Princess Charlene of Monaco looked effortlessly chic as she appeared in public alongside her husband Prince Albert at the start of the final stage of the Tour De France on Sunday.

Sports-loving Charlene, 46, and Albert, 66, who earlier this month marked their 13th wedding anniversary, beamed with delight as they made their way through the crowds lining the street ahead of the prestigious cycling race, won this year by Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar.

The blonde-haired modelesque royal, who is a former Olympic swimmer, wore a striking black and white animal print top, that also featured subtle hints of peach.

She paired her top with fitted white trousers and stylish sunglasses to help her keep cool in the average 28 degree temperatures in Monaco on Sunday.

Staying close to her side, Prince Albert was equally dapper in a fittingly royal blue suit and white shirt, accessorised with a special Tour De France red and white baseball cap emblazoned with ‘Monaco’.

Princess Charlene of Monaco looked effortlessly chic as she appeared in public alongside her husband Prince Albert at the start of the final stage of the Tour De France 

Sports-loving Charlene, 46, and Albert, 66, son of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, marked their 13th wedding anniversary earlier this month

Staying close to her side, Prince Albert was equally dapper in a fittingly royal blue suit and white shirt, accessorised with a special Tour De France red and white baseball cap emblazoned with ‘Monaco’.

Princess Charlene puts a Cochonou bob on her husband Prince Albert II’s head, and receives a yellow jersey from Bernard Thevenet

The royal couple were seen being playful at the start of stage 21 of the Tour de France in Monaco

Earlier this month the couple marked their anniversary with a sweet snap of the pair looking over the palace balcony (the couple pictured today at the Tour de France)

He mirrored his wife with a pair of cooling, light-coloured trousers.

The couple tied the knot on 1 July, 2011, in a religious ceremony at the Prince’s Palace among other royal guests such as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and Naomi Campbell.

Read More

Prince Albert’s son Alexandre Grimaldi fuels romance rumours as he attends Goodwood with influencer

Earlier this month the couple marked their anniversary with a sweet snap of the pair looking over the palace balcony, with their two children standing in front of them.

For that photograph, Charlene opted for a soft grey jumper with a V-cut at the back and Prince Albert donned a navy suit with a crisp white shirt. 

The caption simply said: ‘Happy wedding anniversary to Their Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene.’

When the couple met, few expected romance to blossom – Charlene was after all a sports-mad Olympian 20 years his junior.

Yet the couple fell in love and made their first public appearance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

To marry into the family, Charlene was required to learn French and Monegasque and she had to convert to Catholicism. The couple then became engaged in June 2010.

The couple beamed with delight as they made their way through the crowds lining the street ahead of the prestigious cycling race

The blonde-haired modelesque royal, who is a former Olympic swimmer, wore a striking black and white animal print top, that also featured subtle hints of peach

The couple seemed relaxed and at ease with one another after recent years of speculation about their marriage

The similarities between their love story and that of his father, Prince Rainier III, and his Hollywood actress mother Grace Kelly did not go unnoticed.

French journalist Philippe Delorme went as far as to tell the Daily Mail in 2011: ‘If the Princess Grace story was a movie, then Princess Charlene is the remake.’

Read More

When the playboy prince and his Olympian wife said ‘oui’ – before an uneasy kiss and tears

When they tied the knot, she walked down the aisle in a bespoke Armani dress that had taken the Italian atelier an astonishing 2,500 hours to create. 

However, as she exchanged vows with the principality’s ruler, she looked anything but the happy bride.

The Princess shed tears in front of a global audience of millions, leading to questions about her wellbeing. 

Rumours swirled around days before the big day that Charlene had tried to flee the country on three occasions with a one-way ticket to Johannesburg.

A Parisian news magazine claimed Charlene had been stopped at Nice airport clutching a one-way ticket to South Africa the week before her wedding day after allegedly learning a ‘distressing’ revelation about her future husband’s private life.

A senior Monaco detective told MailOnline at the time: ‘Charlene had her passport confiscated so that the Prince’s entourage could persuade her to stay.’

But she denied that the tears at her wedding were of sadness and instead insisted that she was simply emotional because she was overjoyed at the ceremony. 

In a rare interview, the South African former swimmer revealed in July 2013 that they were tears of happiness and has described the speculation as ‘categorical lies’.

‘Everything was just so overwhelming and there were all the mixed emotions because of the rumours, and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears [immediately after the ceremony],’ she said.

Earlier this month the couple marked their anniversary with a sweet snap of the pair looking over the palace balcony, with their two children standing in front of them

Charlene and Prince Albert beam as they walk arm in arm after the religious ceremony at their 2011 wedding 

Three years later, Charlene gave birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella, who were the first legitimate heirs to the throne after Albert’s children out of wedlock.

In 2021, the couple were rocked again by rumours around their marriage as the princess took a prolonged medical hiatus in South Africa which saw her spend most of the year away from her husband and children.

She missed both the seventh birthday of her twins and her tenth wedding anniversary.

In April 2022 the couple were seen together for the first time in more than 12 months. Charlene then returned to full-time public duty in May of that year. 

The annual Tour De France men’s cycling race, which takes place over multiple stages, sees hundreds of competitors from around the world cycling thousands of miles through cities, countries and picturesque mountain ranges.

For 2024, the route began in Florence, Italy on 29 June and ended in Nice, France.

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar stamped his authority in the final stage to claim the Tour de France 2024 title.

Traditionally the race ends in the French capital, Paris, but has been moved this year due to preparations of the Olympic Games, which start on Friday.