Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Charlene of Monaco have sued on Monday, the French magazine L’Express, which published on June 28 on its website an article that talked about the alleged misunderstandings of the royal couple said Thierry Lacoste, counsel to the couple.
In the complaint lodged with the court in Nanterre, near Paris, the newspaper was accused of “interference with privacy” and “publication of false facts relating to privacy”.
A few days before the royal wedding, which took place on July 1 and July 2, the magazine L’Express has posted on its website an article titled “Albert, Charlene: danger in marriage”, which brought to the readers a number of rumors circulating for several days about the royal couple. It was about an alleged attempt of the bride Charlene to escape the principality and of a supposed Albert II hidden paternity.
The Monaco Palace, the couple and, recently, the government, firmly denied these rumors.
Christophe Barbier, editor in chief of L’Express, has not changed at all the old statements, saying that Charlene Wittstock still wanted “to leave” before the wedding. He said, as he did and on June 29, that the editorial team that he leads “received this information from three different sources, and all three were reliable”.
“I haven’t directed the details related to privacy, that could justify what happened, because this is not concerning us, but, the fact that Charlene chose at some point to leave Monaco, is a fact political”, said Barbier for the radio station Europe 1.
Albert of Monaco and Charlene were married on July 2, during a religious ceremony attended by 800 personalities, the members of European royal families, fashion designers and other famous artists.
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of 53 years old, met in 2000 the South African swimming champion Charlene Wittstock, at a swimming contest held in Monaco. The Prince, called by the French press “the eternal bachelor”, has announced their engagement in July 2010.
Charlene Wittstock, born 33 years ago in Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe), was Protestant, but converted to Catholicism before the religious marriage.
Albert II, himself a passionate sportman, participated in five Olympic Games, starting with the one held in Calgary in 1998 and ending with that held in Salt Lake City in 2002 as a member of the national bobsled team. Albert II is a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985 and Monaco Olympic Committee president.
Prince Albert has two children, from temporary relationships, but, according to the rules of succession of the Catholic principality on the French Riviera, only children born within marriage may inherit the throne.
Before this wedding, the most recent royal wedding took place in 1956 when Albert’s father, Rainier, married the Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly.