
She looks abnormally old for 50 years. The middle-class housewives in my neighborhood with children in college, also 50, look a million times better than Alex. Her relationship with Martin must be failing and she must feel desparate about her current situation, aging and alone with her history of failed relationships behind her - must be depressing. I hope she is not drinking heavily or isn't sick. Just speculating.
I would hope she's not sick as well, or drinking. Her mother is still alive so maybe there's a health
issue there that she's worried about. But I also wonder if she has been regretting leaving the royal life. She
still gets some of the perks as the boys are still royal, but it's miniscule by comparison of what it used to be.
And she's probably noticing the pretty, slender Marie taking on more and more important assignments, plus
she gave Joachim his first daughter; and if the relationship with Martin isn't what she thought it would be, it
might be enough to let her appear looking this way.