Princess Charlene of Monaco’s 2022 royal return: after months of health struggles and rumours about her marriage to Prince Albert, the former Olympic swimmer got back in the pool and even met the pope
- This time last year, things weren’t looking good for Princess Charlene of Monaco as she struggled to recover from a health scare in South Africa – and didn’t seem much better after returning home
- But 2022 has been her year of recovery, with Prince Albert praising her for ‘turning it around in an incredible way’ and the princess even living it up at a Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week
At the beginning of 2022, a year after she fell ill in South Africa, Princess Charlene of Monaco was still receiving specialised treatment at a rehab facility in Switzerland. Photos of her at the time show her looking drawn and subdued – a shadow of the healthy person she once was.
But Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer, has managed to turn her year into one of success. The princess, armed by her faith and family, has reportedly ended 2022 with a renewed focus on her mental and physical health.
Here’s how the Monaco princess got her life back again …
Charlene’s health scares
In May 2021, Charlene arrived in South Africa for a wildlife conservation trip. But after a series of medical complications, she was forced to spend the next seven months in the country. South Africa’s You magazine reported that the princess had a seizure after suffering complications from a previous sinus lift and bone graft surgery for dental implants.
Images released during her stay in the country showed a frail and sickly looking princess. The pictures sparked fears around her health and, at the same time, rumours about the state of her marriage to Prince Albert grew stronger. That November, she returned to Monaco, but her husband said she would be at a treatment facility in Switzerland to help continue her recovery.