Prince Albert ofMonaco brought two of his children on an official visit to Dublin on Friday.- He shares Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella with wife Princess Charlene, a former Olympian.
- The trip came a day after Charlene was hospitalized in South Africa, where she's been since May.
Prince Albert of Monaco brought the 6-year-old twins he shares with his wife Princess Charlene on an official visit to Ireland on Friday, a day after she was rushed to the hospital in South Africa.
Accompanied by their children Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, Albert toured Trinity College in Dublin, according to the official Facebook account for the Palace of Monaco.
On September 2, South African publication News24 reported that Charlene, 43, who has been grounded in her home country of South Africa since May, had suffered a "medical emergency" and was admitted to the hospital overnight.
In a statement published by People magazine on Friday, a spokesperson for the palace confirmed the hospitalization occurred on September 1 and was related to complications arising from a serious ENT infection.
The former Olympian turned royal previously opened up about her prolonged illness in an interview with News24 in July.
"It's been a trying time for me," Charlene told the publication. "What has been extremely difficult for me was when I was instructed by my medical team that I could not return home for my 10th wedding anniversary."
"Albert is my rock and strength, and without his love and support I would not have been able to get through this painful time," she added.
Despite the kind words and Albert's visit to Charlene in August, as documented on her Instagram, the couple continue to face speculation about their relationship.
On September 1, The Times of London reported that rumors were rife among local media in Monaco about the royal couple. Paris Match, a French publication, published a story with the headline asking: "Charlene and Albert on the verge of breaking up?" The publication also reported that they are living "separate lives" and going through a "new crisis."
Speaking to People magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, Albert denied rumors Charlene left "Monaco in a huff" before her extended stay in South Africa.
"She didn't leave because she was mad at me or at anybody else," he told the publication. "She was going down to South Africa to reassess her foundation's work down there and to take a little time off with her brother and some friends."
Speaking to ABC News following their 2011 wedding, British historian Robert Lacey described a scene far from a fairytale wedding, one in which Charlene was pictured leaving in tears.
Reporting for The Guardian in 2011, journalist Ros Coward wrote that "Charlene clearly had her doubts."
However, Charlene later shut down the wedding rumors. Mail Online reports that she told The Times of London Weekend Magazine in 2013: "Everything was just so overwhelming and there were all the mixed emotions because of the rumors, and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears. And then I burst into tears some more because I was thinking, 'Oh no, now the whole world has seen me cry.'"
Bidisha SK Mamata, a British filmmaker and journalist interviewed for a Channel 5 documentary about Monaco's royal family, echoed prior observations.
"I always respect honesty, emotional honesty, particularly in women, about how to make it very clear that a fairytale wedding is not a fairytale at all," Mamata told Insider.
Representatives for Princess Charlene and Prince Albert did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.