Monaco’s Princess Charlene is back home in the tiny city-state after a mysterious medical odyssey that kept her apart from her husband, Prince Albert, and their young children for nearly a year.
The palace issued a statement Saturday confirming the 44-year-old royal had been reunited with her family, while also saying that she is still recovering from the aftereffects of what’s been described as an infection.
“She still needs peace and calm,” the statement said, adding that she was having an “encouraging recovery.”
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The princess’ health has been the subject of speculation since she reportedly came down with an ear, nose, and throat infection while visiting South Africa, her homeland, 10 months ago.
After being stranded there for six months, she returned briefly to Monaco in the fall, looking emaciated—only to be sent to a Swiss clinic to be treated for “exhaustion, both emotional and physical.”
At the time, Albert told People that leaving Monaco was her decision.
“She wanted this. She already knew the best thing to do was to go and have a rest and have a real medically framed treatment,” he said.
Prince Albert II of Monaco and his children, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, stand with a message for their mother, Princess Charlene, at the balcony of Monaco Palace on Nov. 19, while she was in Switzerland for exhaustion.
Valery Hache/AFP via GettyThe palace said Princess Charlene will gradually return to public life “as soon as her health is strong enough.”
As The Daily Beast has reported, royal life has been a challenge for Princess Charlene, with Monaco’s elite failing to warm to the former Olympic swimmer after she married Albert a decade ago.
But Albert has insisted his wife’s condition is purely medical.
“This has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship,” he told People.
