What now for Princess Charlène: Duties, Roles and Responsibilities

[Lee-Z]

P.Charlene didn't attend the funeral of Jacques Chirac in nieghbourcountry France (P.Albert did); for some reason this make me think that's she's not feeling well.. Let's hope I'm wrong though...

 

[An Ard Ri]

I've thought that in the past and up Charlene popped in Dubai so the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned until we know more.

 

[Florestane]

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...

I don't think that has anything to do with it. Princess Grace managed to do plenty and the principality was smaller then.

Charlene did plenty in the early years of her marriage - now she cherry picks. If that's fine by Albert, great - personally I find it hard to believe that he married her thinking she would do sweet Fanny Adams for months at a time. I think he's now accepted that's what happens, I don't think it was his plan.

And I think Albert could travel a great deal less than he does - I have some trouble accepting this great environmentalist prince with the number of journeys he makes. Prince Rainier managed to stay in Monaco most of the time.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I think my main gripe towards Charlene is the cherry picking of events ,non attendance at the Funeral Mass of Former President Chirac today is yet another one on an ever growing long list.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

To be fair: Charlène has never met Jacques Chirac. When she became engaged to the Prince and married him, Nicholas Sarkozy was the Président de la République Française (and was a guest at their wedding). Prince Albert is the one with a personal bond to President and Madame Chirac and he gave acte de présence, so no criticism deserved here, I think.

 

[Elly C]

We have enjoyed seeing Charlene develop from an unlikely ‘plus one’ on Albert’s arm (compared to the many film stars and models he used to date), to a sophisticated, stylish princess with a lovely family. We want to see more of her and have differing views about how she should conduct herself. She is an enigma -perhaps in truth a rather shy, private person, who has chosen to take on a very public role. We can only speculate on the type of agreement Albert has reached with his wife regarding her role as consort, but his ‘appeasement’ regarding this matter is why we have the current state of affairs of ‘now we see her, now we don’t’ . I can’t see things changing unless there are issues that prevent Albert , or even Caroline, from carrying out their customary engagements and patronages.

 

[An Ard Ri]

When was Charlene last scene in public?

I'm thinking 6-7 weeks since the Princess made an appearance which looks like it will be one of the longest Charlene gaps.

 

[sophie25]

When was Charlene last scene in public?

I'm thinking 6-7 weeks since the Princess made an appearance which looks like it will be one of the longest Charlene gaps.

I was thinking the same. Where on Earth is she?

 

[Blog Real]

I ask the same. Does Charlene not like her job as a princess? or is there not much work for her to do?
She just seems to do the least.
I think Princess Caroline would be a better first lady for Monaco.

I don't think Albert and Charlene's marriage was arranged.
Charlene knew where she was getting in, and she to some extent liked Albert. On the other hand Albert likes Charlene and thought she was the right person to be by his side, who knows why.
Charlene wasn't ready to be a princess, that's obvious, she never behaved like the other princesses. Not even Mary, Letizia, or Mette-Marit, who had never contacted her, behaved like her and did her job well.
She married Albert because she thought it would be good for her, and maybe because she likes / liked him. But she wasn't ready for the role that awaited her.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I’ve never, in this modern age, seen a more obvious marriage of convenience and it is so sad.

 

[sophie25]

I’ve never, in this modern age, seen a more obvious marriage of convenience and it is so sad.

I've never wanted to believe that but, as a couple, they seem to have run out of steam in trying to pretend anymore. It's terribly sad and I feel really sorry for their children who have been thrust into this farce.

 

[Princess Larisa]

Why in the world would you feel sorry for them? Neither was forced into this marriage, in fact they dated and lived together for years before getting married.
I know couples who have arranged marriages or marriages of convenience and they are all happy with their life. There are all sorts or relationships and marriages out there, just because it’s not what you have it doesn’t make it wrong or horrible. The constant judging of complete strangers is really going too far, imo.

 

[sophie25]

Why in the world would you feel sorry for them? Neither was forced into this marriage, in fact they dated and lived together for years before getting married.
I know couples who have arranged marriages or marriages of convenience and they are all happy with their life. There are all sorts or relationships and marriages out there, just because it’s not what you have it doesn’t make it wrong or horrible. The constant judging of complete strangers is really going too far, imo.

I didn't say I feel sorry for them, I said I feel sorry for their children.

 

[Princess Larisa]

Their children have never looked anything but happy, so I’d say any pity is vastly misplaced, not to mention totally off topic and inappropriate. Again, there are all sorts of relationships out there. Just because you think they are unhappy doesn’t make it true. All children need are parents who love them and it is beyond obvious to me that Albert and Charlene adore the twins.
I’ll leave it at that because when it comes to Charlene there is no reasoning with some people.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I agree. Not only are the Princely twins adorable and healthy, they seem happy and completely uninhibited, if a bit shy at times.

If Albert and Charlene have any failings, their parenting of their young children doesn't seem to be one of them.

And I also agree that the constant speculation that they are unhappy in their relationship is tiresome in the extreme. No one knows what goes on in a marriage except for the two people in it. And if time and experience has taught us anything about Royal couples, it's that looks can be deceiving.

