What now for Princess Charlène: Duties, Roles and Responsibilities

[sophie25]

So what is the likelihood that she will attend the enthronement celebrations in Japan next month?

I've never been remotely optimistic about that.

 

[TRCRoyal]

I think it’s unfair to say that the Princess is not useful because she didn’t attend a gala when we she has a fully functional foundation that has helped save thousands of lives over the years. If she chooses to have a low key life and work behind the scenes, isn’t that her right?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Probably, only possible in Monaco ....
But bad optics in times like these when the sovereigns wife should make herself useful for society in return for her position.

This is Monaco. An über-wealthy little town in the South of France with just 5.000 monegasques and 30.000 foreign residents. For which "society" Charlène has to make herself "useful" ? The 5.000 monegasques in their little Mediterranean tax-free paradise will really not complain... Charlène is the classic lady of the manor, as in so many other French towns and villages where the aristocratic family on the local château often still has social prominence, where everyone knows the family, for the rest living in pretty discretion.

 

[Florestane]

In the respective thread you will read that the Princely Palace of Monaco declined to comment on who is representing the Grimaldi's at the enthronement.
Seriously.

But some of them do. Quite bitterly - and make (unfair?) comparisons with Princess Grace.

But that's what you get when a ruling family isn't answerable to its citizens. They don't feel the need to justify what they do - if any other European consort only turned up whenever they felt like it, they would have explanations to give.

This is Monaco. An über-wealthy little town im the South of France with just 5.000 monegasques and 30.000 foreign residents. For which "society" she has to prove? The 5.000 monegasques in their little Mediterranean tax-free paradise will really not complain...

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

But some of them do. Quite bitterly - and make (unfair?) comparisons with Princess Grace.

But that's what you get when a ruling family isn't answerable to its citizens. They don't feel the need to justify what they do - if any other European consort only turned up whenever they felt like it, they would have explanations to give.

The Government of the principality (= prince + ministers) is answerable to the democratic chosen Conseil National. I doubt the Princess will ever be answerable as, like in any other monarchy, the Consort has no any position than just being the Consort indeed. And that is what Charlêne is, just the Consort. And there is no job description to that.

 

[Florestane]

The Government of the principality (= prince + ministers) is answerable to the democratic chosen Conseil National. I doubt the Princess will ever be answerable as, like in any other monarchy, the Consort has no any position than just being the Consort indeed. And that is what Charlêne is, just the Consort. And there is no job description to that.

The Family have their own private money - they do not take taxpayers money therefore they are not answerable in the same way as other ruling families in European democracies (real ones, not pretend ones). The Consort's job description comes from the expectations of those citizens.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Right.


And in all fairness to Charlene, Albert's wife is in the shadow of the example of her late mother-in-law Princess Grace. Grace was a hands on visible First Lady/Princess Consort who had the added advantage of having been world famous BEFORE her marriage to the Sovereign Prince.

But Charlene's now-you-see-her-now-you-don't interpretation of her role is puzzling and I can't help but feel badly for both Albert and the Principality.

Charlene can't and shouldn't emulate Princess Grace but there has to be a happy medium.

 

[MissCongeniality]

Albert married Charlene because he loves her. Charlene married Albert because she loves him. Albert happened to be a prince but Charlene never wanted to be a princess. Albert knew that but Charlene knew that if she was going to marry the person she loves, she automatically was going to become princess consort. Albert didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable even because she had moved to Monaco, she didn't know the language and she had no friends, so surely Albert let her free to choose what she wanted to do. In fact I remember Albert saying in an interview not to expect the classic princess consort, and that's Charlene.

She was born to be a swimmer, a wife and a mum but she was not born to be a princess. There is no need to comdemn her even though we all like to see her more often.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Charlene can't and shouldn't emulate Princess Grace but there has to be a happy medium.

