The Family
Prince Rainier III (May 31, 1923 – April 6, 2005)
Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand was the son of Princess Charlotte of Monaco and her husband, Pierre de Polignac. Charlotte’s father was Prince Louis II of Monaco, who, at the time of her birth, was having a political crisis – who would inherit the throne? Charlotte was an illegitimate child, and as such could not inherit.
The other choice for the succession was quite distasteful to the Monegasques. As Prince Louis had no other heirs, the throne of Monaco would pass to a German relative, his first cousin Wilhelm, Duke of Urach. A law was quickly passed in 1911 to recognize Charlotte as Louis’s legitimate heir, but under the 1882 statutes, this law was declared invalid. That did not stop the government. They tried again, and in 1918 passed a law to allow the adoption of an heir by a Prince or Princess, and that heir would then be given full succession rights. Prince Louis officially adopted his daughter Charlotte, and she became a legitimized Hereditary Princess of Monaco. However, Charlotte eventually ceded her right to the throne and passed it to her son, Rainier. He officially succeeded his grandfather, Prince Louis II, as ruler of Monaco.
During His 56-year reign, Prince Rainier III transformed the Riviera hot-spot (known as a “sunny place for shady people”) into a thriving international financial, cultural and sports center. The Principality was given a touch of glamour with the famous Monte Carlo casino, a touch of class with the Monte Carlo Ballet and Opera, and a jolt of excitement with the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Monaco became a business to Rainier. Later, he would credit his daughter Caroline’s husband, Stefano Casiraghi, with helping him establish Monaco as a premier luxury tourist destination. Rainier had one sibling, HSH Princess Antoinette, Baroness de Massy. She became an unpopular figure in the principality for her notorious schemes to depose Rainier and become the reigning Princess of Monaco. After his marriage to Grace Kelly, Antoinette continued to scheme and pressure Rainier, which caused Grace to banish her from the palace. The siblings and their families did not speak nor see each other again for a very, very long time.
Eventually, they were reconciled and Antoinette began to attend family functions once again. With the ascension of her nephew Albert II, Baroness de Massy and her children lost their rights to succession.
In the last few years of his life, Prince Rainier’s health progressively declined. He had been hospitalized for coronary problems and a severe bronchial infection. Prince Albert appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live in 2004 and told host King that his father was fine, though suffering from bronchitis. This eased the fears of the worried public for the time being, but the next year, Rainier was put in the hospital’s intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator. The 81-year-old Prince was suffering from heart failure.
The doctors informed his family that Rainier’s chances of recovery were “slim”. Shortly after this prognosis, he died on April 6, 2005. He was buried a week later beside his wife, Princess Grace, at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral of Monaco. The leader of Rainier’s Catholic faith, Pope John Paul II, had passed away four days earlier on April 2. It was truly the end of an era for both the Grimaldis and the world.
Princess Grace (November 12, 1929–September 14, 1982)
Princess Grace, formerly known as Grace Patricia Kelly of Pennsylvania, was born November 12th, 1929. Her father was Jack Kelly, a son of Irish immigrants who started out working as a bricklayer. Kelly eventually began his own construction business and became a millionaire. The seventeen-room mansion he built for his family is where Grace spent her formative years with her brother and sisters: John, Margaret, and Elizabeth (Lizanne).
Jack had been a triple gold-medal-winning sculler in the Olympics, and all of his children with the exception of Grace had some degree of sporting prowess. Grace herself was timid, slender, and delicate. She occupied herself in a world of make-believe while her more competitive and outgoing siblings excelled in athletics.
At the age of five, Grace was sent to the Catholic Ravenhill Academy. It was a cozy, highly reverent, family atmosphere that eventually brought Grace out of her shell. She decided that she wanted to be an actress and make her daydreams in the world of make-believe a reality.
During her time in high school at the Steven’s School for Girls, Grace got a start in modeling and acted in school productions. She appeared on the covers of magazines and was a spokesmodel for Max Factor lipstick, Lustre-Creme shampoo, Lux Toilet Soap, and Old Gold cigarettes.
Grace’s uncle George Kelly – her father’s brother – was a playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor who encouraged the girl’s dreams of one day shining on the silver screen. Grace would forever adore the man the rest of the family shunned for his homosexuality.
