A GRACEFUL COMEBACK

Since suffering ill health over the past few years, Princess Charlene has returned in style to her royal duties and family life - and the people are thrilled. Here she speaks to YOU about her recovery

- NICI DE WET

WHEN the chips are down and days are dark, the people you love most in the world are the ones who help carry you through. For many of us, this is our family - and so it is for royalty too. Princess Charlene of Monaco has been through a harrowing few years, battling ill health and having to fend off rumours of her marriage collapsing. But now Her Serene Highness is returning to public life and says her family and faith brought her through it all.

"I have been through a very difficult period but I'm lucky to have had the support and love of my husband, my children and my family, from which I draw my strength, the 44-year-old told YOU exclusively from the Pink Palace in Monaco. "Physically I'm feeling so much stronger," the former Olympic swimmer says. Princess Charlene sparked widespread concern last year with her frail appearance.

In March, shortly after her return to Monaco from a Swiss clinic where she spent four months being treated for emotional and physical exhaustion, she told French publication Nice-Matin she still "feels fragile".

"The road has been long, difficult and so painful. I don't want to go too fast, but today I feel calmer.

And she's been getting stronger ever since at recent public appearances she was practically glowing with good health.

She's doing "lots of sports", including her beloved swimming and being back in the gym, Charlene tells us.

But nothing can top the restorative effects of being home with her husband, Prince Albert (64), and her seven-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella. The family of four have been snapped out and about and Charlene is relishing the time she's spending with them after being separated from them for most of last year while she was battling ill health in South Africa.