Today's Princess: Stephanie of Monaco

Palais Princier de Monaco

Previously recognized as the adorable child in family photos of Hollywood royalty-turned-actual-princess Grace Kelly, Princess Stephanie of Monaco shot onto the world stage in 1982 when the car she was riding in plunged over a cliff in their mountainous principality. All the globe mourned the death of Princess Grace. Although the glamorous new Princess of Wales attended the funeral, Stephanie could not. She was still seriously injured in the hospital. She was only 17.

Sometimes called the "wild child"--an affectionate nickname given to her by her mother but misappropriated by the tabloid press--it is easy to imagine her as a reality TV star if reality TV had existed in the 1980s. Stephanie launched many careers in her youth: she was a swimsuit designer and model, a pop singer (even performing on the Michael Jackson track, "In the Closet" on his Dangerous album), perfume designer, cafe owner, and magazine guest editor.

As if her career adventures were not unusual enough for a princess, her romantic hijinks have drawn even more attention. She dated international heartthrobs Paul Belmondo, Anthony Delon and Rob Lowe, before mothering two children by her bodyguard, Daniel Ducruet, whom she later married and divorced. The father of her third child, Jean Raymond Gottlieb, was another of her bodyguards.

In the meantime, Stephanie also ran away with the circus, literally, when she and her children moved in with a married elephant trainer. She then married and divorced a circus acrobat.

Nevertheless, the currently single Stephanie has always maintained her princessly duties in the field of charity and philanthropy. She is the president of several charities devoted to children and others supporting the arts. She was also one of the first royals to step forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and is still an ambassador of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

For more about Stephanie:
Her official biography of on the Prince's Palace of Monaco site
Princess Stephanie of Monaco on Hello!
Royal Profile: HSH Princess Stephanie of Monaco on The Mad Monarchist
Princess Stephanie of Monaco on Unofficial Royalty
Princess Stephanie on Beyond Grace Kelly


Princess Stephanie's Music: