Monaco gets a sporty princess, Prince Albert of Monaco to wed

Charlene Wittstock, whose engagement to Prince Albert II of Monaco was announced yesterday, is a Zimbabwe-born swimmer who has represented her adopted homeland of South Africa in the Olympics.

The 32-year-old, who was born in Zimbabwe's main southern city Bulawayo on January 25, 1978, learned to swim at the age of three and developed a passion for the sport from the age of eight.

Influenced by her mother, who was also an Olympic-level swimmer, she grew up next to a swimming pool.

She first attracted attention for her performances in the pool in the late 1990s and represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Her career high point came at the World Cup two years later when she won three gold medals, competing in the 50m and 100m backstroke as well as the 4 by 100m relay.

The blonde with blue eyes had already begun attracting coverage on the front pages since 2006, after being photographed on Prince Albert's arm at a number of functions in Monaco, a Riviera millionaire's playground, during a lengthy spell on the sidelines while recuperating from a shoulder injury.

She was first spotted with the prince in 2001 at an event in Monte Carlo and was subsequently his guest at high profile events such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix in the principality and the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Her profile rose further when she was picked for a swimwear photo shoot by Sports Illustrated.

While she has been tight-lipped about her relationship with the prince, she has admitted that the initial attention from the paparazzi was hard to take.

"I feel now that they respect the fact that I have a career, and that I need my space," she told the Durban-based Sunday Tribune newspaper.

"At first it was a bit different (dealing with the media) but everything has settled now," she told the paper.

As rumours of their relationship swirled, Albert sued the weekly Paris-Match which published a report headlined "Albert and Charlene: a foretaste of a honeymoon", with photos of the couple on holiday in the Maldives.

However, it was to the same magazine that Charlene told of her meeting with former South African president Nelson Mandela, who in a London restaurant in January 2005 persuaded her to fight to take part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the end she did not compete.