Charlene Princess of Monaco (French: Charlène; née Charlene Lynette Wittstock; born 25 January 1978) is a former South African competitive swimmer and the wife of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and as such, the Princess consort of Monaco.
Charlene is the daughter of Michael and Lynette Wittstock. She was born in Rhodesia (what is now Zimbabwe) to a family of German, English and Rhodesian descent, but her family relocated to the Transvaal, South Africa, in 1989. She represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, with her team finishing fifth in the women's 4×100 m medley. She retired from competitive swimming in 2007.
She met Prince Albert in 2000 at a swimming event in Monaco. They were first seen together in 2006, and she has accompanied Albert on many of his official duties since then. They announced their engagement in June 2010 and were married on 1 July 2011
Charlene was a member of the South African women's 4×100 m medley team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, which finished fifth. She finished sixth at the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships for the 200 m breaststroke. She left her Durban-based team (the Seagulls) to join the Tuks Swimming Club at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria. She was never enrolled for any academic courses at the University of Pretoria and therefore never graduated from the University; the Club sponsored her by providing her with free access to their pools, free coaching, accommodations, and gymnasium access.
She has won several national titles over the years. She planned to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, which she said would be her swansong, but she did not qualify. Previously she had been out of competitive swimming for 18 months with a shoulder injury. Charlene said she would be swimming in Europe in the near future, hoping to better her times. "I have a year left of competitive swimming, and I just want to be the best I can be in that time. After that I want to get involved in charity work, and development work with athletes' commissions."She has recently commented that her swimming days are behind her, enabling her to concentrate on her future role as Princess of Monaco.
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