After a year of her home life resembling a soap opera, Princess Charlene of Monaco did little to quash rumours of marital turmoil with Prince Albert as she got back to work.
WATCH BELOW: Princess Charlene and Prince Albert celebrate their wedding anniversary
But on May 28, Charlene, 44, attended the Monte Carlo Grand Prix with her husband, 64. The couple’s 7-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, joined them the following day.
“This year, Jacques will be doing the lap of honour with his dad for the first time,” Charlene proudly gushed.
Amid reports of marital turmoil, Albert seemed determined to prove all was well by tightly gripping his wife’s hand.
But Charlene’s stoic appearance seemed to give away her real feelings, with insiders claiming her smile showed “no genuine happiness”.
“Without their children to provide an outlet for more tactile and affectionate behaviours, Albert and Charlene manage to produce body language signals here that are puzzling enough to do nothing to quash rumours that sadly have been surrounding their marriage,” body language expert Judi James noted.
Now, some are suggesting that one possible reason for Charlene’s glumness could be Albert’s close relationship with his illegitimate son.
On May 25, Albert was seen having lunch in Nice with Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, who was born in 2003 following the prince’s affair with flight attendant Nicole Coste.
Albert was forced to admit he’d fathered Alexandre in 2005, after Nicole served him with a paternity suit. It was Albert’s second love child scandal – Tamara Rotolo gave birth to his daughter, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, in 1992.
Charlene, who first met her future husband in 2000, stood by Albert’s side throughout the embarrassing scandal. However, Nicole later claimed Charlene found it hard to accept Alexandre in Albert’s life.
“[Charlene] changed my son’s room, taking advantage of his father’s absence to move him to the employee wing,” Nicole said.
Last May, Charlene headed home to South Africa for a short animal conservation trip before a severe sinus infection left her unable to fly back to Monaco for six months.
When she finally did return, she left again just days later for a secret Swiss health clinic for further treatment.
WATCH: Princess Charlene of Monaco shares adorable video of twins. Story continues after video.
“She was overwhelmed and couldn’t face official duties, life in general or even family life,” Albert said at the time.
While Charlene was away convalescing, Albert reportedly used the time to strengthen his relationship with Alexandre.
He threw him a lavish 18th birthday party at the palace and invited both him and Jazmin, 30, to attend a royal ball.
Now Charlene is home, but judging by his cosy father-son lunch it seems Albert is unwilling to put Alexandre aside, prompting one source to ask: “How much more humiliation is Charlene supposed to take?”
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