On the 2nd July 2011 South African Swimmer Charlene Wittstock married Prince Albert of Monaco. Princess Charlene of Monaco has a family history that goes back many centuries in both Germany and England. We found her ancestors on the ship “San Francisco” on Ancestry24. We have over 141 records on the Wittstock Family.

She was born in Bulawayo on 25 January 1978 to Mike and Lynette Wittstock and is the eldest of their three children.  Are you related to the Wittstock Family? We would love to hear from you.

Charlene an Olympic swimmer and school teacher will marry Prince Albert of Monaco on 2nd July 2011. Not only has she the most remarkable resemblance to Princess Grace but the  poise and demeanour seem to have been moulded especially for this new role in her life.

We found her grandfather Heinrich in the 1927 King William’s Town Voters List and her great aunt Auguste in the King Williams Town German Cemetery

A new book called “Charlene and the ladies of Monaco” is being penned at the moment by the Royal Biographer Phillippe Delorme.

Grandpa raised from the dead

On a recent telephonic interview with her dad Mike he told me some fascinating stories of the family including how his father died twice and how their family, the Barretts,  were one of the first European settlers to arrive in Natal in 1849 onboard the SS Unicorn. They lived in a small hut made out of wattle and daub in extremely primitive conditions. Prior to that the family rented for many decades a farm Dunkeswick from Lord Harewood in Yorkshire.

Charlene’s grandfather Dudley was badly injured during the 2nd World War during the battle of Sidi Rezegh in 1941 and left for dead. Whilst the Germans invaded and the allied forces were in full battle Corporal Wittstock’s medical papers got muddled up. The family were given the dreadful news that their father had died in action on 23 November in Libya. A memorial service was held at St. Mary’s Church in Durban for the grieving family. Unbeknown to his family he was taken to a military hospital in Cairo to recover from is dreadful wounds.

Six months later the same minister who told the family about his death had to appologise and tell them that their had been a terrible mistake and he was alive. A thanksgiving service was held again in the same church. Dudley was discharged from the army in March 1943 and declared medically unfit. During his lifetime he underwent over 25 operations to provide him with a better quality of life. When he died in 1986 he still had shrapnel wounds in his body.

Are you related to Charlene ? we would love to hear from you.

Tags: barrett family, Charlene Wittstock, dunkeswick, Lord Harewood