Princess Charlene Current Events - Part 1: July 2011 - December 2013


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Princess Charlene has attended the Christmas mass with pupils at the Collège Saint Charles in Monaco today, December 19.



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A lovely trailer. Thank you for posting. Where is this being shown ?
 
It will be shown on the channel Fr3 on december 27th in the evening. it is a documentary on monaco with the interviews of prince Albert , princess charlene, princess Stéphanie, Karl Lagerfeld, Paul Belmondo and other persons and with many interessing reports.
 
It will be shown on the channel Fr3 on december 27th in the evening. it is a documentary on monaco with the interviews of prince Albert , princess charlene, princess Stéphanie, Karl Lagerfeld, Paul Belmondo and other persons and with many interessing reports.


Will we be able to watch it online?
 
It would be lovely if we could watch it outside France. If not, perhaps Santa Claus might up load it as a late Christmas gift for Royal Forum members.
:santa3:
 
To day, there is an article on the site of the princess Charlene Foundation which celebrats his first anniversary.

La Fondation Princesse Charlène de Monaco célèbre son premier anniversaire | Fondation Princesse Charlène de Monaco

We can also read this article on monaco Channel and on the official page of FB but it is not translated in french

I will try to do a very short resume , the foundation will go on his actions 'learn to swim' in Marocco and in South Africa.
The most important project will be the opening of a learning center of sea rescue in monaco for the pupils of all the colleges of Monaco.
There will be 'learn with swim in four towns of france' Dinar, CapBreton, Montpellier and rennes' it will be for underprivileged children.
There will be actions in france , canasa and in California.
There are projects of program 'learn to swim' in Thailand, Mauritania.
 
translation of the announce of the palace about the ' foundation Princess Charlene'

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=689239831110276&id=360414860659443

I recall when the foundation was done in december 2012 the comments of some persons who criticed this foundation and doubted of its sucess. I see that Charlene nad the foundation did a good job this year and that there will actions in the world.

Perhaps Charlene does not speak very well french but she does a good job in Monaco and also in France . She does also a good job for the children who are autist and for children who have a orphan desease ( she is president of honor of their association)
 
Agreed, Melina P, the Foundation has indeed been busy in 2013. It is good to see that it is succeeding with its goals. Also, many projects are lined up for 2014 and nice to see them expanded to countries like Bangladesh and Mauritania where resources are maybe limited. I'm sure P Charlene and also her husband are very proud of her achievements during the year.
 
She spoke un English and there was a translation !
 
Did she speak at least a little French?

I read an article on world-renouned (russian) clown Oleg Popov, he has been living in Germany for 20 years and admitted that he still doesn't speak german, so P.Charlene still has some years time :flowers:
 
No she didńt speak a word of French but she was very sincere and moving about the target of her foundation : learning chidren to swin !
 
All the sincerity in the world does not make up for the fact that almost a decade in she can not carry on even the most basic of conversations in the language of the people she purports to love and represent. If this were Mary or Maxima everyone would be up in arms, not making excuses. People still criticize Mary or Maxima for mistakes in grammar but they at least they have each made an effort and devoted themselves to learn their adopted countries language. Charlene has not even done that.

Charlene has a Responsibility to learn the language, period. She has all the resources available to do so. It is just plain lazy at this point. Even an attempt to show the people she is trying would be better.

As for the interview...This was falsely billed as an interview of Charlene and it only shows her briefly, her voice is never heard, only a translation. I know she does not interview well from past videos so they are careful to control her presence. Still, this was no interview. It was a quick parrot about her "works" which she repeats again and again in different mediums. Time for a new script that discusses how she devotes more time to attempting the language.

It is more accurate to describe it as a documentary of Monaco with most of the interviews by Albert and others who do speak French. Pity.

http://pluzz.francetv.fr/..._coulisses_du_rocher.html
here's the link of last nigh interview..... You can see it only if you live in France :-( I hope someone post it in youtube... Pepole said she spoke in french all the time... Can anyone confirm this?

I watched it live. I can confirm this is NOT the case. She spoke in English. Her own voice was never heard and there was only a french translator. The "interview" was brief. Albert made more of an interview than she did. She spoke mainly about her "cause" which she seems to repeat verbatim constantly like a script.
 
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Oh gosh. Just saw that... I have to say I'm very disappointed :sad:, I think she can hardly speak HER OWN language, just right as a script. Why cannot she try or make some effort to speak French? No one cares about mistakes... I make them all the time... The important thing is to be understood!:bang:
 
As far as I know, from what I have read on the Forums and video clips that I have seen, P Charlene
1. Can understand the French language perfectly
2. Speaks French in situations where she feels comfortable such as informal conversations with individuals
3. Sings the National Anthem, wears traditional costume, thereby showing her loyalty to the Monegasque people
4. Is under little, if any, pressure from her husband to speak the language -- just my opinion

I am therefore curious to know why it is so important for some posters that she should be fluent in the language. Maybe some French/Monegasque posters can share with us how strongly they feel about it?
 
I don't know what it is, can't pinpoint any one thing, but i could never 'get into' this family and Charlene. They just strike me as a bit 'off'. She comes across very cold.
 
