Prince Albert and Princess Charlene Current Events - Part 2: March 2012 - March 2013

[iceflower]

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According to the Palace's facebook site, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have already departed for London.

Prince Albert will attend IOC meetings for three days and together they'll attend a reception at Buckingham Palace.



Pics of and information about the reception can be found here:

** A reception for members of the IOC at Buckingham Palace - 23 July 2012 **

[Smush]

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene will give an Interview on CBS.

Tues. preview: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco - CBS News

[iceflower]

Here's the video of the interview itself:


** cbsnews.com: Prince Albert, Princess Charlene on marriage, royalty **

[dbarn67]

I thought Charlene was awkward and inarticulate for a 34 year old woman. I'm rooting for them; let's hope she gets better at presenting herself. Albert didn't seem too comfortable either.

[Madame Royale]

That reporter, Holy Williams, should find herself a new career. She's atrocious, as were her questions!

Prince Albert often fumbles for words (think wedding speech). I think it's just his way.

Princess Charlene I think was takenaback by the nature of the questions which really were quite rediculous. She did look uncomfortable.

[dbarn67]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

That reporter, Holy Williams, should find herself a new career. She's atrocious, as were her questions!

Prince Albert often fumbles for words (think wedding speech). I think it's just his way.

Princess Charlene I think was takenaback by the nature of the questions which really were quite rediculous. She did look uncomfortable.

I get taken aback (I thought Holly Williams was ridiculous too) but to ask Albert how she feels about being a princess? How would he know?

Besides, you have to get used to stupid questions in their position.

[Boris]

It's very sad to see them interviewed here; as a PR attempt, it fails miserably.
I don't see how the questions asked are ridiculous - they pretty much add up the kind of routine stuff asked during any interview with a new royal couple and a royal wife who's adjusting to a new role, stuff which is usually answered likewise in a routine way, though not here.
Neither Albert nor Charlene are particularly eloquent, to put it mildly; the two moments of interrupting the interview with Prince Albert signaling that he wants the cameras to stop rolling are truly embarrassing.
His way of speaking by the way sounds simply typical of someone who quite successfully overcame a serious stammer (which he did); the reasons why her speech sounds noticeably slurred can at most be speculated upon.
Quite a painful experience, watching them.

[FanofMonaco]

I'm surprised they didn't know the questions ahead of time. Even so, I didn't think the questions were very hard and they were predictable. PA has never been a good interview and PC hasn't had alot of practice. Her previous inverviews were about sports, not personal questions.

I wish the American news wouldn't rely on the English for news about non-English royalty. I find them to be very biased towards the English royalty, sometimes snobbish and they don't really seem to know much about Monaco.

[sophie25]

If they had a family together a lot of the rumors that follow them would eventually disappear. The longer this takes to happen the stranger this marriage will appear. I really like them but that interview was very strange I just wish she would have a baby soon as after a year of marriage I can't see what the hold up is. I noticed they were not asked about this as I bet the interviewer was told not to.

[KittyAtlanta]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

That reporter, Holy Williams, should find herself a new career. She's atrocious, as were her questions!

Prince Albert often fumbles for words (think wedding speech). I think it's just his way.

Princess Charlene I think was takenaback by the nature of the questions which really were quite rediculous. She did look uncomfortable.

I couldn't agree more. Their family life is nobody's business but theirs.

[NGalitzine]

Originally Posted by angela

If they had a family together a lot of the rumors that follow them would eventually disappear. The longer this takes to happen the stranger this marriage will appear. I really like them but that interview was very strange I just wish she would have a baby soon as after a year of marriage I can't see what the hold up is. I noticed they were not asked about this as I bet the interviewer was told not to.

The reporter may well have been told not to ask such a personal question. I suppose it would be too much to hope that a reporter would simply have manners enough on their own to know not to ask.

[cepe]

Having trouble viewing the video but I'm interested in how Albert compared with Prince William (I'm thinking engagement interview). And was thre an engagement interview with Albert and Charlene?

