Princess Charlene is one of the most talked-about women in the world, and from her marriage to Prince Albert of Monaco to her days as an Olympic swimmer, she never fails to make headlines.
This week was no exception, with Princess Charlene and Prince Albert celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary, marking the date with a sweet post to social media.
The anniversary has seen royal fans share anecdotes and memories from the special 2011 nuptials. But along with the resurfacing of happy tales has come the reports of drama, with the run-up to Princess Charlene and Prince Albert's wedding proving controversial.
According to reports, Princess Charlene tried to escape Monaco three times in the run-up to their July wedding, but was stopped, with her third alleged escape attempt reportedly taking place two days before the nuptials.
While the couple did tie the knot in a lavish three-day wedding (apparently costing around £53 million), the press reported that Princess Charlene cried openly throughout the day.
There are even reports that the couple spent their wedding night in separate rooms, with Charlene’s guarded. And recently, reports resurfaced claiming that the couple spent their South Africa honeymoon at separate hotels, a whopping 10 miles from each other.
According to reports, Princess Charlene stayed at Umhlanga Rocks, a luxury beach resort, while Prince Albert is thought to have stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Durban.
"The explanation is that he wanted to avoid the traffic in the morning to get to early meetings," The Daily Mail's Peter Allen told ABC News at the time. "So he stayed there, leaving poor old Charlene 10 miles up the coast at a seaside hotel."
A Monaco senior courtier was quick to confirm to the Daily Mail, that "for practical reasons, it was better [for Prince Albert] to sleep there."
We will continue to update this story.
