For Alexandra of Hanover, Los Angeles comes into focus through small details. A sunrise framed by tall windows, a paperback resting on a velvet chair, iced matcha, and a vintage Hollywood biography discovered among stacks of books.
Sharing a photo diary on TikTok, Princess Caroline’s youngest daughter offered a glimpse of her time in California. Titled “Winter sunrise in la,” the collection brings together literary discoveries, cozy interiors and casual outings, revealing a quieter side of a city closely connected to her family’s history.
© Alexandra of Hanover/TikTokAs Grace Kelly’s granddaughter, Alexandra has an unmistakable link to Hollywood. But her own reflections on Los Angeles suggest a relationship with the city that she has developed on her own terms.
Alexandra’s love of Los Angeles, in her own words:
In a February 22 essay titled Californian dispatch, published in her Substack newsletter, Hyperbole For Breakfast, Alexandra described her affection for the city with characteristic humor.
© Alexandra of Hanover/TikTok“California, and L.A. specifically, is wacky! It’s what I love about it,” she wrote. She explained that she first discovered Los Angeles as a young adult through friends, gradually building her own traditions with each return. Her account follows her through neighborhood explorations, early exercise classes and quiet mornings spent reading and watching the sunrise.
© Alexandra of Hanover/TikTokOne detail creates a particularly striking connection with her photo diary. In that essay, Alexandra mentioned acquiring a signed copy of Bret Easton Ellis’ Lunar Park. The same title appears in her photographs, resting on a laptop atop a rust-colored velvet chair.
A personal connection to American culture:
Alexandra has also spoken about how American culture shaped her upbringing, despite growing up in Monaco.
© Getty ImagesIn a March interview with French magazine Gala, she explained that she attended a bilingual school and grew up with American cinema and culture. She described feeling culturally English-speaking, unlike her more Francophone mother and half-sister, Charlotte Casiraghi, and said that writing and humor come more naturally to her in English.
© Alexandra of Hanover/TikTokThat background adds another dimension to her California photographs. Her American connection extends beyond her grandmother’s biography into the books, films and language that inform her own creative interests.
Vintage Hollywood meets contemporary LA:
Among the most evocative images is a vintage copy of Doug McClelland’s Susan Hayward biography, photographed against a backdrop of crowded book tables. Alongside the velvet upholstery, patterned wallpaper and newspapers outside a room door, it gives the collection a distinctly nostalgic mood.
© Alexandra of Hanover/TikTokThe interiors appear consistent with the atmosphere of Chateau Marmont, a hotel long associated with Hollywood actors, writers and artists. One viewer even commented on recognizing the wallpaper, although Alexandra’s visible caption does not name the property.
Elsewhere, the photographs capture a more contemporary version of Los Angeles, with iced matcha and what appear to be Erewhon’s popular offerings adding a familiar LA touch to her diary.
The Grace Kelly connection
Decades before Alexandra began documenting her California visits, her grandmother became one of Hollywood’s defining stars, winning the best actress Oscar for The Country Girl in 1955.
© Screen ArchivesAlexandra has recently made that family connection tangible through fashion, wearing an archival golden Givenchy gown previously worn by Grace in 1962.
Her LA photographs offer a subtler echo of that heritage. A vintage actress biography, atmospheric interiors and a writer’s attention to the city’s peculiarities create a portrait of a young woman discovering a place where her family’s story already has deep roots.
