Princess Charlene might be fooling around! MAYBE. Hopefully? There is new speculation that when Charlene visited South Africa a few weeks ago, she ended up fooling around with her “friend” Byron Kelleher, a New Zealander rugby player. When Charlene was in South Africa (to open her foundation which supports local athletes), she gave an interview declaring that she was finally ready (maybe) to think about trying for a baby. Charlene always seems pretty over her marriage, but would she really fool around and not keep it locked down?
Media speculation is rife that former All Black Byron Kelleher may be romantically involved with Princess Charlene of Monaco.
Spanish newspaper ABC ignited the flame at the weekend with a report that the wife of Prince Albert II did not accompany her husband to the coronation of the new Dutch King Willem-Alexander two weeks ago because she was in her native South Africa with Kelleher.
A former Olympic swimmer, Princess Charlene, 35, was in South Africa working with her sports-focused charitable foundation, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
Dunedin-born Kelleher, 36, is in charge of the foundation’s rugby projects.
“Rumours about a relationship between the two have erupted,” ABC reported.
Other European publications have picked up on the rumours. Under a headline “Charlene with a rugby player?”, Vogue says today : “According to rumours Charlene Wittstock cheated on Albert of Monaco with rugby player Byron Kelleher.”
Vogue continues: “New rumors from the Principality of Monaco. According to some sources Charlene Wittstock is cheating on Albert of Monaco. According to rumors, the Princess has had an affair with rugby player Byron Kelleher, from Paris Rugby Club.”
Kelleher attended the Monaco royal couple’s wedding on July 2, 2011 and reportedly spent time with them on Italy’s Amalfi coast last year. Scrum-half Kelleher plays for Stade Francais in the French Top 14, and has played 57 tests for the All Blacks.
The Monaco royal family has not commented on the speculation.
If you remember, just before Charlene and Albert were married, she tried to physically escape Monaco three different times. And just days after the wedding (in which she looked miserable), Charlene had to deal with the public revelation that Albert had fathered yet another child out of wedlock (but while he was with Charlene). So, it’s not like Albert is some angel and Charlene is just a crazy, wanton woman. There have been quiet rumors about Albert throughout this marriage too – when he attends low-key events, Charlene will stay at home (or wherever) and Albert will bring some female “date” with him, and he always seems friendlier with his date than with his wife. I think their marriage is miserable and it’s always been miserable. But I think it’s weird that Charlene hasn’t popped out an heir and then moved on to a separate life (full of athletic lovers) or just divorced him already. Will this marriage end before there’s an heir?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Hope it’s true, for her sake. Maybe that’s why she’s been smiling lately?
Yeah, she almost looks happy.
Love her dress…she looks beautiful…elegant!
Maybe she figures he can help her escape? I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley.
Wow, could she stand any further away from that skeezer she married, in that first photo?
But then she wouldn’t be in Monaco.
Haha. Well done.
ha ha, yes, well done 🙂
Their body language is so crazy to me. It’s like every time he touches her, she dies a little inside. Her body looks so rigid when he reaches for her. Not that I blame her a bit, I’d vomit in my mouth too.
I believe in equality for all. So, I feel pretty certain that the Prince has a few “friends” on the side. Why shouldn’t Charlene?
I hope she gets every bit of happiness she can!
YES! I agree with everything you wrote.
Epic comment. That poor woman. You can’t even say “Well nobody forced her to marry him” because wasn’t that kind of what happened? I cannot imagine having to bang this guy ever. He looks like the guy you woke up beside after a college party and then were so horrified you didn’t even tell your best friend. Gross.
Good for her! And if she is cheating how would that make her a wanton woman? Look at her douchey hubby. Also I imagine her locked in a tower like rapunzal!
Damn her lover has a huge, gaping belly button! Wonder what he stores in there…
he must have HUGE balls of lint 😉
I had to scroll back and look….wow, it’s massive. He probably eats his corn flakes from it. I hope she is having it away with him, even just to turn the ables on her twat husband.
What an example of two people getting married out of a sense of obligation. This is the sort of stuff that breaks down the institution of marriage – not two people in love who happen to be the same sex. I just feel sad for both of them. I don’t think either really wants to be married.
Well said, Sam.
Sam can you enlighten me with the specifics of their marriage? More specifically *why* she married him? All I know about her is what I read on here, and how she tried to leave the country several times before the wedding, but how did she even get that far into it if she’s so disgusted by him??? Why not just say “NO, I won’t marry you”? What was the obligation to go through with it???
I don’t understand why she married him either. To be a titled Princess? I don’t get it.