As far as I know, from what I have read on the Forums and video clips that I have seen, P Charlene
1. Can understand the French language perfectly
2. Speaks French in situations where she feels comfortable such as informal conversations with individuals
3. Sings the National Anthem, wears traditional costume, thereby showing her loyalty to the Monegasque people
4. Is under little, if any, pressure from her husband to speak the language -- just my opinion

I am therefore curious to know why it is so important for some posters that she should be fluent in the language. Maybe some French/Monegasque posters can share with us how strongly they feel about it?


This is pr hogwash. I live in France.

She does not understand and becomes frustrated when people speak to her in French and tells them to speak in English. There was a recent clip when a child at one of the schools went off script and approached her in French that left everyone paralyzed. Her staff translated. She can recite prepared phrases and give some broken answers. She has been shown in photos and videos appearing to roll her eyes when people speak French in her presence.

She can mouth words but they are not the anthem and she has only tried that a few times. Even then she can only mouth a few phrases in the right place.

When she wore the national costume, she "personalized" it to her taste and did not wear the actual historical version because she wanted a version that was shoulderless. History takes second place to her more modern fashion desires.

It does not matter what pressure Albert has placed on her to learn the language. She should not need to be forced or pressured. She should WANT to speak the language of the people she is representing. She WANTED to be princess, no one forced her. This is her job.

In France, there are English speakers. Everyone makes mistakes when learning and has an accent. Yes, they will correct you often. To make no effort to attempt the language while living there (after almost a decade) is pretty universally not respected. In one of the videos when she was teaching in France, she made a brief scripted phrase in a quite respectable accent. She has the ability, she must make the effort.
 
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She is neither "cold" or anything else. She cares about these children. Whether she speaks French is of little value. Some people do not speak a new language well, when they learn it at an older age and, perhaps, she doesn't want to make a fool of herself. I, suspect, she and Albert always speak English to one another. English for Albert is very much his primary language, though, of course, he speaks perfect French. I only see the complainers on here, not her "subjects". Many , even on these boards and, I admire, that they are writing in English, do not write English as we who are native to this language do. I speak several languages, but none as well as English, which is my native tongue. If she spoke French and had errors, I am sure they were be complaints about that.
 
None of us are Princesses of a country, countess. There is a difference in what is expected between a poster here and Charlene. One who is incompetent to do their job would definitely be discussed or fired in our lives. This is not a new issue. Charlene has had almost 10 years. Grace, Mary, Maxima and others have done it.

While she may care about children, her first priority is to care about Monaco. She is the First Lady, a job she voluntarily took. It matters only how she does the job.

The fact that the stories of her English demands get out should say a lot of how the people of Monaco view it. They can not put such thing on a public forum without being arrested. It is still a punishable crime to even criticize the family. Several people were arrested just this year for facebook posts. So no monaco citizens will dare ever post. It is for others who have the freedom to "complain" as you say to do so.

One last note. The eye rolling she does both in this 'non' interview (really a few minutes of her at most) and in other videos is a bit undignified.
 
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I think it matters a great deal for her to speak French, that is the language of the country of which she is a Princess
 
Sad to say, but despite any other accomplishments the fact that the Princess Consort of Monaco cannot or will not speak the official language of her subjects will always stick out like a sore thumb. Especially in comparison with her very accomplished peers in the rest of Europe. It matters not that "everyone speaks English" in Monaco and/or France. That is not the point. I live in Southern California, where most or many people speak Spanish. But immigrants to this country-especially those who hope for citizenship-are expected to learn English.

Charlene has the fashion and style part of her job down pat. No other princess in Europe is quite as elegant, imo. But the language issue will always be the elephant in the room until she either tackles it, or there is some good explanation why she can't after almost a decade.
 
Booing, I totally agree with both your posts: no one can say Charlene makes an effort to speak French. Or be a true princess of her country, like Princess Grace was. It makes one really sad to see the Monaco's princely family losing its prestige with the new generation rulers.
 
I said 'she comes across as very cold', whether she is or not I don't know. As I also said the whole family always seem a bit odd to me. Just my opinion of course but I think the family lost a lot with the death of their mother. She gave them, I don't know a 'softness', for lack of a better word.
 
I also agree with Booing. There are no excuses whatsoever for PC's inability to speak French by now. It's very disappointing and I really hope she will make an effort. She has excelled in many other areas, but this stands out like a sore thumb.
 
I don't find Charlene cold at all. I think she is genuinely shy. But I have seen enough of her in company that she feels relaxed with and her warmth comes across very clearly, especially with children and the elderly.

It's easy to idealize Grace since she died so young and so tragically and was such a superb Princess. But many people have in fact described Grace as cold and snobbish.( I think it was Brigitte Bardot who nicknamed her Altesse Frigidaire?):lol: At least a couple of books I have read said that she really began to put on airs after her marriage to Rainier. She was allegedly bitterly disappointed that Caroline didn't choose a husband from the Gotha.

What she gave Monaco was respectability. Despite her own rather colorful past and personal life she was able to project an image of decorum, restraint, an adherence to a certain code of behavior that her children did not choose to emulate after her passing from the scene.

As for the family being "odd" I don't agree either. They are definitely unconventional for a Ruling Family, but if you look at the way other aristocrats in Italy and France conduct their personal lives the Grimaldis seem completely in step. They have affairs, lots of them. They have children out of wedlock.

The only thing that makes the family stand out is that their lives play out on the international stage, not in private.
 
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