While she's Prince Albert of Monaco's niece and the daughter of a Princess, Charlotte Casiraghi has "always" tried to detach herself from "'royal' status." She admitted to The Telegraph in 2024, “Of course I love to contribute to Monaco, but my philosophy taught me that being on the outside allows more complexity and diversity." Charlotte is often seen with her royal relatives at the glittering Rose Ball and on Monaco's National Day. As for whether she likes being "official," Charlotte told The Telegraph "no." The Monégasque royal family member said, “I don’t particularly like this 'official representing', even though I do it if there’s a purpose or if it’s important for my family. But this brings pressure, people judge you and expect a lot from you when you have official status. I prefer to be free.”
So, just who is Charlotte Casiraghi? Continue reading to learn about Grace Kelly's eldest granddaughter.
1. She was born on August 3, 1986.
2. She is the daughter of Princess Caroline and her second husband Stefano Casiraghi, who died in 1990.
© Patrick SICCOLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images3. She has two brothers, Andrea Casiraghi and Pierre Casiraghi, and one younger half-sister, Princess Alexandra of Hanover.
4. Beatrice Borromeo and Tatiana Casiraghi are her sisters-in-law.
© Pascal Le Segretain/SC Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images5. She is not a Princess. Charlotte has previously declared to French Vogue (via The New York Times), “I’m not a princess.” She added, “My mother is, not I. I am the niece of a head of state. And with this status, I have some representational duties, nothing very constraining or very exceptional.”
6. Charlotte is the eldest of Princess Grace’s granddaughters, who include Princess Gabriella, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Camille Gottlieb, Pauline Ducruet and Jazmin Grace Grimaldi.
© Stephane Cardinale/PLS Pool/Getty Images7. She is a boy mom. Charlotte became a mother in 2013 with the birth of her son Raphaël Elmaleh, whom she shares with her former partner, comedian Gad Elmaleh. Prince Albert ’s niece welcomed her second son, Balthazar Rassam, in 2018 with her now-ex-husband Dimitri Rassam. Charlotte spoke about motherhood in a 2022 interview with Town & Country, admitting that it was "very hard to sum up" the biggest challenges of motherhood. She said, “I think every day has hard and amazing moments. Every day you go through moments when you worry for your children or when they exhaust you, and then you go through moments when you share so much with them and you don’t even question the fact that they’re the most important thing in your life.”
8. She has been riding horses since she was young. “They’ve had an important role in my life since childhood,” she said of horses in a 2013 interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “They gave me the energy to move forward, the ability to fight, giving me a rare confidence and invaluable strength. They taught me great humility too.”
9. Charlotte has previously competed in riding events. “Competing in show jumping is a school of life,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “And it’s one of the few Olympic sports where men and women are equal. Being a great horseman does not rely on physical strength but more on the mind and sensibility.”
© Dominique Charriau/WireImage10. She loves philosophy. Princess Caroline's older daughter is the president and founder of Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. In 2017, Charlotte spoke with L’Observateur de Monaco about her love for philosophy. “Philosophy animates me and inhabits me and when one is upset by a text or a thought, one cannot compartmentalize. I live with the desire to understand. It is part of the being that I am," she shared. Charlotte studied philosophy at Sciences Po Doctoral School. “As time went on it played an even bigger, brighter, role in my life,” she confessed to Billionaire in 2018.
11. She's been married before. Charlotte married film producer Dimitri Rassam, who is the son of French actress Carole Bouquet, in 2019. The pair's wedding was a lavish affair. The bride stunned at her reception held at the luxurious Hotel Villa la Vigie wearing a strapless Chanel design, which she accessorized with her late maternal grandmother’s Cartier diamond necklace. Voici reported in January 2024 that Prince Albert's niece and Dimitri were separating. According to the outlet, they “had been going through a crisis for some time” and Charlotte was the one who decided to initiate the separation.
© Félix Dol-Maillot12. Her first piece of jewelry was a gift for her christening. “The first piece of jewelry I wore was a beautiful medal with the Virgin Mary made of mother of pearl that was given to me at my christening, I still have it and wear it,” Charlotte shared in a 2019 interview with Vogue Mexico. The mom of two revealed that she has started collecting vintage pieces. “I really have a passion for jewelry and especially because it is often symbolic and passed down from one generation to the next,” she said. “A jewel is something intimate, that tells a story that you carry in your memory.”
13. She loves to read. For Charlotte, going into a bookshop is like going into a sweet shop. In a In the Library with Charlotte Casiraghi video in 2021, she confessed, "I want to buy everything to take as many books as I can carry. And I can never decide which book I’m going to read, so I take more and more. I never feel guilty about it because I tell myself it’s not so bad to be addicted to books. And as a result, I read a lot of books at the same time."
© Getty Images14. She can speak multiple languages. Per Vogue, the stylish royal is bilingual in French and English. Charlotte, whose late father was born in Italy, is also fluent in Italian, though she told Vogue that she is “shy in Italian.”
15. She is one of her half-sister Princess Alexandra’s godparents.
16. She is an ambassador and spokesperson for Chanel. Charlotte has been an ambassador and spokesperson for the French fashion house since 2021. When her role was announced in late 2020, Chanel stated, "Sealing a long relationship based on trust and friendship, started by Karl Lagerfeld and continued today by Virginie Viard, Charlotte Casiraghi will become an ambassador and spokesperson for the House from January 1st 2021."
16. She's ridden a horse on the runway. At the Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2022 show, Charlotte hit the runway on horseback, modeling a black tweed jacket from the Spring-Summer 2022 Haute Couture collection.
