Princess Charlene of Monaco

In 2000, she met Albert II, Prince of Monaco, at the Mare Nostrum swimming meet in Monaco. After six years, the couple was first seen together at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, and then at several other events and ceremonies.

On 23 June 2010, the palace announced the engagement of Charlene and Albert. Although it was not a requirement of the Constitution of Monaco, she converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism before the wedding.

A year later, the couple got married in a civil ceremony on 1 July 2011 at the Throne Room in the Palace of Monaco. The religious marriage ceremony was conducted the following day in the Main Courtyard of the Palace of Monaco. The wedding dinner also took place on July 2, 2011.

She was born as Charlene Lynette Wittstock, on January 25, 1978 in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), to Michael Kenneth Wittstock, a sales manager, and his wife, Lynette Wittstock, a former competitive diver and swimming instructor. She has two younger brothers, Gareth and Sean.

Her family belonged to German, Irish and English descent by way of South Africa and Rhodesia. After living in Zimbabwe for several years, her family relocated to South Africa in 1989.

She received her early education from the Tom Newby Primary school in Benoni, near Johannesburg. She developed a passion for swimming at a very early age and at the age of 18, she became the winner of the South African Swimming Championship.

During her career as a swimmer, she participated in Sydney Olympics and many other championships around the world. She won three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg.

For a brief period, she left her Durban-based team, The Seagulls, to join the ‘Tuks Swimming Club’ of the University of Pretoria. In January 2005, she decided to leave Pretoria and returned to Durban.

Over the years, she became the winner of several national titles. She planned to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, but failed to qualify for it and eventually retired from competitive swimming in 2007.

Since 2010, she has been associated with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. She also regularly participates in fund raising events for charities such as ‘Amfar’.

On 27 May 2011, the Special Olympics announced that Charlene had become global ambassador for the movement and was given the charge of promoting respect and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities to a worldwide audience.

In 2012, she was awarded the Dame Grand Cross of the ‘Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland’. The same year, she also received the Dame Grand Cross of the ‘Order of Saint-Charles’ of Monaco.

In 2014, she was conferred the Dame Grand Cross of the ‘Order of the Star of Italy’.