| Caroline of Monaco | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess of Hanover | |||||
 Princess Caroline in 2009 | |||||
| Born | (1957-01-23)23 January 1957 (age 69) Prince's Palace,Monaco | ||||
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| Issue | |||||
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| House | Grimaldi (by birth) Hanover (by marriage)[1][2][3] | ||||
| Father | Rainier III, Prince of Monaco | ||||
| Mother | Grace Kelly | ||||
Princess Caroline of Monaco (born 23 January 1957) isPrincess of Hanover by marriage toPrince Ernst August. As the eldest child ofRainier III, Prince of Monaco, andGrace Kelly, she is the elder sister ofAlbert II, Prince of Monaco, andPrincess Stéphanie.
She wasHereditary Princess of Monaco andheir presumptive to theMonegasque throne from her birth in 1957 until her brother Albert was born the following year, and again from Albert's accession in 2005 until the birth of his twins, her nieceGabriella and nephewJacques, in 2014.
Caroline was born on 23 January 1957 in thePrince's Palace,Monaco. She is the eldest child ofRainier III, Prince of Monaco, and his wife, former American actressGrace Kelly. Christened Caroline Louise Marguerite, she belongs to theHouse of Grimaldi. She was theheir presumptive from her birth to 14 March 1958, when her brotherPrince Albert was born. On 1 February 1965, her younger sisterPrincess Stéphanie was born. Caroline is a legitimate patrilineal descendant of theDukes of Polignac, and as such belongs to the historicalFrench nobility. Through her mother, she is of Irish and German descent.[4][5]
In an interview forPeople in April 1982, shortly before her death, Grace described Caroline and Stéphanie as "warm, bright, amusing, intelligent and capable girls. They're very much in tune with their era. Besides being good students, they are good athletes – excellent skiers and swimmers. Both can cook and sew and play the piano and ride a horse. But, above all, my children are good sports, conscious of their position and considerate of others. They are sympathetic to the problems and concerns in the world today."[6]
As a child, Caroline spent time at the home of her maternal grandparents,John B. Kelly, Sr. and Margaret Kelly (née, Majer), inPhiladelphia. In addition to visiting her mother's family in the United States, she spent the summer of 1971 at Camp Oneka in thePoconos at the age of 14. While there, unbeknownst to her parents, Caroline was protected by theUnited States Secret Service.[7]
Princess Grace died on 14 September 1982, the day after suffering a stroke while driving herself and Princess Stéphanie home to Monaco from a visit toFrance, resulting in an accident in which both were injured.
The princess received her Frenchbaccalauréat in 1974 with honours. She was also educated atSt Mary's School Ascot. After a semester atSciences Po, Caroline continued her studies at theSorbonne University, where she received a diploma inphilosophy and minors inpsychology andbiology.[8][9] She is fluent inFrench,English,Spanish,German andItalian.[8]
In 1979, Princess Caroline was appointed by her parents as the president of the Monégasque Committee for theInternational Year of the Child.[8] Two years later, in 1981, Caroline foundedJeune J'écoute association.[10] The association set up a 'youth hotline' where young people can talk about their problems on the telephone with qualified people trained in dealing with problems young people faced.[8] Other philanthropic organizations Caroline has been involved with include theWorld Association of Children's Friends (AMADE Mondiale),[11] thePrincess Grace Foundation,[12] thePrince Pierre Foundation,[13] andUNICEF.
