Princess Charlene FINALLY returns to Monaco after spending 10 months in South Africa

Princess Charlene of Monaco enjoyed a ‘reunion filled with joy and emotion’ after finally arriving back in the principality following 10 months living alone in South Africa away from her husband Prince Albert and their two children. 

Charlene, 43, arrived back in Monaco earlier this morning after flying by private jet from the South African city of Durban to Nice, France, and wore a face mask as she reunited with her family. It’s unclear why she was the only one wearing a face covering, but it could be related to her recent health issues. 

Posting a snap of the reunion on Instagram, Charlene wrote: ‘Happy day today. Thankyou all for keeping me strong.’ 

The mother-of-two, who underwent several surgeries while in South Africa and was taken to hospital after collapsing in September, still looked frail today on her return to Monaco. 

Among a series of snaps shared to Instagram, the mother-of-two can be seen posing for a family photograph as she places her hand around her husband Prince Albert’s neck, while wrapping an arm around their six-year-old twins Jacques and Gabriella. 

In a second photograph, Charlene, who was presumably on the school run with her husband, waves to the cameras as Prince Albert holds onto the hands of their twins. 

However, there seemed to be a new addition to the family in the form of a light brown Vizsla, who she could be seen taking for a walk this morning. It comes after the ex-Olympian revealed in October that her beloved pooch Angel had tragically died after being run over.

Meanwhile, a third snap shows her exiting a car as she places a protective hand on her son, Jacques. 

The royal wrapped up warm in a long, beige jumper-dress and short-sleeved black coat, and completed her ensemble with a pair of knee-high boots and an across-the-shoulder bag. 

But while the couple appeared to put on a united front today, Charlene’s stay in South Africa sparked rumours of a rift between the royal couple, which they both vehemently denied.

Speaking in a video shared on Twitter by her foundation as she left the country, Charlene made no reference to her husband Prince Albert, saying: ‘It has been, obviously, a very challenging time to be here but at the same time it has been wonderful being back in South Africa.

‘I’d like to thank the doctors in South Africa who have done a fantastic job of helping me and I’m so looking forward to getting back to my children.

‘Thankyou South Africa, and thankyou everyone and god bless you.’ 

She was pictured stepping off the plane and onto the tarmac at Nice airport at around 8:45am, where she was greeted by royal staff and a dog which she took for a short walk before being whisked away to Monaco via a royal helicopter.

She has been in her native South Africa for much of this year after contracting a ‘serious sinus infection’ which made her unable to travel and forced her to miss key events including her 10-year wedding anniversary and her children’s first day of school. 

But Albert, 63, insisted in October that his wife would return home ‘way before [Monaco’s National Day] on November 19’, adding ‘she’s in good form and much better spirits’.   

A royal spokeswoman said: ‘The princess is in a good mood and is looking forward to returning home, while Charlene’s father, Mike Wittstock, was overjoyed that his daughter is returning to Monaco.

‘Thank God she is back home,’ he said.

On October 8, Zimbabwean-born Charlene underwent a final operation to deal with an ear, nose and throat infection she contracted in May – with a palace source telling AFP that the procedure ‘went very well’. 

Albert told the publication at the time that all the family miss her and ‘obviously she misses the children’, noting that Charlene was simply awaiting the final sign-off from her medical team before she could make the flight back to Monaco. 

Charlene’s doctor gave the green light for her long-awaited journey home following the completion of her final medical examination last Monday.

It comes after the ex Olympian underwent a ‘four-hour operation under general anaesthesia’ in August – although it was not made clear whether this was linked to the sinus infection. 

Charlene’s return to the principality comes just weeks after she posted a photo in which many of her fans thought she looked particularly frail. 

The post attracted an outpouring of well-wishes from social media users, with one writing: ‘Get well soon, you look so frail, take care, hope you get back to Monaco to your lovely family.’ 

But in her latest interview with press in South Africa, the Princess made no reference to her health and simply said she ‘can’t wait to get home to her children’.

Charlene, who wed Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2011, has been living in her home country of South Africa for much of this year, and the extended stay has stoked speculation that the royal couple may be headed for divorce.

In an interview which took place in early October which was shared on Charlene’s Instagram page, the royal said she ‘misses her children, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, terribly’, adding: ‘Any mother out there who has been separated from her children for months would feel the same way I feel.’

In the clip, she said: ‘I came to South Africa to oversee some foundation projects. I was unwell at the time, unknowingly, with an infection. It was addressed immediately. Unfortunately, it grounded me for some months in South Africa.

‘I had my one procedure – it was very successful. I’m well, I’m feeling much stronger. I have one more procedure. Then I cannot wait to get home to my children, who I miss terribly.  

Elsewhere in the interview she touched on community in South Africa, saying she would like to impart ‘unity and strength.’

She said: ‘Obviously I would never like to touch on anything politically. But what can be done, is people need to set their differences aside and think of the generations to come and less of themselves.

‘Too much emphasis is put on ourselves and less on the future generations to come. What do they have to look back on? Who is their guide? That needs to be installed.’

Speaking about the anti-poaching work she has been undertaking while in South Africa this year, she said: ‘I am determined to come back and continue the work I set out to do as I have done in many countries over Africa and in South Africa.

‘Conservation, preservation, restoration and education. That is what my foundation stands for. We save lives.’

The release of the interview came days after a palace source said her final operation to deal with an ear, nose and throat infection she contracted in May ‘went very well’. 

