Engagement of Prince Albert II to Miss Charlene Wittstock

[lazuli]

This may all be very well, but i can't help feeling there's something fishy in this all story! So His Highness wanders around for five years with a woman came God knows from ( i known she's a southern african swimmer ) and starting ONLY after his father's death ( not good! ), never having the gutts to assume her as his official fiancée, sometimes exposing her to rather unflattering regards and comments. Then he attends a royal wedding with her, has a sudden inspiration, and four ( FOUR! ) days later he proposes to the lady and gets engaged... Hum! What has he been doing and thinking all this time? Putting her through test after test? And what about her? She puts up with five years of dubious attitudes of His Hihgness towards her person, lets herself be placed in the most unconmfortable positions, subjects herself to the public scrutiny ( with results not always nice to her ), and one day, this " silent ", unknown woman becomes engaged with a reigning prince, gains a huge ring and poses with her cold, unexpressive face to the oficial photo... I known i'm being awful, but i can't help feeling there's more than meets the eye in this matter... Ms Wittstock always seemed somewhat sly and not at all as inocent as she posed or as everybody wanted me to think, but time will tell. But, maybe i'm just being too envious...

[Lumutqueen]

We do not know that they got engaged four days after the wedding.
They could have got engaged weeks ago, but the chose not to announce it until after the wedding.
What's so wrong with dating someone after your father passes away? You think because he may have been emotionally compromised he looked to the first person for a relationship, Charlene is a smart girl if she had known his heart was not in it, she would have left.
He's most likely been thinking, I don't want to get married at the moment, I am happy where I am.
Of course she was going to be subject to public scrutiny, she's dating a Prince.
Every Crown Princess has been relatively unknown before the engagement, all have them have recieved big engagement rings, she does not have an unexpressive face, she's smiling, she's happy to be with Albert, you can see that in the way she stands.

[Sister Morphine]

I would bet that they got engaged BEFORE Victoria's wedding and not wanting to be rude and upstage the bride on her day, they chose to announce it afterward. What's wrong with that? I think it's rather common sense, really.


I swear, the armchair psychoanalysis here is interesting, if not exasperating.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Sister Morphine

I swear, the armchair psychoanalysis here is interesting, if not exasperating.

Armchair psychoanalysis? That's a big word for me at this time of night.

[Sister Morphine]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Armchair psychoanalysis? That's a big word for me at this time of night.

I wasn't referring to anything you have/had said.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Sister Morphine

I wasn't referring to anything you have/had said.

Oh I know, I was just asking as to what you meant?
I was interested by your comment and didn't understand it fully.

[samitude]

Here's a little more information on the ring and a different picture of it.

The Scoop on the Future Princess of Monaco’s Engagement Ring – Style News - StyleWatch - People.com

By the way. Is Charlene's dad the same age as Prince Albert? Just a thought. That would be strange to marry someone the same age as your father.

[Sister Morphine]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Oh I know, I was just asking as to what you meant?
I was interested by your comment and didn't understand it fully.

You've heard of the phrase "armchair quarterback", right? Basically it means someone who is in no way qualified to be a quarterback, is going around talking about how they know better or could do better than that person.

So someone who is doing armchair psychoanalysis is someone in no way qualified to be psychoanalyzing people, doing exactly that. And there's a lot of that going around right now. If it's not people doing it to Charlene, it's people doing it to Daniel or Kate Middleton or basically any commoner engaged to, dating or married to a royal.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Sister Morphine

You've heard of the phrase "armchair quarterback", right? Basically it means someone who is in no way qualified to be a quarterback, is going around talking about how they know better or could do better than that person.

So someone who is doing armchair psychoanalysis is someone in no way qualified to be psychoanalyzing people, doing exactly that. And there's a lot of that going around right now. If it's not people doing it to Charlene, it's people doing it to Daniel or Kate Middleton or basically any commoner engaged to, dating or married to a royal.

Oh I understand what you mean.
Thank you for explaining it to me.

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by princess carmen

Her ring is by Maison Repossi, a french jewelry designer. It is set in gray gold and the stone is pear shaped embellished with round diamond brilliants. This is what people magazine says.

Aha...Repossi! They are the ones who designed that godawful bauble that Dodi al-Fayed allegedly purchased for the Princess of Wales with the intention of proposing to her the night of their ill-fated trip to Paris...it was gaudy and big enough to land an airplane on!

I think Charlene's ring is a little nicer but...well. You get my drift.

It all makes sense.

[princess carmen]

I don't understand when he wasn't engaged it was a problem now he is and it is a problem. How about he took his time and made the decision and of course she had to be sure as well. They just cant' win either way.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by princess carmen

I don't understand when he wasn't engaged it was a problem now he is and it is a problem. How about he took his time and made the decision and of course she had to be sure as well. They just cant' win either way.

Some people understand that, some people don't.

[Sister Morphine]

Just wait for if an engagement comes for William and Kate. Oh, you think it's bad now.

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by Moonmaiden23

Aha...Repossi! They are the ones who designed that godawful bauble that Dodi al-Fayed allegedly purchased for the Princess of Wales with the intention of proposing to her the night of their ill-fated trip to Paris...it was gaudy and big enough to land an airplane on!

I think Charlene's ring is a little nicer but...well. You get my drift.

It all makes sense.

Repossi is the official jeweler of Monaco.

[Leslie2006]

Originally Posted by libra65

I read that 6 month rule too, but Rainier and Grace announced at Christmas time and were married in April. Only 4 months.

Maybe the rule was changed along with the line of succession in 2002?

[Zonk]

Originally Posted by princess carmen

I don't understand when he wasn't engaged it was a problem now he is and it is a problem. How about he took his time and made the decision and of course she had to be sure as well. They just cant' win either way.

You hit the nail on the head.

Albert and Charlene can't win either way. The problem is some people don't like Charlene (which is their right for whatever reason) and will find fault with everything she does even if it wasn't intentional.

I have been a Monaco mod for a couple of years now, and from the beginning it was a major issue that Albert has been dating her for years and didn't make an honest woman of her: she has no stability said the naysayers, he doesn't respect her, etc and when he finally does it. Its a problem. They don't look happy, why wasn't it announced prior to the Swedish wedding, why now after 5 years, etc. It never ends. And Sister Morphine is right, when and if it happens with Kate it will be the same. It was also like this for Daniel (a gym trainer for goodness sake), Letizia (previously divorced), Mary (her common past) , Maxima (her father) and Mette Marit (her past). Its died down a little bit but they received somewhat of the same. The only person who managed to escape it somewhat was Mathilde.

[CrownPrincess5]

I bet they were engaged before the wedding.
I believe the Swedish Royals knew of this too, which is maybe why Charlene was able to sit amongst royals.

Whats so fishy about this engagement????
I am missing out on something?
Whats wrong with two people who are in love getting married.
I think it's so weird to some people that Alberts finally making this leap that people are now reading too hard into it.

[Hilda Thomas]

All have made their comments some negatives others positives. Keep in mind that Charlene was an Olimpic Gold Medalist more than once. It takes outer and inner strength to be a champion. It is in her nature to succeed give her a chance to prove herself and she might go up in history again, as a dynamic champion for human causes. Grace was grace. There are hundreds of women who have done more for humanity than Princess Grace. Charlene is on the world stage a different time. Give her a break.

[Zonk]

Actually, Charlene is not an Olympic Gold Medialist. She is an Olympian, which by itself is an achievement.

She was, however, a South African National Champion in the 50m backstroke. Which is also an accomplishment.

[Renata4711]

Yes, Zonk.

PA may well admire CW as a fellow Olympian, because he participated in the Olympics five times, but never won anything.