Princess Charlene on the cover of Marie Claire South Africa August 2013

Princess Charlene is on the August cover of Marie Claire South Africa to promote her foundation, which supports teaching young girls how to swim (Charlene was an Olympic swimmer before she settled down with Prince Albert).

This isn’t her first time in a fashion publication — she’s previously appeared in the American and Japanese editions of Vogue. Here she is on two alternate covers, one by herself and one with two fellow Olympians, Ryk Neethling and Chad le Clos, who look like they’d be much more comfortable shirtless.

Marie Claire magazine announced the ‘Get the Girls to Gold’ programme, aimed at raising funds for eight promising, young female swimmers to prepare them for qualifying for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, yesterday at our newly opened Bryanston club yesterday.

‘It started a year ago with a timeous comment of Ryk Neethling,’ says Aspasia Karras, editor of Marie Claire South Africa. ‘Ryk explained back then that there was a need to help girls achieve Olympic greatness and that it was the fervent desire of Graham Hill (Olympic coach and the man who guided Chad le Clos into the national heart and to gold) to set up a project that would do just that.’

Also supporting this initiative is HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco. In a world-exclusive in the August issue, Marie Claire editor Aspasia Karras discusses Princess Charlene’s passion for local talent and her wish to see SA female swimmers excel on the world stage. ‘My foundation (the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation) is based on helping children, and I hand-pick projects that are close to my heart and home. I still come home and do my bit. I believe that it’s what we do – our actions – that should make a difference. We need to instil the values that are important for future generations, and above all we have to show boys how to respect women.’

‘It is important that these girls in turn become roles models for other girls. It is the first step, if we get these girls to Rio successfully, for other girls also to aspire to be champions,’ says HSH Princess Charlene, who also features on the covers of Marie Claire.