Pictures don't always tell the story.

**(see Charles and Diana-The Early Years)****

 

[An Ard Ri]

I don't think any of us should or would question Charlene as a mother ,her role as consort however is an other matter entirely and her track record there has deteriorated.

Something is not right.

 

[Heavs]

If they have an arranged marriage, it doesn't have to be unhappy or make the children unhappy. Lots of people settle for "good enough" or for other reasons than just being madly in love and are content.

However it still doesn't explain why she's barely visible, even at events where a consort would usually be expected, both internationally and within Monaco. They might have both agreed to that and be perfectly happy with Caroline doing what she does but it wasn't always like this. And the kids are getting older and are at school some of the time now. I really hope she's in good health.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I don't think any of us should or would question Charlene as a mother ,her role as consort however is an other matter entirely and her track record there has deteriorated.

Something is not right.

I can agree that I have been a little perplexed and disappointed with her as Albert's Consort.

But a lackluster Consort does not necessarily=a lackluster wife or an unhappy marriage.

That's why I used the example of the Wales. Diana was the perfect Royal wife on the outside, and a nightmare of a wife in private.

Another example is the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Alexandra was a disaster as consort, but had one of the happiest marriages in Royal history in private.

We just can't know. I tend to suspect that there is some health issue...whether emotional (like the new Empress of Japan) or physical i feel bad for her if that is the case.

 

[togram]

In my opinion, with some people Charlene can never get it right. Suppose she were to accompany Albert in his travels, a lot of persons will say that she is leaving the twins to be brought up by nannies. Looking at the twins you can see that they are happy. Children always portray the atmosphere at home, I speak from personal experience. So everyone should stop speculating about the marriage of Albert and Charlene. Only they know what their situation is and it is nobody's business.

 

[Denville]

I’ve never, in this modern age, seen a more obvious marriage of convenience and it is so sad.

But if it is a marriage of convenience surely there would be an expectation that CHarlene would provide heirs and also be a reasonably active consort.. which seems to be the issue that she ISNT an active princess consort...

 

[Lee-Z]

I do hope P.Charlene is well, but maybe P.Albert enjoys his daily business so much he isn't even looking for help from his wife...

 

[theroyalfly]

It's sad but maybe she just wants to be with her children since they are still young.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

It's sad but maybe she just wants to be with her children since they are still young.

What is sad about that?

You keep reminding us (again and again) of the insignificance of Monaco, but P.Albert is one of the most visible royals worldwide and has no problem filling his agenda, so compared to that, the relative few times that P.Charlene is seen is a stark contrast.

The monarch is always more occupied than the spouse (or other relatives) but in no other monarchy the contrast is as big as jn Monaco.

I do hope P.Charlene is well, but maybe P.Albert enjoys his daily business so much he isn't even looking for help from his wife...

But joining her husband during his globetrotting trips reduces the Princess to be his trophy wife: be pretty and walk next to me. Probably the Prince and Princess see a more meaningful role in raising and educating the twins and be a loved hands-on mum for them. That is the best investment after all: Jacques is the procreation of the princely dynasty, THE core business of a hereditary monarchy.

 

[theroyalfly]

What is sad about that?

It's sad because some people are making a fuss of her absence. She's a mom too.

 

[Pranter]

I don't think anyone has an issue with her taking time off for the kids...however the kids are now also in school and there are examples of monarchies all over where the moms still manage to put in some duties while still taking time to be with their children.

As time passes it becomes more noticable that Charlene isn't perhaps filling the consort role as well as it's thought she should.


LaRae

 

[Rudolph]

I can understand from a fandom perspective wanting to see Charlene out and about more but clearly this arrangement is working for them and I’ll never criticise a mother for putting family first.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I can understand from a fandom perspective wanting to see Charlene out and about more but clearly this arrangement is working for them and I’ll never criticise a mother for putting family first.

Amen to that!

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Their children have never looked anything but happy, so I’d say any pity is vastly misplaced, not to mention totally off topic and inappropriate. Again, there are all sorts of relationships out there. Just because you think they are unhappy doesn’t make it true. All children need are parents who love them and it is beyond obvious to me that Albert and Charlene adore the twins.
I’ll leave it at that because when it comes to Charlene there is no reasoning with some people.

Just because you don't like a conversation doesn't make it inappropriate; please don't use language like that to attempt to stop the conversation.

But if it is a marriage of convenience surely there would be an expectation that CHarlene would provide heirs and also be a reasonably active consort.. which seems to be the issue that she ISNT an active princess consort...

Good point, i would think part of the arrangement would be fulfilling the role of Princess of Monaco....but perhaps Albert just cared about having children.

 

[Kitty1224]

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.

You seem to dislike the Monaco family for some reason. Albert is different because he is an actual head of state with power. Grace as Princess Consort would show up do events/charities many times during the week. There is much to do in Monaco. Who cares if its small.

 

[titiromi]

I think that if it was an arranged marriage, they would choose a woman from a well respected titled European family and that she would be prepared to be absolutely perfect in everything.