Charlene would have to be visible to emulate that iconic consort ,at most we get maybe 2 dozen appearances per year ,her sister in laws play a much more public role that the consort.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Charlene would have to be visible to emulate that iconic consort ,at most we get maybe 2 dozen appearances per year ,her sister in laws play a much more public role that the consort.

She most likely does not want to emulate at all. Imagine worldwide famous Julia Roberts marrying Prince Albert. How can a swimmer from Zimbabwe ever "win" it? Most likely it is not even her ambition at all. She is happy with her adorable twins. For a monegasque glamour is different than for us. A monegasque sees Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Ferraris, the one motoryacht after the other sailyacht, the Chanels, the Diors, the Valentinos are all around, worn by goldfish-lipped botoxed ladies nipping Moët Pommery Rose on the fancy boulevards. That is Charlène's daily surroundings for 365 days a year. And probably, used to Spartan training and lifestyle, this "glamour" does nothing for her, just one big yawn. The way how we look to glamorous Monte-Carlo is totally different from someone who lives in the very middle of all that glamour and maybe longs for a worn-out hoodie and old converses.

 

[An Ard Ri]

She most likely does not want to emulate at all. Imagine worldwide famous Julia Roberts marrying Prince Albert. How can a swimmer from Zimbabwe ever "win" it? Most likely it is not even her ambition at all. She is happy with her adorable twins. For a monegasque glamour is different than for us. A monegasque sees Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Ferraris, the one motoryacht after the other sailyacht, the Chanels, the Diors, the Valentinos are all around, worn by goldfish-lipped botoxed ladies nipping Moët Pommery Rose on the fancy boulevards. That is Charlène's daily surroundings for 365 days a year. And probably, used to Spartan training and lifestyle, this "glamour" does nothing for her, just one big yawn. The way how we look to glamorous Monte-Carlo is totally different from someone who lives in the very middle of all that glamour and maybe longs for a worn-out hoodie and old converses.

No is asking or expecting her to emulate her deceased mother in law but is it really too much to hope that the Princess would accompany her husband on a few of his foreign trips or to appear a little more in public?

 

[Somebody]

I think it’s unfair to say that the Princess is not useful because she didn’t attend a gala when we she has a fully functional foundation that has helped save thousands of lives over the years. If she chooses to have a low key life and work behind the scenes, isn’t that her right?

Wow, thousands of lives saved by Charlene's foundation. Can you share the details about the communities that must have had hundreds of people drown before the foundation started working in those communities.

I agree that the foundation is doing useful work but this exaggeration is not doing them any good imo.

 

[Blog Real]

I don't think Charlene wants to imitate Princess Grace. Charlene wants to be herself and that's what she is.

Princess Charlene attended the wedding of Victoria and Daniel of Sweden, the wedding of William and Catherine, the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and the wedding of Madeleine and Chris.
But for several years now, Charlene has stopped participating in real foreign events.

 

[Lee-Z]

She most likely does not want to emulate at all. Imagine worldwide famous Julia Roberts marrying Prince Albert. How can a swimmer from Zimbabwe ever "win" it? Most likely it is not even her ambition at all. She is happy with her adorable twins. For a monegasque glamour is different than for us. A monegasque sees Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Ferraris, the one motoryacht after the other sailyacht, the Chanels, the Diors, the Valentinos are all around, worn by goldfish-lipped botoxed ladies nipping Moët Pommery Rose on the fancy boulevards. That is Charlène's daily surroundings for 365 days a year. And probably, used to Spartan training and lifestyle, this "glamour" does nothing for her, just one big yawn. The way how we look to glamorous Monte-Carlo is totally different from someone who lives in the very middle of all that glamour and maybe longs for a worn-out hoodie and old converses.

I'm sorry, watch P.Charlene visting a F1 race (either in Monaco or abroad) and think again, she has no objections to glamour or jetset.

But I'll stick with what I've said before: I don't think anything in the Monaco RF happens without P.Albert's approval, so this too is as they both want it.
P.Albert has energy enough to do the work that in another monarchy requires a monarch and a consort, so until there is a need for P.Charlene stepping up, I don't see it happening.