[Tyger]

This was tabloid stuff. I look at the whole of it and this is what I take away -

- William and Kate were married last year about the same time. (Not interesting in this context and a strange choice to give video time to Will and Kate. Is the interviewer trying to shine up to the British couple?)
- William and Kate are more famous than Albert and Charlene. (Not for those wanting to hear this interview. As well, an interesting decision to diss the subjects of the interview about to be shown. There is - has to be - some animus present).
- There were a lot of scandals and gossip regarding events around Albert's and Charlene's wedding - which a year on the couple seem uninterested in talking about (but the interviewer made sure we knew about - again, animus obvious).
- Albert is 20 years older than Charlene.
- We found out what Albert and Charlene think of married life. (A mindless question since the answer has to be a positive - so why ask it? It's waste of good interview time. I can see the wheels turning: is this why I set aside time to sit down and grant an interview? to answer tabloid questions?).
- We didn't find out what it's like to be a princess. (An interesting question - Charlene's response is interesting - we are so used to PR polish that we fail to identify an unspoilt affect).
- The interviewer/producers of this piece made sure we saw every burp and hiccup and made some interesting editing choices clearly intended to show the couple in a unflattering light. We have no idea what the agreement was before the interview started - I believe we were seeing the result of the interview taking a course Albert (and Charlene) had not agreed to. We won't know that - but we have been shown the effects without the real context.
- In the side clip that indicates Charlene is going to be asked about her aid to impoverished women - Charlene directly answers - not about impoverished women - but about her work with children. A bit odd.

Overall -
- Albert comes across this way in every interview I have seen of him. The comment that he speaks as he does because he has overcome a stammer makes sense.
- It is clear the interviewer did not gain the confidence of her subjects before they sat down. Or, she was ambushing them. They seemed honestly surprised at the questions as though an agreement or understanding was not being followed. Charlene's response to the princess question is wholly unguarded. She's surprised at the route the interviewer is taking.
- That the interviewer was given only a half hour says to me that 'the palace' - Albert - ended the interview early. This speaks volumes - something happened that we, of course, were not shown.
- When answering the question about impoverished women which wound up being an answer about her work with children (another botched agreement?), Charlene was articulate - but I had a sense that she was not particularly pleased with the interviewer.

I agree that the 'interview' is uncomfortable to watch - and I have to say that that is precisely what this highly edited piece intended. The interviewer was cut short - so she did a bit of a hatchet job. What could possibly be the rationale behind this series of comments -

- the interviewer was surprised at the informality
- as she did not have to curtsy to the couple
- but she had to address them as Highnesses

What exactly was that all about? Overall, an unpleasant piece because probably 'payback' for some thing that happened in the course of this gig (why the interview was cut short to a half hour).

The only tidbit that was worth the trip was the interviewer's final assessment of Charlene: that she is a strong woman and would not do anything she did not want to do - like an interview?

My take-away is that I saw a clear close relationship between the two - Albert knows Charlene and she knows her man. It's possible that when we are shown Albert calling 'time' at the beginning of the interview that was when he actually ended the interview.

[dbarn67]

Originally Posted by Tyger

This was tabloid stuff. I look at the whole of it and this is what I take away -

- William and Kate were married last year about the same time. (Not interesting in this context and a strange choice to give video time to Will and Kate - is the interviewer trying to shine up to the British couple?)
- William and Kate are more famous than Albert and Charlene. (Not for those wanting to hear this interview. As well, an interesting decision to diss the subjects of the interview about to be shown - there is some animus present).
- There were a lot of scandals and gossip regarding events around Albert's and Charlene's wedding - which a year on the couple seem uninterested in talking about (but the interviewer made sure we knew about - again, animus obvious).
- Albert is 20 years older than Charlene.
- We found out what Albert and Charlene think of married life. (A mindless question since the answer has to a positive - so why ask it? It's waste of good interview time).
- We didn't find out what it's like to be a princess. (An interesting question - Charlene's response is interesting).
- The interviewer/producers of this piece made sure we saw every burp and hiccup and made some interesting editing choices clearly intended to show the couple in a unflattering light. We have no idea what the agreement was before the interview started - I believe we were seeing the result of the interview taking a course Albert had not agreed to - we won't know that - but we have been shown the effects without the real context.
- In the side clip that indicates Charlene is going to be asked about her aid to impoverished women - Charlene directly answers - not about impoverished women - but about her work with children. A bit odd.

Overall -
- Albert comes across this way in every interview I have seen of him. The comment that he speaks as he does because he has overcome a stammer makes sense.
- It is clear the interviewer did not gain the confidence of her subjects before they sat down. Or, she was ambushing them. They seemed honestly surprised at the questions as though an agreement or understanding was not being followed. Charlene's response to the princess question is wholly unguarded. She's surprised at the route the interviewer is taking.
- That the interviewer was given only a half hour says to me that 'the palace' - Albert - ended the interview early. This speaks volumes - something happened that we, of course, were not shown.
- When answering the question about impoverished women which wound up being an answer about her work with children (another botched agreement?), Charlene was articulate - but I had a sense that she was not particularly pleased with the interviewer.

