Royal Profile: 35 Facts of Princess Charlene of Monaco

1. Charlene Lynette Wittstock was born on 25th January 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Africa {Source}
2. She is the eldest child and only daughter of Michael Kenneth & Lynette Wittstock {Source}
3. She has two younger brothers, Gareth (1980) & Sean Wittstock (1983) {Source}
4. She learned to swim by the time she was 3 years old, because a dog had pushed her into the pool accidentally.
5. She began to swim competitively by the time she was 8 years old.
6. When she was just six years old, she told her mother that she was going to one day win an Olympic Medal for swimming (She came close! See point #10!)
7. In 1989, her family moved from Zimbabwe to South Africa {Source}
8. She developed a passion for swimming at a very early age {Source}
9. When she was 18 years old, she became South Africa's Swimming Champion {Source}
10. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olyfmpic Games, where South Africa came in 5th in her event.{Source}
11. In 2000, she won the gold medal for the 200m backstroke event at the "Marenostrum" international swimming meeting in Monaco{Source}
12. She won three gold medals at the swimming World Cup (50m and 100m crawl, 4x100m relay) {Source}
13. During the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, she won  the silver medal during the (4x100m medley relay) Source}
14. She is of German, South African, English and Rhodesian descent{Source}. 
15. Her father is German-South African {Source}. 
16.  Her mother is English-Rhodesian {Source}.
17. She began dating Prince Albert in 2006 {Source}
18. They were first spotted publicly at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy {Photos}
19. They became engaged in 2010, and married in 2011{Source}
20. Upon her marriage, she became Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco{Source}.
21. Also upon her marriage, she became stepmother to Albert's two illegitimate children, his 20 year old daughter with American Tamra Rotolo,  Jazmin Grace Grimaldi & his 9 year old son with French-Togolese Nicole Coste, Alexandre Eric Stephane Coste {Source}.
22. While living in South Africa, she gave swimming lessons to underprivileged children {Source}.
23. She holds honors from Poland {Source} and Monaco{Source}.
24. Her Astrological sign is Aquarius {Source}
25. She is said to be 5 Feet, 10 Inches Tall {Source}
26. She holds many honorary presidencies and patronages, including:
1. Ladies Lunch Monte-Carlo (since 2009, Honorary President){Source}
2. The Nelson Mandela Foundation{Source}
3. Born Free Foundation (since 2010, patron){Source}
4. Special Olympics (Global Ambassador, 2011; Patroness Monaco & South Africa, 2010){Source}
5. The Giving Organization Trust (Co-Patron, 2011){Source}
6. AS Rugby Monaco (Patron, 2012){Source}
7. MONA Association (Honorary President, 2012){Source}
8. The Princess Charlene Foundation (President, 2012) {Source}
27. In her free time, she likes to hike in the mountains,  and go swimming {Source}
28. She also read poetry & biographies by South African authors, and view contemporary art{Source}
29. She speaks English and Afrikaans fluently, and can say a few things in French (Before you get critical on me about her saying only a few things in french, remember this: Learning a new language takes time. Grace wasn't fluent in French until her children could talk! And even then she had issues!){video source (at 1:08)}
30. She is a recipient of the 2011 Golden Heart Award {Source}
31. During a visit to Poland in October 2012, she was awarded the (1st class) Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland {Source}
32. In November 2012, she was awarded the Grand Cross Order of St. Charles {Source}
33. From 2007-2009 at least she had a dog that was reportedly a gift from Albert that she named Monac {Photo}. However, this dog has yet to be seen since 2009-I have an odd feeling that her mother inherited the dog....but that's another story. ;-)
34. As of last St. Devote day celebrations of 2012, it was revealed that she had a new dog, named Mila {Photo of Mila with her parents on the balcony during the celebrations of St. Devote} However, Mila has less of a public life than Lupo Cambridge! We have yet to see Mila since her 2012 balcony appearance.
35. She was a recipient of the 2012 YOU Spectacular Great South African of the Year Award, which was accepted on her behalf by her brother, Sean {Source}.