Commenters seem to be of two minds on the issue of Charlene Wittstock, now Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco. Some commenters feel really sorry for Charlene, because it’s beginning to look like she was forced, medieval-style, into a marriage that she was desperately trying to escape. Those commenters think Charlene’s existence must be quite desperate and depressing, especially considering her first “royal duty” seems to be awaiting a paternity test on some kid that her new husband supposedly fathered while he was technically “with” her. On the other side, there are many commenters who feel no pity for Charlene – after all, she’s a princess now, she never has to do real work again, she’s got public sympathy on her side, and she basically just has to produce an heir and then she gets to just live her life. I come down somewhere in between the two sides – I feel for her, I think she’s probably having a really bad time with it, but at the end of the day, she did make the choice to marry him. She could have found a way out, I think. Not to say that she didn’t try and try and try again to do a runner – according to new reports out of France, Charlene tried to escape THREE TIMES. Seriously, this poor girl.

The new Princess Charlene of Monaco tried to flee home to South Africa three times before her ‘arranged marriage’ to Prince Albert, it was alleged yesterday. The former Charlene Wittstock, 33, reportedly made her first escape attempt when she travelled to Paris in May to try on her wedding dress. During the visit, she ‘took refuge’ in her country’s embassy in the French capital, sources in Monaco said.

The allegations, which are surprising considering she went ahead with the wedding on Saturday, emerged in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. It went on to report that later in May, Charlene made a second apparent attempt to escape during the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Then, last week, royal officials are said to have confiscated her passport en route to Nice airport via the helicopter service that runs between the Mediterranean principality and France. She was then persuaded to go on with the marriage.

‘Several sources have confirmed that an arrangement was reached between the future bride and groom,’ reported Le Journal du Dimanche.

Sources said the Monaco palace had hoped the glitzy wedding – attended by a host of celebrities and European royalty – would ‘overshadow’ new claims about secret children fathered by Albert. Instead, Charlene was in floods of tears at one point, while her 53-year-old husband looked on impassively.

Meanwhile, the reception that followed provoked ridicule with tacky features such as a giant wedding cake that towered over the couple and a mirrored dance floor. Among the guests were Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, actor Roger Moore and Topshop boss Sir Philip Green and his wife, Tina. Tomorrow the couple are due to fly to South Africa on honeymoon, presenting Charlene with her best chance yet of ‘escaping’ Monaco.

If an ‘arrangement’ has been reached, however, it may be that Charlene’s principal aim will be to produce a legitimate heir for Albert in return for a multi-millionaire lifestyle. The prince is due to undergo DNA tests because of claims that he has fathered a third, and possibly even a fourth, love child. He already has a six-year-old son named Alexandre through Togolese former air hostess Nicole Coste, and a 19-year-old daughter, Jazmin, with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent. Both illegitimate children were kept away from Albert’s wedding to avoid ‘media exposure’, a palace official told Le Journal du Dimanche.

But he also revealed that one of Charlene’s first duties in her new role would be to stand by Albert during another scandal related to his chequered private life.

‘The truth of the rumour is that Albert faces paternity tests following a claim by at least one former lover,’ said the source. None of Albert’s illegitimate brood will have a claim to the throne.

The official said: ‘Albert will not have an official heir until Princess Charlene bears him one.’

There was not enough time to organise DNA tests before the wedding, but the source said they would go ahead in the next few days.

The French magazine Public has attributed ‘two new illegitimate children’ to Albert. One is said to be the 18-month-old son of an Italian woman who is preparing to tell all. Others, including Voici magazine, have suggested Miss Coste could have had a second baby by Albert – an idea that gained credibility last week when the 40-year-old beauty was pictured in Monte Carlo.

[From The Mail]

So… this thing is a mess. Does any Monaco royal family scholar want to educate us – can Charlene get a divorce? If she does, will it be a huge mess? Probably. My hope is that even with the mess, she leaves Albert. But my expectation is that she’ll pop out one kid (maybe two) and then move to Paris or London or Cape Town or Johannesburg and live a completely separate life away from Albert – with her children. I can see the reasoning behind it – just a few hellish years, and then the good life, away from Albert and the house of Grimaldi.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.