Then came Alfred Hitchcock, who made Grace’s name famous the world over. After several minor roles, Grace shot to fame with Hitchcock, who decided that he would take the blonde beauty and mold her into a star. Grace Kelly would be an icon for her films Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief.
Soon after her Golden Globe and Oscar wins, Grace caught the eye of Prince Rainier III of Monaco while in Cannes for the legendary film festival. She was invited to a photo session with the Prince and offered a tour of his palace. After a few meetings the sparks were undeniable, and they decided that they wanted to get married.
In 1956 they married – twice. The first was a civil wedding on April 18th and the religious ceremony followed the next day. Grace would not make any more movies after her marriage to Rainier, who insisted that she should focus on being part of the royal family and her role as a Serene Highness.
Grace was unhappy about leaving her career behind, but understood that she was now a royal princess with responsibilities to Monaco. Instead, Grace threw herself wholeheartedly into projects that supported the arts in Monaco. Eventually the Princess Grace Foundation was formed to support local artisans.
Along with her three children, Caroline, Albert, and Stephanie, the Princess instituted a yearly Christmas party at the Prince’s Palace for local orphans. Together they handed out presents to the children, and to this day the tradition carries on with Prince Albert and his sisters and their children.
On September 13, 1982, Grace and Stephanie were driving back to Monaco from the family’s country home. Though dozens of rumors have flown through the media over the years, it has emerged that it was a stroke that caused Grace to suddenly lose control of the car. They drove off of the sharp, winding road and plummeted down the side of the mountain.
An emergency team pulled Grace out of the car, still alive but unconscious. She and Stephanie were rushed to the hospital and Grace was put on life support.
The beloved screen star and Philadelphia girl who became a princess would never shine again. The doctors said that she would never regain consciousness, so Rainier and her family made the heart wrenching decision to turn off life support. Grace died a day after the accident.
Princess Caroline of Monaco and Hanover
Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite was born January 23rd, 1957 to His Serene Highness Prince Rainier and his wife, HSH Princess Grace. As the eldest child of the Sovereign Prince, Caroline was groomed from the beginning to become a very public representative of the royal house of Monaco. It was a task that would be a simple one for the daughter of a glamorous American film star and a Mediterranean prince.
As a princess of Monaco, a country which sits between France and Italy, Caroline learned to speak fluent French, English, and Italian. She can also speak German, the language of her current spouse Prince Ernst of Hanover.
Princess Caroline was the heiress presumptive (assumed to be the heir) until March 14th, 1958, the date of the birth of her brother Albert. As a male he took on the title of heir apparent (the direct heir).
Caroline attended an all-girls Roman Catholic boarding school, St Mary’s School Ascot in the heart of Berkshire. Here she achieved her “A” Levels, and after leaving England went on to receive her French Baccalauréat in Paris in 1974 with Honors. The princess then went on to the Sorbonne in Paris where she received a diploma in Philosophy.
On June 29, 1978, Caroline married Philippe Junot, a Parisian banker seventeen years her senior, in a religious ceremony. Caroline was just 19 years old at the time. Princess Grace did not approve of the match because of Junot’s rumored playboy lifestyle and the age gap between them. Caroline, however, was extremely headstrong and decided to marry him anyway.
Grace feared Junot was taking advantage of Caroline and her status. Just two years later in October 1980, the princess was proven correct: the marriage did not work out, and Caroline divorced Junot on the grounds of infidelity.
Three years later, Stefano Casiraghi, heir to an Italian oil fortune, would become Caroline’s second husband. They wed on December 29, 1983. Unfortunately, Princess Grace had already passed away the previous September in the infamous car crash. She would have been very pleased at this match: Stefano was the love of Caroline’s life and treated her well, and many people described the pair as soulmates. Caroline and Stefano were married civilly, but could not wed in a religious ceremony due to the fact that she was still married to Philippe Junot in the eyes of the Catholic Church. It would take 12 years for the church to grant Caroline an annulment.
Stefano and Caroline had three children: Andrea, Charlotte, and Pierre. They lived a happy life together that seemed to have little conflict. The only hint of marital discord were the disputes Caroline would have with Stefano about his hobby – speedboat racing. She feared for his life, but Stefano took a more fatalistic approach. He made it plain that he was doing something he loved, and yes, sometimes life was risky.
