Charlene: In Search of a Princess by Arlene Prinsloo

TGE's Current Read

In this episode of TGE’s Current Read, Sam sits down with veteran lifestyle journalist Arlene Prinsloo to chat about her new book, Charlene: In Search of a Princess. This unauthorised biography chronicles the life, to date, of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco.
Prinsloo unpacks the home-grown princess’s early childhood in the suburbs of Benoni, her journey to the Olympics as a competitive swimmer, her first brush with royalty, and a whirlwind romance that quickly became a lifelong vocation under a particularly harsh and critical public lens.
Coming from a somewhat sceptical point of view as a royals grinch, journalist Sam asks the author what she thinks really happened the day the princess said her ‘I dos’, and how she thinks Charlene is fairing now, after a fraught 2021.
About Arlene Prinsloo:
Arlene Prinsloo is a veteran journalist who has worked for Netwerk24, Rapport, Die Burger and Beeld in a career spanning 30 years. She has a very special interest in royal news in particular, and has covered several high-profile royal ‘dos’ including Will and Kate’s wedding in 2011 and, most recently, the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
But her royals obsession extends beyond the British Crown, which is why Arlene Prinsloo penned the life, to date, of HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco in the unauthorised biography, Charlene: In Search of Princess.
About the book:
When Charlene Wittstock married Prince Albert of Monaco in a star-studded wedding watched by millions across the world in 2011, rumours of her getting cold feet and her unhappiness about his love children swirled around the couple.
Ever since then, the statuesque Olympic swimmer has been in the eye of the paparazzi and the centre of endless tabloid speculation and malicious rumour-mongering. Is the bubbly, down-to-earth South African lonely in glamorous Monaco? Is it a marriage of convenience? What is truth behind her health issues? These are just some of the questions that roil so publicly around her.
Journalist Arlene Prinsloo sifts fact from fiction in this revealing unauthorised biography of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene. Prinsloo traces her life from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg and Durban to the Olympic Games, her jet-set romance with the bachelor prince, a ‘fairy-tale’ wedding and becoming a mother to twins. At its heart, it’s the story of a woman in search of happiness for herself and her family – and also of the beginning of Charlene defining her own space amid the royal protocol.
#princesscharlene #monaco #royals #princealbert #princesscaroline #royalfamilyofmonaco #gracekelly #princessgrace #princessstephanie #princerainier #grimaldifamily #royalfamily #monacoroyals #princessgabriella #monacoroyalfamily #princejacques #bookreview #currentread Charlene: In Search of a Princess (Jonathan Ball Publishers)