Prince Albert of Monaco made a surprise appearance at the West Ham football match in London.
The Sovereign Prince travelled from Monaco to London on Sunday, 15 May, to watch West Ham play against Manchester City at London Olympic Stadium.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw, with West Ham’s goals being scored by winger Jarred Bowman and defender Vladimír Coufal and Manchester City’s attacking midfielder Jack Grealish scoring the two goals for his team.
Prince Albert appeared relaxed, and he seemed to be enjoying the diversion from his official duties, as he is known to be a big football fan. He is patron of the AS Monaco, the principality’s football club.
This was an unexpected outing for the Prince, who, since Princess Charlene’s return from an undisclosed location for treatment, has carried out a fuller agenda; his latest official engagement was the passage from winter to summer uniform for the Prince’s Carabinieri Company during the changing of the guard on Monday.
The Princely Palace has been surprisingly quiet about persistent rumours circulating about Princess Charlene’s first public appearance in public after more than a year out of the spotlight to recover from “mental and physical exhaustion.”
French-speaking magazines report that the Princess is being paid a hefty sum to appear in public events next to her husband as part of an agreement that incentivised her to come back.
The Palace has not commented on this information, and Princess Charlene seems to have remained back home in Monaco with Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella rather than travelling to London for the match.
Her next confirmed appearance should be at Monaco’s Rose Ball, one of the most glittering events in the principality’s calendar, which this year has been postponed to 8 July, though it usually takes place in March.