In October 1990, Caroline’s worst fear had come true. During a race off the coast of Monaco near Cap Ferrat, Stefano’s boat, the Pinot de Pinot, was going so fast in the choppy waters that it flipped over. He was killed instantly, his neck broken from the impact.
The Princess’ children were now fatherless, and she was bereft of her soulmate. Caroline cried openly at the funeral, a scene the family had endured eight years previously for Princess Grace. After the funeral, Caroline decided that she would remove herself and her children from the prying eyes of the paparazzi and public in Monaco, and moved to a small village in France.
Several years later, Princess Caroline remarried again. Her new husband had very historic royal blood as Prince Ernst August V of Hanover, a descendant of King George III. They married January 23rd, 1999 in Monaco’s Princely Palace.
Ernst would today be the King of Great Britain had the country kept with Salic tradition. Because Britain recognized a female as a rightful heir (a certain Queen Victoria) and Germany did not, the link between the royal houses of England and Germany was broken.
Ernst’s family titles were abolished by the Weimar Republic that was established in Germany after World War I. Ernst is entitled by German law to use Prince of Hanover as his surname, so naturally Princess Caroline is able to call herself Princess of Hanover though not as a Royal title. Caroline’s only undisputed title is Serene Highness, a Hereditary Princess of Monaco. Ernst and Caroline have a young daughter named Princess Alexandra of Hanover.
H.S.H. Prince Albert II
Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre was born March 14, 1958. He is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace.
Albert attended Lycee Albert I in Monaco, graduating in 1976. During his summer breaks away from school, the Prince spent his time in his mother’s native United States. He was a camp counselor at Camp Tecumseh on Lake Winnipesaukee in Moultonborough, New Hampshire throughout the 1970s.
Albert is known as the daredevil of the family, participating in practically every sport ranging from cross country, javelin throwing, handball, judo, and bobsledding. He was part of the bobsled team for several Olympic Games in a row, from 1988-2002.
The Prince is also passionate about the environment and has expressed concern over the loss of resources and the dangers to marine life. This passion is inherited from his predecessor, Prince Albert I of Monaco, who helped establish what was then a new science – oceanography. It was a science that Albert I saw as “the outline of the most powerful realm of physical and chemical phenomena, from which birth, propagation and the evolution of beings emerged”.
As the Sovereign Prince, Albert uses his influence to draw the public’s attention to the need to protect the marine environment of not just Monaco, but the entire world.
[http://www-naweb.iaea.org/naml/files/Prince%20Albert%20speech.pdf]
Albert has had several relationships, two of which resulted in children: he is the father of Jazmin Grace Rotolo and Alexandre Coste. Both are welcome in Monaco at any time, but neither will inherit any money, titles, or property from Albert since they are illegitimate.
The Prince’s bachelorhood recently came to an end when the Royal Palace announced that Albert became engaged to Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer who hails from South Africa. Both share a love of sports and, most importantly, Charlene seems at ease in the company of the Grimaldis and the media.
Princess Stephanie
Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth was born February 1st, 1965. She is the third and last child of Grace and Rainier. Stephanie attended school at Dames de Saint-Maur in Monaco and continued at Dupanloup in Paris. The princess then went on to obtain her French Baccalaureat degree in 1982.
While in Paris, the princess discovered a love of gymnastics. Stephanie also loves swimming, water skiing, and downhill skiing in the Alps, all of which contribute to her stunningly muscular physique. Not one to rest on her laurels, Stephanie ventured into a variety of careers after her schooling; she has been a singer, swimwear designer, and fashion model. Princess Grace jokingly referred to Stephanie as her “wild child”. But as much as Grace adored her daughter, she was equally appalled by her wild love life.
Stephanie’s affairs were numerous and scandals were usually attached to them. After Princess Grace’s death in 1982, Stephanie’s relationships became more scandalous and her ever-changing careers became more frequent. Many say that this was due to the emotional trauma Stephanie suffered after the accident that claimed Grace’s life and left Stephanie herself gravely injured.
The Princess’ relationship with her bodyguard, Daniel Ducruet, angered Prince Rainier. Ducruet had originally been appointed as a Palace bodyguard with responsibility for Prince Albert, but in 1991 he was transferred by Rainier to Stephanie’s entourage. Ducruet was to act as her bodyguard on her tour to promote her new album. A passionate romance began, and before Rainier could object, Stephanie announced that she was pregnant with Ducruet’s child.