As for the Japanese enthronement: If she appears at a royal official event in the next two years, I'll be the first to apologize to her, but I don't see it happening, she is not into royal events

As long as there isn't a medical reason for her cherrypicking, all is well

 

[TRCRoyal]

Wow, thousands of lives saved by Charlene's foundation. Can you share the details about the communities that must have had hundreds of people drown before the foundation started working in those communities.

I agree that the foundation is doing useful work but this exaggeration is not doing them any good imo.

From the 2017 activity report of the Fondation Princesse Charlene:
"In 2017 more than 240,000 people were reached thanks to 73 projects running in 20 countries. Since the creation of my Foundation, more than 500,000 people have benefitted from these various programmes."


On a different note, In the 2015 Christmas interview with the couple, Prince Albert said he was glad Princess Charlene gets to spend as much time with the twins as she does. To me, this means he prefers her to spend the time with the twins rather than cut ribbons all day.

 

[Somebody]

From the 2017 activity report of the Fondation Princesse Charlene:
"In 2017 more than 240,000 people were reached thanks to 73 projects running in 20 countries. Since the creation of my Foundation, more than 500,000 people have benefitted from these various programmes."

It's great that the foundation reached so many people but I don't believe that thousands of them would have drowned had the foundation not reached them. A few maybe, and every life saved is enormous and made the whole effort worthwhile - but it's not the same as 'the foundation saved thousands of lives'. I still haven't seen proof for that claim nor do I think the foundation would claim that.

 

[Mary-Rose]

Princess Charlene attended the wedding of Victoria and Daniel of Sweden, the wedding of William and Catherine, the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and the wedding of Madeleine and Chris.
But for several years now, Charlene has stopped participating in real foreign events.

I think its interesting she stopped her international agenda after the birth of her child. maybe she is afraid leaving her children at home? I think some royals "living" the job "Queen/Princess consort" while other do not and just represent the country if absolutely neccessary.( Its a shame because i like Charlene and I would like to see her more often)

 

[Lee-Z]

I don't think the children are an excuse; she has travelled with and without kids many times, and they have nannies (plural).
(And besides, she could have managed events in Monaco if travelling was the issue)

It's apparently a choice made between P.Albert and P.Charlene

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I wasn't optimistic about her showing at the gala when she didn't even bother to join her husband in welcoming Robert Redford and his wife to the palace. She is an utterly useless P of M, a complete embarrassment, Albert would have been better off staying single at this rate.

He got children out of it, though maybe Andreas would have been a suitable heir. It's a sad situation for Monaco

 

[TRCRoyal]

It's great that the foundation reached so many people but I don't believe that thousands of them would have drowned had the foundation not reached them. A few maybe, and every life saved is enormous and made the whole effort worthwhile - but it's not the same as 'the foundation saved thousands of lives'. I still haven't seen proof for that claim nor do I think the foundation would claim that.

If you can’t see it, I can’t help you. ??*

 

[togram]

The Royal Couturier, I fully agree with you 101%

 

[Tatiana Maria]

If you can’t see it, I can’t help you. ??*

What do you mean?

 

[Somebody]

If you can’t see it, I can’t help you. ����*

As long as you state something that is completely unbelievable (thousands of people would have drowned!) and clearly don't have any proof for - other than that many people were reached by her foundation (by those numbers at least 1% of them would have died otherwise!), I won't be able to see it indeed as it doesn't correspond to reality.

And FYI: I am from a country with lots of water where almost everyone will learn how to swim - and I am very aware that not being able to swim might lead to drowning (unfortunately, that happened in my own family in the previous generation). In addition, I spend many years swimming (in competition) and am in the possession of several 'rescue' swimming certificates. So, it's not that I don't care about or have no clue what I'm talking about; it's just that your numbers don't add up in your enthusiasm to defend the princess consort.