Money and power my love. That is, he has it and can use it against her.
I think most of the obligation was on his part. The rules of Monaco provide for only male rulers, IIRC (or at least a preference for them). So Albert, as his parents only son, was the only heir. The stridently Catholic country also only allows for heirs born inside marriage, so Albert’s other kids don’t count. So basically, if Albert wants to preserve his line, and not have it pass to Caroline’s son, he needs to produce a male heir within his marriage. I think Charlene was picked because she was beautiful. Now they probably feel intense pressure to produce a legitimate son and feel duty-bound to at least try. I find it sad.
I believe they were a real couple until the mistress scandal broke. Being jilted so close to the big day would have been unthinkable for a Prince so he brought out the artillery. He had her family on his side. She has said that shes introverted and has 2 friends, who knows what side they were on. I am sure he offered her a great business deal. I am sure he and his emmisaries begged her not to emasculate him before the whole world i.e the pity angle. I am sure there was intimidation there as well, remember the airport scenes with her passport confiscated? And finally, she would be thinking about the scale of the backlash, can you imagine the frenzy that would have followed her to SAfrica? “Runaway brides” are rarely looked upon kindly.
And personally, I always thought she was on sedatives or something. She never seemed lucid to me.
the same as katy waity – money and the title
@Champ ” “Runaway brides” are rarely looked upon kindly.” I guess you might be right, but I would rather be looked down upon and hidden away in my own little corner of the world than unhappy and disgusted by my (rich and powerful) husband….
But I guess that’s just me, who married “just” for love….
How they met: at a swim event during some summer sports thing. She then writes to him and says she wants to see him AND she MOVES TO MONACO. no job. Nothing, just date me, help me. This goes on for 5 years. Her family moves there too. Parents and brothers in need of work. She, a former “special” party girl (photos wiped off internet since engagement) in addition to being a swimming champion years earlier, has surgeries, gets clothes, he pays her rent, they get engaged. She never bothers to learn the language. She had years to flee. She didn’t til the last minute. Now this.
Aha. More to this than meets the eye, then.
It’s not a hulk pose. It’s the Maori “Ka Mate!” Haka, always performed before an All Blacks game. More interesting info on the haka:
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/haka.html
i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g!!!!
The only thing I disagree with is her taste in men.
I agree with your disagreement. The picture of him in the incredible hulk pose is just…ewww.
Since he’s a scrum half for New Zealand, I guarantee he’s doing a Haka there. It’s a huge part of New Zealand rugby culture, as well as other South Pacific islands.
That pose is the haka. It’s a traditional moari challenge that is meant to intimidate the enemy. The all blacks challenge their opponents at the beginning of every game. It’s up on youtube if you want to see the entire haka rather than one pose from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhtE4t3Alug
First time I saw Haka, I was so intrigued I went on a video watching spree. This one, of kids doing it in school, is just crazy intense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaeDoIlTKlQ
claire – my goodness those kids are intense. That’s the best Haka off i have ever seen.
Sorry, my reply went to the wrong spot. See above…
Claire wins! I’m gonna start my YouTube ‘Haka’ marathon right NOW
I was thinking too that the “lover” is not exactly an upgrade.
So if she ends up falling pregnant by this guy, would the baby be considered the legitimate heir if Albert passes it off as his own?
No! Easy enough to figure out with a paternity test. Tie goes to nephew Andrea (which I think is the ending many of us are secretly hoping for).
Andrea and his fiancee-I guess they’re not getting married until after baby, but apparently that’s okay-already have a bun in the oven. I’ve seen Caroline’s sky smile whenever she’s with her eldest son. She read this from the beginning….
To Charlene-enjoy, but don’t be a fool like your husband. Use birth control….
Like the dress, btw. Simple, yet elegant.
(Disclaimer: I do NOT intend for this to sound snarky, so please don’t take it that way.) I know a paternity test can determine who the father is, that’s why I was wondering if Albert pretended that it was his own child if it would count. Personally, I also (not so) secretly hope that Andrea inherits after Albert. And he had a son born in March, so at least the next two generations are ensured, as long as Andrea gets married to the child’s mother.
I truly and really believe that she is locked into this marriage for a few years, and then they will divorce and he will find a rent-a-bride to give him a proper heir. I think she isn’t having kids with him because she doesn’t want to have anything to do with him after she leaves him, and I think they both get to have their fun on the side. Still, I bet Albert is pissed off about this coverage.
With THAT guy? Cannot even BEGIN to take this seriously, hahaha!!!
