Plenty of royals have been headed to Wimbledon over the past few days in order to catch up on all the tennis action, and on Wednesday, Prince Albert of Monaco was among the guests, but he was not joined by wife Princess Charlene.
The father-of-two was instead joined by his second cousin, Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy. Mélanie-Antoinette is the granddaughter of Princess Antoniette, Baroness of Massy, who was the older sister of Albert's father, Prince Rainier. The royal has often stepped in for either Albert or Charlene when one of them is unavailable to carry out royal visits.
Earlier this year, when Albert was suffering with COVID-19, she joined Charlene and the royal's twin children, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella as they attended a mass to commemorate Saint Devote, the patron saint of Monaco. She was also present at the ceremonial burning of a boat with the royals.
And when Charlene was suffering from an ENT infection for an extended period of months, she would often join Albert as he stepped out for official business.
© Patrick SmithFor the outing, Albert looked incredibly dapper in a full suit, and he even got into a bit of the Wimbledon spirit with a hat emblazoned with the green and purples of the event's logo. Meanwhile, his companion looked beautiful in a fitted floral dress that she finished off with a pair of necklaces.
PHOTOS: 5 royals looking ace in tennis kit: Princess Kate, Princess Diana, Prince Edward and more
The duo had an exciting time at the iconic tennis tournament as they watched the women's singles quarter-finals, seeing Tunisia's Ons Jabeur triumph over reigning champion Elena Rybakina. Ons fought back from a set down to win.
© PLS PoolAlbert's trip to Wimbledon comes shortly after he and Charlene marked their 12th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, the couple's official Instagram account shared a photo of the pair talking and gazing lovingly at each other, taken at the Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament in April.
It was captioned: "Happy Wedding Anniversary to Their Highnesses Prince Albert and Princess Charlene. © Photo: Eric Mathon/Prince's Palace #princealbert @hshprincesscharlene".
© GettyFans rushed to share their good wishes, with one commenting: "Happy Wedding Anniversary to Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco. Wish you many, many happy returns of the day. 12 years ago I watched with happiness the magnificent ceremony of your wedding, it was sublime. Princess Charlene I've never seen a bride as beautiful as you." Others kindly added: "Happy anniversary, @ adorable royal couple," "Joyeux anniversaire," and: "That look though [red love heart emoji]".
Speaking about her wedding day back in 2011, Charlene said in an interview with The Times: "Everything was just so overwhelming and there were all the mixed emotions because of the rumours, and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears [immediately after the ceremony]. And then I burst into tears some more because I was thinking 'Oh no, now the whole world has seen me cry'."
© Palais PrincierShe went on to add: "It was such a wonderful three days. Even months afterwards I would get flashbacks and think, 'Oh, my goodness, did I really have the Eagles playing at my wedding?' I think back and wonder how we managed to pull it off."
PHOTOS: Princess Charlene makes stunning solo appearance at red carpet event in Monte Carlo
SEE: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's twins make adorable appearance after missing coronation
Charlene's close friend and maid of honour Isabella Kristensen told HELLO!: "It was absolutely beautiful. Albert's speech was touching, Charlene's father’s speech was amazing. Everyone found the whole event to be very romantic. Charlene moved to Monaco for love, and this was special."
The couple first met back in 2007 at the Mare Nostrum International Swimming Meet in Monaco when Charlene was an Olympic swimmer. They announced their engagement just three years later in 2010 after Albert proposed with a beautiful pear-cut diamond ring thought to be created by Parisian jeweller Repossi.
