’S been another busy year for our homegrown princess, who swanned from charity events to opulent parties, managing to look effortlessly chic at every single one. In November, Her Serene Highness stole the show in a ruffled floorlength black gown at the World Rugby Awards in Monaco, cutting a svelte figure as she sashayed down the red carpet arm-in-arm with her prince.
And at the annual National Day of Monaco celebrations earlier that month Charlene was royalty personified in an exquisite cobalt velvet coat dress and dramatic wide-brimmed hat.
Albert clearly thought so too – the Monegasque monarch beamed at his lovely wife on his arm.
Blue-eyed Jacques and curly-haired Gabriella also made an appearance on the special day – also known as Sovereign Prince’s Day – much to the delight of the crowds gathering below the Pink Palace.
Jacques looked almost as dapper as his dad in a miniature grey suit, while Gabriella donned a pretty floral dress for the celebrations, which mark the day their father and grandfather ascended the throne of the tiny French-speaking nation.
Charlene smiled and waved to the crowds, her sisters-in-law, Princess Stéphanie (52) and Princess Caroline of Hanover (60), positively paling beside her in their heavy dark coats.
Albert, as head of the family, stood in front of his wife and older sisters, looking regal in full military regalia. Many speculated
he’d grown a tache – near identical to the one his father, Prince Rainier, used to sport in a fine display of hirsute success – in honour of Movember, when men grow moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues. But no, it’s for another reason entirely. “Between the Napoleonic period and almost until the end of World War 1 it was mandatory in most French regiments to wear a moustache as a sign of authority,” Albert told American magazine People. “It showed authority or bravery.”
To celebrate their 200th anniversary, the Prince’s Carabinieri – trained military men recruited from the French army to protect the sovereign of Monaco – have chosen to pay tribute to their forefathers by growing moustaches. And honorary colonel Albert wanted to pay his respects by doing the same.
So how does Charlene feel about his bit of bristle?
“It’s not a hugely popular venture,” the princess admitted.
CHARLENE is so at home among the glitterati of Europe it’s sometimes difficult to believe she was once just another kid growing up on Gauteng’s East Rand, more at home in the pool than on land.
But when you look at how involved she is in the world of swimming you realise Charlene is still the same person at heart, no matter how dramatically her life may have changed.
Her competing days are over but she’s making sure youngsters from all over the world have the necessary skills to keep afloat.
In a beautiful marriage of her old life and new, Charlene has made it her mission through the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation to reduce death by drowning. Since it was established in 2012 the charity has reached more than 300 000 people – and she’s making sure those lessons are learnt closer to home too. Gabriella and Jacques are completely at home in the water, Charlene tells YOU in our exclusive chat.
“My ultimate highlight was watching my two-and-a-halfyear-old son swim 25 metres unassisted.”
While she pours her heart and soul into her royal role, it’s clear the twins are Charlene’s true pride and joy. The elegant royal loves showing them off at every opportunity, and the tots are now regular features at
various official engagements.
And in November, Charlene took to Instagram to show off their brand-new haircuts in a rare personal post.
In the adorable candid snaps the royal siblings eye each other’s new do before embracing and sharing a cute kiss.
“Our first haircut,” was their mom’s simple caption.
The brother and sister adore each other, Charlene said in a recent interview with Paris Match magazine.
“One day Gabriella had a huge bump,” she said. “And while I was caring for her I saw Jacques banging away with tight little fists on the desk where she’d hit her head, shouting, ‘Bad table!’
“He’s very protective of his sister. And nothing is ever either one’s fault. They support and comfort each other. I can spend hours watching them play.
“They’re adorable and inexhaustible – which sometimes leaves me exhausted,” she quipped.
While the tots have yet to visit their mom’s country of birth, Charlene is making sure Jacques and Gabriella – who are already learning Afrikaans and Zulu – know about their South African heritage.
“It’s in my heart and in my veins,” she said on her last visit in April. “I can’t wait for them to come here. I can’t wait for them to be introduced to Africa.
“I’m African and this is my heritage.”