The video of their wedding breaks my heart. This woman was forced to marry this guy! She tried to escape the country three times and she was stopped and forced to marry the jerk. She cried her eyes out on her wedding day. You can even see this guy asking her to calm down over and over. You have to ask yourself what did they threaten to do or what do they have over her head that is making her stay with him and not scream and ask to be saved. Such a loveless miserable marriage.
I remember watching The Girls Next Door when they went to Monaco and they met Prince Albert. Kendra said he could not stop looking at her cleavage. He would not look her in the eye.
He was a big player in his heyday. He had so many GFs-models and whatnot and noone can say he was particularly selective.
I won’t believe he was faithfull to her their 9-10 years together prior wedding. It’s just not him. So it’s a mystery why she stayed with him for so long let alone say “yes”.
I can’t muster sympathy because his shenaningans were so well documented. No way she was unaware of his character prior wedding.
Doesn’t matter. When it came down to the wire, she tried to get away, and she wasn’t allowed to. She’s far from the first woman to try to talk herself into something and then realize at the last minute that she can’t go through with it.
Except she was forced to go through with it. Which is evil.
Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, but mine is I am tired of the “poor captive princess” horse manure. It ‘s 20011-12 and she had no access to press, embassy, and funds after dating the guy for years?andgoing to SAfor their honeymoon? And no one thinks that this budget Royal family has enemies that would gladly help?
Total hogwash. Autocomplete let me type it in French.
I don’t get this. She dated him for years and looked happy back then. So why/how would she be forced into marrying him? She’s a nobody so what kind of blackmail info could they have or whatever?
She’s not some random woman he found and forced into marriage. They dated for like 4 years and all of a sudden she’s running and looking sad?
Oh god I hope so!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. This is kind of hilarious (if you are from New Zealand and you know who Byron Kelleher is you would also be laughing).
@Sam…I’m from Dunedin, and yes, I’m having a good laugh!
From Auckland…umm, suprise,suprise…hahaha
Stop dropping hints and share! This Yank really wants the gossip.
I am from NZ and I laughed. FFS BK?!!! He had some bad (uncool) publicity over his love-life and social goings on. To remove the thought of him watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8tzJdZB0cc
Wow she has really bad taste in men! Bryon is apparently is open to action with either sex so maybe they have a threesome thing going on.
so did that third kid turn out to be his?
Prince Albert may have signed off on this as long as it’s a threesome. Heh.
Also? Why did Google just find inform me that a “Prince Albert” is the name of a male genitalia piercing? o_O
You DIDN’T know what a ‘prince Albert’ was/is????
it’s one of the most well known piercings.
My daughter just said the same thing to me..she also suggested I NOT look up Jacob’s Ladder. Which I’m totally going to do right now. Of course. ^^
Charlene is the Betty Draper of our times … who can blame her?
GOOD FOR HER.
I recently read a biography on Princess Grace (Kelly) and it is pretty evident that marriage into this family results in the female being miserable. Grace tried to have “her own life” and was kept from being able to do that. She had to maintain an image – and lost most of her own “being” in the process. So maybe this young woman is living the miserable life now – except she might actually escape!
Potatopatch, not sure what you read, but I really liked the dish in Once Upon a Time, Fairy Tale lives of Grace Kelly & Rainier by J Randy Tarrobelli, and there was a good book by Donald Spato.
I have two books – one by Robert Lacey and one by James Spada. Both draw back the “curtains” of the myth and expose the underbelly of Kelly’s life, not only with Rainier but also her endless desire to “please” her parents. Sad. I’m seriously not sure if ANYONE in that family is actually happy. They all look prett miserable.
Royalty is pretty much always unhappy. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry are exceptions, and as time goes on, who knows where Prince Harry will fall. (And who knows what we’ll find out about the queen in 50 years’ time.) There’s a reason Harry can’t seem to get any women he truly wants to stay in a relationship with him. No educated and intelligent young woman wants to be a princess, even these days. People take private pictures of you and slut-shame you for being naked with your husband on your honeymoon, ffs.
I hope it’s true.. Albert is a big jerk! She tried to leave him before the wedding & he sent “people” to the airport to bring her back! The wedding was torture to watch? Why did she marry this guy?
This poor woman’s pic ran next to Courtney Stodden’s – and the resemblance is staggering. Who knew?
Now I need to decide whose husband is creepier…
My God, you’re right: the pink lipstick, facial expression and even the nose.
I think I vote for Albert as creepiest..
Yeah – the jawline, too – everything!
When Queen Sophia of Spain married Juan Carlos she was crying so hard that had to stop the wedding.
Marrying into royalty is a big life changer. It’s easy to see how someone could be overcome at the wedding.