I agree that the 'interview' is uncomfortable to watch - and I have to say that that is precisely what this highly edited piece intended. The interviewer was cut short - so she did a bit of a hatchet job. What could possibly be this rationale behind this series of comments -

- the interviewer was surprised at the informality
- as she did not have to curtsy to the couple
- but she had to address them as Highnesses

What exactly was that all about? Overall, an unpleasant piece because probably 'payback' for some thing that happened in the course of this gig (why the interview was cut short to a half hour).

The only tidbit that was worth the trip was the interviewer's final assessment of Charlene: that she is a strong woman and would not do anything she did not want to do - like an interview?

My take-away is that I saw a clear close relationship between the two - Albert knows Charlene and she knows her man.

I did get the feeling the interviewer was trying to manage the impression by how she opened the segment with Will & Kate's wedding rather than focusing on Albert & Charlene.

[LadyFinn]

Why Albert and Charlene gave this interview? What was the purpose of it? Did they want PR for Monaco? Did they want to assure people that their relationship and marriage is wonderful? If that was the purpose, they didn't succeed.
They seemed so puzzled that I start to believe that they didn't ask the questions before the interview was made. If they had done so, the result = the interview could have been better. Now it was just painful to watch. The interviewer managed to make 7.35 long clip out of almost nothing.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by LadyFinn

Why Albert and Charlene gave this interview? [...] The interviewer managed to make 7.35 long clip out of almost nothing.

Well, that's the point - and we will never know because it's the interviewer and producers who have the final edit control. We are presented with a highly weighted impression to one side - because of the editing. Nothing of substance appears to have happened in that interview - except 1:41 seconds on work with children that is not even included in the main piece. Bizarre.

For those inclined to dislike the Monaco couple - which as we have seen are many (and tend to be British as I think they see the Monaco couple as 'competition') - this piece will confirm those inclinations with the added bonus of being something to snicker at.

For those truly interested in the couple - which would be most of the people who would watch - it is a curious artifact of no redeeming interest.

[Allymclean]

Hmmm?!?! I am a bit baffled by this interview. Why would the question "what are the qualities that drew you to Princess..." be such a taboo. In light of all the negative publicity that they had at the time of their wedding and even now (somewhat), you would think that this would be the perfect occasion for him to deflate all of the "rumors". Even if he had said something as cliche as "her smile" or her "love of animals" (of course neither of which were said) it would have been something. Now I am left wondering what,if any, qualities he admirers in her. If you marry someone for the right reasons (as they say they did) even a bumbling Prince should be able to say SOMETHING remotely positive about his Princess. I have never even met Charlene and I can list at least 10 qualities I find attractive about her just from what i see in the tabloids. I am perplexed!!!!

[cepe]

Originally Posted by Tyger

Well, that's the point - and we will never know because it's the interviewer and producers who have the final edit control. We are presented with a highly weighted impression to one side - because of the editing. Nothing of substance appears to have happened in that interview - except 1:41 seconds on work with children that is not even included in the main piece. Bizarre.

For those inclined to dislike the Monaco couple - which as we have seen are many (and tend to be British as I think they see the Monaco couple as 'competition') - this piece will confirm those inclinations with the added bonus of being something to snicker at.

For those truly interested in the couple - which would be most of the people who would watch - it is a curious artifact of no redeeming interest.

TSHs are no competition for the BRF - strange idea. I find the family interesting because they have managed to survive which is quite a feat.

Still trying to view the video gggrrrr

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by cepe

TSHs are no competition for the BRF - strange idea.

I think they are when one reads the comments. I think that's the way some view all royal couples - as competition that needs to be dissed. And not so strange when you observe the (obvious) Will and Kate fans who come onto this Board. There are some fans of the British royals who appear unable to hear other royal couples praised. You find it on the Danish Board as well - fans of the British royals seeing the Danish couple competitively.

Just an observation.

P.S. Consider that this 'interview' with Albert and Charlene is nested within preliminary video footage of William's and Kate's wedding and comments about them being more popular - almost as though to 'assure' the audience (I assume British) that 'never fear, we are loyal to Will and Kate'.

[KittyAtlanta]

...and an astute observation, at that.