Just to be clear: we do agree on the general relevance of the foundation's work, just not on the number of lives saved (your number seems an extreme exaggeration). To avoid continuing going back and forth, I will leave it at this.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I do think that Caroline was a much better consort than Charlene is at the moment, and this might be a controversial opinion but I do think that there's something "off" in Albert and Charlene's relationship at the moment. If it weren't for the twins, I can imagine they would have separated by now and be in a Caroline/Ernst August situation. I don't think Charlene has ever been truly happy in Monaco. She has known Albert for a decade or more, though she still only knows basic French and often appears by herself or without him. And, more recently, the palace has refused to comment on her attendance to the Japanese enthronement. In other situations where a foreign language speaker has married into another European royal family e.g. CP Mary of Denmark or former Queen Sofia of Spain, they have normally made an effort to learn their new partner's language to an advanced or even fluent level. The whole Charlene situation just seems very fishy to me.

I wasn't optimistic about her showing at the gala when she didn't even bother to join her husband in welcoming Robert Redford and his wife to the palace. She is an utterly useless P of M, a complete embarrassment, Albert would have been better off staying single at this rate.

Ouch! I think "utterly useless" is a bit harsh... whilst I don't think Charlene has perhaps been one of the best consorts Monaco has had, I do think that this is exaggerating somewhat.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

It is simply impossible to apply standards for other monarchies on Monaco. For an example, there is no national TV broadcaster, there is only one daily newspaper Monaco-Matin (essentially just a subsidiary of the French newspaper Nice-Matin). The population (38.000 residents) has only 20% monegasques, so the nationals being dwarfed by foreign residents of the principality.

With other words: the Prince and Princess have free playground. There simply is hardly any counter-weight in the form of politics or media. The overwhelmingly foreign residents could not care less about the famille princier anyway. To illustrate this: the turnout by the last national elections was exactly 6.825 voters...

Nice, just the city-next-door, has ten times more inhabitants than Monaco. The principality relies in everything on surrounding France. From electricity to public transport. From food distribution to naval protection. The local club even plays in the French Ligue 1. It is in everything a French town, without being French. Any activities of Princess Charlène (or the lack of) should be seen against this background. It is just no "normal monarchy" because of the particular circumstances.

 

[bertie5252003]

She really doesn't seem to do much IMO but they seem happy and their little ones are sweet enough maybe she does lots behind the scenes!!!!! Like shop for back clothes!!!!

 

[Denville]

It seems like she does not do much of the traditional royal consort's wrok. yes she may not have liked the idea but she did marry a Prince and she could be more active

 

[MARG]

Much of the Consort's work was organised by Princess Caroline, a somewhat formidable lady. When Charlene was around she sort of treated her like she wasn't there. Nobody important, etc. She kept the 'just ones Albert's girlfriends' theory going for years.

The only thing left for Charlene was to be a pretty face and produce an heir. I'm not even sure about that when you consider the twins are more of an age with with Caroline's grandchildren.

I just think there's a lot more going on behind the scenes in Monaco.

 

[Countessmeout]

I dont get your comment about the twins. What am I missing there?

Of course Caroline treated Charlene as 'just another girlfriend' for years. She was just that, a girlfriend, for years. She didnt have an official or unofficial role in the country. Caroline was the first lady during that time and acted as such. Look at any other long term companions of royals (Daniel and Kate for starters), did they have any official/unofficial role before they married? No. Meghan was a shock to some having official visits before marriage.

To insinuate that Charlene is being iced out by her sister in law, and forced to lay low and just have babies, is not based in any proof.

Caroline has not been playing first lady since the wedding. No one can expect she would step away from her charities. She is still a princess.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Once again, look at the principality. You know Central Park in Manhattan, New York? The principality has the same size. That is all. Then we can talk about a "consort role" for Princess Charlène but truth is that even the Prince needs 80% of his activities outside the principality to fill his days.

To make it more illustrative: the princely domain around the Château de Marchais ( picture ) in the Aisne (region Hauts-de-France, bordering Belgium) is three times bigger than the principality of Monaco...