Charlene was with him for years. She knew what she was getting into. She always looks pained.
she looks like she’s about to barf standing next to him…
A beautiful stunning blonde married an ugly rich bald jerk she doesn’t love so she can be a Princess and live the life of royalty? Yeah,yeah I really feel sorry for her.I bet she’d still rather be his arm candy in a loveless marriage than work.
I’ve met Byron Kelleher, be it way back in his All Black days and I have to agree with Sam, ha ha ha ha ha ha. If this is true she has flawed taste in men. But hey whatever floats her boat, she looks like she needs something. He is generally polite 🙂
Well, well, well. Maybe the good people of Monaco will get an heir by next year afterall. Only, at this point it’s looking like bloodline won’t be Casaraghi. (And wouldn’t that be RICH. If while none of Albert’s already existent, confirmed biological children were ever allowed to inherit the throne, he unwittingly raised a hypothetical “illegitimate” child of CHARLENE’s concieved of an affair as his rightful heir?! Omg. Can you imagine??? Cue my pregnancy watch for the next few months! **Positively giddy right now**
Albert’s last name is Grimaldi. The last you have given is the last name of Princess Caroline’s late 2nd husband and the father of her 3 oldest children. But I get the drift and I totally agree. If I was Charlene, I would do it. Any baby will do, it doesn’t really have to be Albert’s as long as everyone plays along.
The inheritance laws were changed a few years back to allow for female inheritance and ‘legitimization’,once upon a time you had to be born to married parents to inherit but not now. Basically they now fall in line with French law.
If for some reason Charlene and Albert should split without an heir and Albert were to legally marry any of the mothers of his two or three illegitimate children that child could inherit the throne of Monaco because the child would in the eyes of the law be ‘Legitimized’ by the marriage. Not ever likely to happen but still a possibility.
If Albert dies with no legitimate or legitimized heirs, Andrea Casaraghi (Caroline’s son) will assume the princedom and as long as Andrea eventually married his fiancée (who just gave birth) their child will then be considered ‘legitemized’ and next in line after Andrea.
You don’t hear much about it but Albert hasn’t abandoned his children, they are very well looked after and he is quite close to them , his daughter has just graduated and does a lot of charity work, here is a recent photo of him and Charlene with Jazmin in NY.
(top centre – click to enlarge)
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/jazmin%20grace%20grimaldi
Wow, thank you. That was really interesting!
I suspect they have an understanding. But her taste in men – WTF?
Byron Kelleher has a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man but he could well have calmed down since he was last in the headlines here in NZ (at which point he’d just started living with a porn star). I hope, for Charlene’s sake – and if this is all true – that he is a bit different now!
I read somewhere a while ago that Albert had his heart set on making Gwyneth Paltrow his wife, but she turned it down. He definitely wanted a blonde wife, someone who looked like his mother.
… someone who looked like his mother.
*barf*
On the other hand, I can easily see Goop being over the moon married to Prince Albert. Then she could be as condescending, entitled and oblivious as she is now – only with even more money.
Damn. Prince Albert and Goop. I could TOTALLY see that.
OMG, right? She would be royalty for realsies and not just in her head! It’s the perfect couple, she can be pretentious and go to parties and get attention, and he can go to parties and bone everything in sight (oh, she won’t care, she’s too busy with stick up her arse). And she’d TOTALLY win the feud with Madge! She’d like have to curtsy and everything! Total bitch move +infinity.
It’s actually not that strange. It’s been well-documented that many men are attracted to women who are very similar to their mothers. It’s easy to see why, since the mum is the one who has the closest bond and strongest influence in those crucial, formative years.
Claudia Schiffer also turned Albert down.
Back in the mid-90’s it was all over the news. Albert was still rather good looking, not pudgy and had fuller hair. I bet Claudia is breathing a sigh of relief now.
my word she would be! She probably also looks back on her years with David Copperfield and wonders what she was doing.
He is unbelievably repulsive
he’s better looking than these two photos show.. google his name i think he’s pretty hot!!
but yeah here in NZ he is known for dating a porn star…i wouldnt blame charlene though if she did 🙂
At least georgina chapman doesn’t look unhappy with harvey weinstein and I think she’s in a position where she can’t leave either.
I’m sorry, but this image of poor-Charlene-she-is-so-miserable-and-just-wants-to-escape makes no sense at all to me. She lives in a free part of the world, she travels all the time out of Monte Carlo. If she really wanted to leave him, she could have done so by now! I mean, as most of the press which covers this kind of story treats her like a poor victim, she could use the public opnion to get the mother lode of divorce settlements! If Albert is only concerned with appearences, all the advantages would be hers!