The operation in South Africa was performed under general anaesthetic, and ‘is the last she had to undergo following her ENT infection. She will be under observation for 48 hours,’ the source told French news agency AFP. 

It comes amid reports that Albert ‘applied for sovereign immunity’ in his court battle to fight claims he fathered a third love child before marrying Charlene. 

The 63-year-old prince, who already supports two illegitimate children, is alleged to have had a relationship with a Brazilian woman which resulted in a daughter in 2005.

The claim, which his lawyers dismissed as a ‘hoax’, is particularly painful as he was dating Charlene at the time, having met the former Olympic swimmer in 2000.

It was reported last year that the case would go to court in Milan in February, however according to Town&Country, the prince’s lawyers pleaded sovereign immunity and the case has been delayed.     

Lawyer Erich Grimaldi, who is acting on behalf of the woman, said he hopes the judge will reject Albert’s plea and he is waiting for the case to come back to court, which he believes will happen ‘imminently’. 

The 34-year-old claimant – who cannot be named for legal reasons – says she had a passionate affair with Albert, leading to the birth of their daughter – whose name is also classified – on July 4, 2005. 

Albert received a handwritten letter from the child, who is now 16, in September last year reading: ‘I don’t understand why I grew up without a father, and now that I have found you, you don’t want to see me.’

Last December, legal papers were also filed, as lawyers for the claimant called on Albert to undergo a DNA test – just as he did before finally being identified as the father of two illegitimate children born in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

‘This was before Charlene and Albert were an item, but the latest case covers a time when she was already in love with him,’ a source who works closely with the Monaco Royal household revealed at the time.

‘Charlene has had a terrible year, with one family crisis after another including Albert going down with coronavirus, and now she’s gearing herself up for this hell.’ 

The princess, whose maiden name was Charlene Wittstock, was an Olympic swimmer for South Africa when she first met Albert at a Monaco aquatic competition in 2000.

They began dating soon afterwards, before Charlene married into the House of Grimaldi at a star-studded wedding in July 2011.

Their twins – daughter Gabriella and son Jacques – were born three years later and are seen as the family’s official heirs.

By this time, Charlene had come to terms with Albert’s hard fought legal battles with women who eventually won financial settlements over children they had with Albert – even though he originally denied their claims.

In May 2005, just before he was enthroned as Prince of Monaco, Albert confirmed he was the biological father of Alexandre, whose mother was Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo.

A DNA test in May 2006 also confirmed Albert was the father of Jazmine Grace, the result of an affair with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent he met while she was on holiday in the South of France.

Jazmine was born in the 1990s and Alexandre in 2003. The Brazilian woman says she travelled around the world with the Prince in the 2000s.

Lawyer Grimaldi said he had filed papers with specific details of his client’s love affair with Albert, including trips to Brazil, the USA, France and Russia.

While in Moscow, the lovers are even said to have had a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who gave the Brazilian ‘a warm hug’, according to court papers. 

Albert’s lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, has described the allegations as a ‘a hoax’, saying: ‘There are no intimate photos, no tangible facts surrounding a possible relationship.’

Neither Albert’s daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, now 28, nor his son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, 17, can claim the throne of Monaco, according to negotiated financial agreements.

The line of succession instead favours Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, six, and who frequently appear in their parents’ social media posts. 

The former Olympian underwent a ‘four-hour operation under general anaesthesia’ in August – although it was not made clear whether this was linked to the sinus infection. 

In recent months, lifestyle magazines across Europe have speculated feverishly that the royal couple could be headed for divorce. French magazine Madame Figaro stated the images ‘failed to convince the Monegasques’ amid reports Charlene is looking for a house in Johannesburg.

The magazine asked: ‘How long can she remain away from her children, her duties?’ How long will the fight against rhinoceros poaching remain the Princess of Monaco’s top priority?

‘How long will Albert II of Monaco go on bearing this affront, which is becoming ridiculous?’

Historian Philippe Delorme said that ‘lots of people got the impression it was an arranged marriage’ between Charlene and Albert, adding: ‘Albert chose a wife who resembled his mother, and Charlene clearly felt very ill at ease in this Grace Kelly role they wanted her to play’. 

Meanwhile Prince Albert also hit back at rumours of marital woes insisting Charlene ‘didn’t leave in a huff’ and remains in South Africa only because of ‘medical complications’ following a ‘severe ear, nose and throat infection’.

The royal told People that the speculation over the state of his relationship with the Olympic swimmer has ‘affected’ them both, but that he didn’t address it early because he ‘was concentrating on taking care of the kids’.

Charlene and Albert reunited for the first time in months this summer after the monarch and their children – six year old twins Jacques and Gabriella – flew to South Africa, but photographs of the pair embracing were branded ‘awkward’ by a body language expert. 

The mounting speculation about the couple’s marriage comes after Charlene shared professional photographs of her reunion with Prince Albert online, saying she was ‘thrilled’ to have her family back.

She shared a series of photos cuddled up with her kids in South Africa with the caption: ‘I am so thrilled to have my family back with me (Gabriella decided to give herself a haircut!!!) Sorry my Bella I tried my best to fix it,’ referring to her daughter’s choppy fringe.

However a body language expert told FEMAIL Charlene showed ‘no emotional bond’ towards her husband Prince Albert in the images.

Judi James said that rather than being the loved-up reunion photo one would expect of a couple surrounded by split rumours, the royals’ poses suggested ‘no signs of connection between awkward-looking Albert and Charlene’.