Caroline is the Patron of Peter Le Marchant Trust, an organization that operates canal boat trips for ill and disabled people.[14] Her other patronages include theInternational School of Paris,[15]Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, which she also founded,[16] theMonte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra,[17] theAssociation des Guides et Scouts de Monaco,[8] the Monte Carlo Garden Club andThe Spring Arts Festival. In 1992, she was appointed the president of the International Contemporary Art Prize.[8]
Following her mother's death in 1982, Caroline served asde factofirst lady of Monaco until her brothermarriedCharlene Wittstock in 2011.[18][19] She regularly attends important social events in Monaco related to theMonégasque Princely Family, such as the National Day celebrations,[20] the annual Rose Ball,[21] the Red Cross Ball and theFormula One competitionMonaco Grand Prix.Due to her commitment to philanthropy and arts, Caroline was named aUNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on 2 December 2003.[22] TheUNICEF honoured her with Children's Champion Award on 20 May 2006. The next year, she travelled to theRepublic of South Africa to meet its former presidentNelson Mandela.[23] In December 2011, the World Association of Children's Friends honoured her for "tireless endeavours in continuing the organisation's legacy". Her personal friend and theChanel head designerKarl Lagerfeld presented her the award.[24] Caroline had also previously been given the Grand Cross of theOrder of St. Charles, and had been appointed as the Commander of theOrder of Cultural Merit.[25]
| Princely family of Monaco |
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The Princess of Hanover Princess Stéphanie |
Caroline's personal interests include riding, swimming and skiing.[8] Since her youth, she has been considered an international fashion icon andone of the best dressed women in the world.[26][27] In November 2011, an exhibition honouring Princess Caroline was opened at theNational Museum of Monaco.[28]
Caroline was romantically linked to many famous men, includingGuillermo Vilas;Henri Giscard d'Estaing, the son of formerPresident of FranceValéry Giscard d'Estaing; French singerPhilippe Lavil; andBobby Shriver, nephew of formerU.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[29] Following her divorce fromPhilippe Junot, she was briefly engaged to Robertino Rossellini, the son ofRoberto Rossellini andIngrid Bergman. Between her second and third marriages, Caroline had a relationship with French actorVincent Lindon.[30]
Princess Caroline's first husband wasPhilippe Junot (19 April 1940 – 8 January 2026), aParisianbanker. They weremarried civilly in Monaco on 28 June 1978, and religiously on 29 June 1978.[31] Their lavish wedding ceremony was attended by some 650 guests, includingHollywood starsAva Gardner,Cary Grant andFrank Sinatra.[32]
The couple divorced, childless, on 9 October 1980. In 1992, theCatholic Church granted the princess anannulment.[33]
Her second husband wasStefano Casiraghi (8 September 1960 – 3 October 1990), the sportsman heir to an Italian industrial fortune. They were married civilly in Monaco on 29 December 1983, and had three children:
The two younger children are named for their maternal great-grandparents,Princess Charlotte andPrince Pierre, while Andrea was named for a childhood friend of his father's. Stefano Casiraghi was killed in a speed-boating accident in 1990, aged 30 years.
Even though their parents had not married in the Church, as required under canon law, their marriage was convalidated by PopeJohn Paul II in February 1993, eight months after their mother's marriage to Junot had been annulled in June 1992.
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Caroline's third and current husband isPrince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick, head of theHouse of Hanover, which lost the throne of theKingdom of Hanover in 1866.[40] From 1913 to 1918, his family ruled the sovereignDuchy of Brunswick (until theabolition of the monarchy).
The couple married in Monaco on 23 January 1999. Ernst August had previously divorced his first wife Chantal Hochuli, with whom he had sonsPrince Ernst August andPrince Christian, and who had been Caroline's friend.
The couple have one daughter together:
Her husband's title as Duke of Brunswick is honorific since the ruling family of that state was removed by theWeimar Republic in 1918, along with all royal and noble German ruling families, which were still allowed to retain their titles. Neither she nor her husband has royal rank in Germany, but Monaco recognizes the Hanoverians' former German royal titles, attributing to the couple the style ofRoyal Highness. On 11 January 1999, shortly before Caroline and Ernst's wedding, his third cousin once removed (Queen Victoria was their common ancestor), QueenElizabeth II of the United Kingdom, issued thisOrder in Council, "My Lords, I do hereby declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between His Royal Highness Prince Ernst August Albert of Hanover, Duke ofBrunswick-Luneburg and Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite of Monaco...". As a legitimatemale-line descendant of George II, Ernst August was subject to theRoyal Marriages Act 1772 (repealed in 2015). Prior to the repeal of the Act, therevised form of which limits those who must gain permission to the first six people in the line of British succession, marrying without the Queen'sRoyal Assent would have meant their marriage would bevoid in Britain, where Ernst August's family owned substantial property and he holds (dual) citizenship.[40]
Likewise, the Monégasque court officially notified France of Caroline's contemplated marriage to Prince Ernst August and received assurance that there was no objection, in compliance with Article 2 of the 1918Franco-Monégasque Treaty.[42] Despite obtaining the official approval of the governments of France, Monaco and the United Kingdom, upon Caroline's marriage to Ernst August he forfeited his own place in Britain'sorder of succession. He is also subject to theAct of Settlement 1701, which imposes that consequence upon Britishdynasts who marry Roman Catholics.[40] TheSuccession to the Crown Act of 2013 however removed that consequence of marrying a Roman Catholic, and would place him back in the order of succession.
