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Monaco’s new princess joins Tutu in South African charity

Monaco’s new Princess Charlene on Friday urged people to do good, as global peace icon Desmond Tutu welcomed her as co-patron of a group of 10 charities in her native South Africa.

“I’m so honoured to be here today to accept this patronage,” the former Charlene Wittstock told a ceremony in Cape Town.

“I was thinking earlier, how can you give back without doing anything. We have to all give in our own way.”

The royal joined Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tutu as co-patron of The Giving Organisation Trust, made up of 10 charities that focus on issues ranging from HIV to children and environmental protection.

“We are very thrilled because you have a heart,” Tutu told the former South African Olympic swimmer.

“It shows that you care and we just want to say a very big thank you to God for you, that you should have wanted to use your celebrity for other people, on behalf of other people.”

She came to Cape Town after a party the previous evening where she hosted nearly 500 guests at the Oyster Box, a luxury hotel in the Indian Ocean resort town of Umhlanga. The princess said Friday it was “great being back home”.

With his trademark charisma, Tutu told the princess that she already looked regal in photographs, complimented her “serene highness” title and said that she was beautiful after hugging her in welcome at a local clinic in a shantytown.

“I’m taking him home,” the princess pronounced, laughing after he later told the audience they were all lovely.

“They would say we are a mutual admiration society,” Tutu said.

The princess and her husband Prince Albert II arrived in South Africa on Tuesday for their tour which has been described as part honeymoon and part business trip.

Albert, a member of the IOC, took part in Wednesday’s election of the 2018 Winter Olympics host city, which saw Pyeongchang, South Korea beat out Munich, Germany and Annecy, France.