The very private Princess Charlene of Monaco has given us a rare look into what her 2019 was like. The mother of twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, five, revealed and acknowledged in an interview with South African magazine Huisgenoot that she appears sad in images. Charlene, who is South African, shared that 2019 was a hard year for her as she was coping with the loss of two friends and the surgery of her father. The princess shared, “’People are very quick to say, ‘Oh, why isn’t she smiling in the photos?’ Well, sometimes it’s hard to smile.'”

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The former athlete and Prince Albert of Monaco’s wife candidly revealed, “They don’t know what’s going on in the background.” In 2019, two of Charlene’s close friends passed away within ten days of each other. The princess, who is Grace Kelly’s daughter-in-law, also shared that she often time feels homesick for her native of South Africa. She explained, “I have the privilege of having this life, but I miss my family and my friends in South Africa and I’m often sad because I cannot always be there for them.”

Despite having a schedule filled with many Royal duties, Charlene makes it a point to visit her home country often. In February 2019, Charlene took her Royal twins to visit her beautiful country for the first time.