In 2009, it was reported that Caroline had separated from Ernst August and returned to live in Monaco.[43]
Caroline has had a bad relationship with media and paparazzi since her youth, when she complained she "could not live the life of a normal student".[44] On 24 June 2004, the Princess obtained a judgement from theEuropean Court of Human Rights condemning Germany for non-respect of her right to private life under Article 8 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights.[45]
Caroline invoked the judgment in combination with articles 1(1) and 2(1) of theBasic Law (human dignity and personal freedom, respectively) as well as § 22 of the German Art and Photography Copyright Act orKunstUrhG (no publication of personal images without permission) in a new domestic case, attempting to get the courts to prohibit publication of certain images of her in a private setting. TheSupreme Court accepted her claim with regard to two images, but did not prohibit publication of a third, stating that the image accompanied an article about a subject of public interest, which allows publication without permission per § 23 of theKunstUrhG. Caroline appealed to theFederal Constitutional Court, which affirmed the Supreme Court's judgement.[46] Unsatisfied with this result, Caroline filed a new complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. This time, the court found that the domestic courts had properly weighed the competing interests of Caroline's privacy and the press' right to freedom of expression, and thus found that there had been no violation of Article 8.[47][48]
In April 1981, the Princess penned an essay, entitled "Home" and published in theInternational Herald Tribune's supplement.[49] The byline was "Caroline de Grimaldi."[49] In the essay, she wrote: "I long for the Mediterranean ... I feel in my bones that I belong in Monaco."[49] The article was titled, "A Compulsive Need for Blue."[50]
Princess Caroline washeir presumptive to the crown of Monaco until the birth ofher brother and again fromhis accession until the birth of hislegitimate children.
There wasprecedent for a Monégasque prince to adopt his own illegitimate child and thereby place that child at the head of theline of succession to the Monegasque throne, as was done for Caroline's grandmother,Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois.[51] However, because of changes to the constitution of Monaco in 2002, this was no longer an option.[52]
Albert's lack of legitimate children until the 2010s prompted Prince Rainier III to change the constitution so as to ensure there would be a successor to the throne, which strengthened the places of Caroline and her descendants in the line of succession.[53] On 2 April 2002, Monaco passed Princely Law 1.249, which provides that if the Sovereign Prince assumes the throne and then dies without a legitimate direct heir, the throne will pass to hisdynastic siblings and their descendants according to the rule ofmale-preference cognatic primogeniture. The law was then ratified by France, as required by a1918 Franco-Monégasque Treaty, on 4 October 2005.[52] Before this change, the crown of Monaco could pass only to a descendant of the last reigning prince, excluding such collateral relations as siblings, nephews, and nieces.
Monaco: Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Saint-Charles[55]Monaco: 10 November 2005 Knight Commander of theOrder of Cultural Merit[8]
House of Hanover: Knight of theOrder of Saint George
Brazil: Grand Officer of theOrder of Rio Branco (1 December 2022)[56][57]
France: Member of theOrder of the Legion of Honour[58][59]France: Commander of theOrder of Agricultural Merit (3 July 2014)[8]France: Commander of theOrder of Arts and Letters (20 May 2014)[8]France: Grand Cross of theNational Order of Merit (6 October 2025)[60]
Sweden: Recipient of the50th Birthday Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf (30 April 1996)
2 December 2003UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador[8] Alliance coat of arms of Prince Ernst and Princess Caroline of Hanover |  Royal monogram of Princess Caroline |  Dual cypher of Prince Ernst and Princess Caroline |
On June 21, 1992, a year after Stefano's death, the Tribunal of the Holy Rota, the ecclesiastical court, finally granted Caroline the annulment of her first marriage, to Philippe Junot. A Vatican spokesman explained that the Church "recognizes circumstances in which the vows taken by the couple are not efficient, and so the marriage does not exist right from the beginning, whether the couple are aware of it or not.
Princess Caroline of Monaco Born: 23 January 1957 | ||
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| Preceded by | Succession to the Monegasque throne 3rd in line | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Hereditary Princess of Monaco 23 January 1957 – 14 March 1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Hereditary Princess of Monaco 6 April 2005 – 10 December 2014 | Succeeded by |
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| Vacant Title last held by Chantal Hochuli | — TITULAR — Duchess of Brunswick Queen consort of Hanover by marriage 23 January 1999 – present | Incumbent |
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