I really think she is just a shy person who isn’t very comfortable in public – and the botox doesn’t help here ;). Add to this the french tabloids and gossip in Monte Carlo and the British press using it as a gift sent from God to show the “real” fairy tail of William and Kate, and you have this story which just get more bizarre and illogical with time!
Sorry! Instead of writing Monaco I wrote Monte Carlo! My bad :)!
I think if there is no legitimate child of Alberts, and he passes, the bloodline is ended and the tax free status of Monaco will be OVER, and that affects many powerful, wealthy families.
I gave a brief explanation about the convoluted Monaco inheritance rules earlier in this post but even if he had no children legitimate or illegitimate, when he turned 50 he was permitted by law and tradition to adopt an heir. Before he finally married it was always assumed that he would adopt Andrea Casaraghi as his successor, so there has never been any real danger of the Monegasque crown and hence Monaco ceasing to exist.
The succession laws still favour males over females but since new 2002 laws females are now permitted to become the ruler of country, previously only a male heir was acceptable any daughters would have been bypassed and the title gone to his ‘adopted’ heir.
Do you know anything about the tax free deal I spoke of? I always thought it added an extra layer of grossness to the whole thing.
France has always had the ability to kill Monaco’s tax free status, when all is said and done Monaco is actually an outpost of France and they have had many opportunities to reclaim it but keep allowing amendments to their ancient agreement which allows the country to remain independent from France simple because it suits them to have a tax haven in their pocket.
EU pressure has curtailed the shady dealing in Monaco quite a bit, as it did with Luxembourg and Lichtenstein. Monaco can’t afford to get on the wrong side of the EU or it will make life very difficult for it by placing financial restrictions on them with EU country banks and institutions.
A tax free country/territory/island or international tax havens are actually an out of date concept for the mega rich these days there are incredible international banking shuffles and slight of hand now that will save them even more money than just a simple tax free zone.
Monaco seems to have cleaned up its act in the last decade, prior to that was a known money laundering agent of criminals (through the casino) and its bay was the gold smuggling capitol of the world, possibly drugs as well. The Mafia was a key player during Ranier’s reign and some say they had a hand in Graces death but the IT age has given the underworld other outlets, leaving Monaco better for it. Still not entirely clean but a whiter shade of grey.
I always felt bad for her. I mean, they took her freaking passport and forced her to go back to Monaco. If they were capable of that, I’m pretty sure they were capable of threatening her family if she “talked.” I think they had an agreement that they would stay married for x amount of years and then she is free…or she is supposed to get pregnant and can’t because of all the stress.
This “poor Charlene”-stuff is BS. They are a couple for more than one decade. When she was his girlfriend Albert broke with protocol from time to time… so girlfriend Charlene was by his side for official events… always expensive dressed and soo in love. He´s a billionaire and she quit her swim career before moving to Monaco years ago. She was “professionel girlfriend” of a very rich man. Now she has duties and looks miserable.
She´s just a miserable Princess. Sometimes she seems to be shy, but most times she looks really uninterested in her new role.
She doesn´t play the “Princess-game”. Even after more than one decade with Albert, now as The Princess of Monaco she never learned french! Sorry, but she lives with Albert for years, she is now the Fist Lady of a french-speaking country and she has no intention to learn the language of “her” people???
She´s a PR disaster. Poor Albert
“Poor Charlene” will get her wish. She will be released from the marriage. I think Albert is setting her up with the PR about the rugby player so he can cut her loose.
Just watch.
Her husband looks super boring. but the other guy looks Crazy! WTF!
Sorry to say but I don’t really see the “miserable” part some people are talking about.
Charlene has been with Albert for more than a decade. She moved to Monaco and didn’t get a job, didn’t even learn French.
Basically, she went to Monaco with no plan to live there independently and adapt. She never held a job for 10 years before Albert proposed. She’s like Kate Middleton in that regard, except Charlene was a former Olympian who truly excelled at something.
She was a kept woman to Albert and I doubt he never cheated on her for 10 years or that she didn’t know anything about his shenanigans. She turned a blind eye to his cheating and Albert is a well-known womanizer.
Her plastic surgeries: nose job, boob jobs, botox, etc. dental work and other makeovers were all funded by Albert.
Her parents have a house in France also paid and bought by Albert. Her entire family benefits from her marriage.
I do believe she was miserable at her own wedding, but I don’t think she’s truly as miserable as people say. This is how she often looks when she’s out and about attending serious/formal events. She’s much more comfortable and happy attending children’s charities.