Their first child was a son named Louis Robert Paul, born November 26, 1992. On May 4, 1994 the couple welcomed a daughter, whom they named Pauline Grace Maguy.
After being caught frolicking with a Belgian model, Daniel Ducruet was served with divorce papers from Princess Stephanie. Sixteen months after her divorce, Stephanie became romantically involved with Jean Raymond Gottlieb, a former Paris gendarme and the head of her security. Soon the Princess was again pregnant, and Gottlieb was rumored to be the father. Camille Marie Kelly was born July 15, 1998. Stephanie would not confirm or deny that Gottlieb had fathered the baby, nor did she put his name on the child’s birth certificate.
Other relationships followed, including a secret marriage to circus acrobat Adans Lopez Peres. They married on September 12, 2003, but were divorced just barely over a year later in November 2004.
Notorious relationships aside, Princess Stephanie has been a strong advocate for the organization Fight Aids Monaco, which she created to help support those living with HIV. She is also the President of several associations including : Monaco Youth Center, Princess Stephanie Activity Center, Honorary Board member of the Princess Grace Foundation U.S.A. ; Vice-President of the Organizing Committee of the International Monte-Carlo Circus Festival.
Andrea Casiraghi
Andrea Albert Pierre Casiraghi was born June 8, 1984. He is the first of three children born to Princess Caroline and her second husband, the late Stefano Casiraghi.
Andrea is currently second in line to the throne after his mother, Princess Caroline. If his uncle, Prince Albert II, dies without legitimate children, then Andrea will become the next reigning Prince of Monaco.
Andrea attended school at the International School of Paris. Like his mother and his siblings, he is fluent in French, English, Italian and German. Andrea briefly attended Canada’s McGill University, then returned to France where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in visual arts and international politics from the American University of Paris.
In 2006, Andrea began to represent his mother at official functions. One of the more high-profile events was his visit to Manila in the Philippines for the charity Amade, of which Princess Caroline is patron.
Andrea’s girlfriend, Tatiana Santo Domingo, accompanied him on this visit. The pair have been dating for about five years. Tatiana, a Colombian-born socialite and heiress of a beer and airline empire, has also attended official functions in Monaco alongside Andrea.
Charlotte Casiraghi
Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi was born August 3, 1986 to Princess Caroline of Monaco and Stefano Casiraghi. Charlotte is their second child and only daughter, born between eldest brother Andrea and younger brother Pierre.
Charlotte doesn’t carry the title of princess, but she has proven that she doesn’t need a title to capture the hearts and minds of the public. Charlotte’s exotic beauty and legendary pedigree makes her one of the most admired aristocratic women in the world.
Charlotte and her brothers grew up surrounded by the history of their mother’s Grimaldi roots in Monaco. She was close to her grandfather Prince Rainier, but sadly never knew her grandmother Princess Grace. The “All American Girl” who became a Monegasque royal upon her marriage to Rainier had died in a car accident in 1982, a few years before Charlotte was born. Charlotte is beloved by fans who fondly remember Grace, whose glamour they say she has inherited.
With her father Stefano’s shimmering aqua eyes, Caroline’s pouty lips, and Grace’s finely chiseled features, Charlotte is a photographer’s dream come true. “She makes me think of Brigitte Bardot,” says Karl Lagerfeld, an old friend of the family.
Pierre Casiraghi
Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi was born September 5, 1987 at the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace in Monte Carlo. Pierre is the younger son of Princess Caroline and Stefano Casiraghi.
He is named after Caroline’s grandfather, Prince Pierre; his own grandfather, Prince Rainier III; and his late father, Stefano.
Pierre was just a toddler when his father perished in the boating accident in 1990. Stefano had only just turned 30 years old. Pierre and his two older siblings, Andrea and Charlotte, lived quietly in France with Princess Caroline for many years to recuperate from Stefano’s untimely passing.
Like his brother and sister, Pierre speaks fluent French, Italian, English and some German. He also enjoys playing the saxophone, and has done so for years.
Pierre is third in line to the throne of Monaco, following his mother and brother.