Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi (born 3 August 1986) is a Monégasque writer and philosopher with experiences working in journalism and publishing. She has worked extensively as a brand ambassador and fashion model. While for many years she pursued equestrianism, her main interests revolve around French philosophy and literature. She is the second child of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, and the late Stefano Casiraghi, an Italian industrialist. She is twelfth in line to the throne of Monaco. Her maternal grandparents were Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and American actress Grace Kelly.

Early life

Charlotte Casiraghi was born in Princess Grace Hospital Centre in La Colle, Monaco on 3 August 1986 to Princess Caroline of Monaco and Stefano Casiraghi. She has two brothers: Andrea (b. 1984) and Pierre (b. 1987). When she was four years old, her father was killed in a boating accident. After his death, Princess Caroline moved the family to the Midi village of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in France, with the intention of minimizing their exposure to the press.

From 2001 through 2004, as a member of Marcel Rozier's Team Marionnaud, Casiraghi participated in a number of Junior and Amateur class show jumping competitions. She was trained by his son Thierry Rozier.

She obtained her baccalaureate exam in July 2004 with summa cum laude. She then enrolled in the hypokhâgne and khâgne course at the Lycée Fénelon, in St-Germain-des-Près, Paris, in the hope of entering the École normale supérieure (Paris).

In 2007, Casiraghi earned a Licence de Philosophie (B.A.) from the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne. She completed two internships, firstly with the publishing house of Éditions Robert Laffont in Paris, and then later from October 2007 with the Sunday magazine supplement of The Independent newspaper of London. In 2018, she told Clara Le Fort of Billionaire magazine: "I continued studying philosophy while at the Sciences Po Doctoral School."

Career

Fashion and modeling

In 2010, while still competing in equestrian sport, Casiraghi became the official ambassador for the equestrian collections of Gucci. In 2014, she became the face of Gucci Cosmetics.

Casiraghi later modeled for Yves Saint Laurent's campaign for its Fall 2018 collection, giving it the hashtag #YSL15. She was photographed by David Sims as the face of the campaign.

In 2018, Casiraghi collaborated with Montblanc on a line of jewellery called Les Aimants and inspired by Nancy Cunard.

Casiraghi modeled for photographer Collier Schorr in the eighth issue of System magazine. In a gender fluid framework, she modeled clothing from the Gucci menswear line.

On 22 December 2020, she became a brand ambassador of Chanel. She was the global face for Chanel's Spring/Summer 2021 campaign. Noting that Casiraghi had been the star of the fashion house's Spring 2021 campaign, Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel SAS, assured the press that Casiraghi "would continue to play an important role in the brand's communications." The episode on Virginia Woolf in 2021 was the first to be broadcast in English and away from Paris. (It was held at Somerset House in London.) Casiraghi's mother, Princess Caroline, is among the long list of honorary members of the organization, which is, in essence, a think tank for the discussion of contemporary issues, publishing on philosophical topics, engagement with the public in meaningful dialogue, educational programs for schoolchildren. Other well-known thinkers who are/were part of the organization as honorary members include philosopher Jean-Luc Marion, the late Umberto Eco, Boris Cyrulnik, and Albina du Boisrouvray, Casiraghi's godmother.

The writings and the life of Anne Dufourmantelle (another honorary member) made a strong impact on Casiraghi, who wrote about Dufourmantelle's book Défense du Secret for Libération and also wrote the preface for that book. Casiraghi and Dufourmantelle, who died in 2017, were friends, sharing, according to Casiraghi, a passion not only for philosophy but for horses.

Casiraghi wrote the preface for a book published in 2017 by the psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva, who is yet another honorary member of Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. The two women also published their letters to each other, reflecting on motherhood and womanhood.

Writings

Archipel des Passions

In March 2018, Casiraghi and Maggiori published their Kindle book, through Éditions du Seuil. The title is Archipel des Passions (Archipelago of the Passions). It is a series of dialogues between the professor and the student about the various passions (i.e. arrogance, joy, cruelty, love) and their affects. It is translated in Spanish, German, and Italian.

La Fêlure

In January 2026, Casiraghi's latest work, La Fêlure was published by Éditions Julliard, a philosophical and literary work. The book, written in her native French, explores the idea of the "crack-up" in literature, starting with The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The book has been called a "map" or "compass" of the literary landscape, tracing a kind of genealogy of the vulnerabilities that have shaped the writings of the great poets, songwriters, and philosophers.

The chapters of the book and among the influences behind it, as expressed in the bibliography, are:

  1. Préambule: Ingeborg Bachmann, Gilles Deleuze
  2. Emotional bankruptcy: Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Deleuze, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  3. Maquiller le chagrin: Emil Cioran, Colette
  4. Avoir une voix: Maya Angelou, Jean-Louis Chrétien
  5. L'aveu de Julie: Honoré de Balzac, Maria Pourchet
  6. Un visage détruit: Marguerite Duras
  7. La minute de trop: Natalia Ginzburg, Cesare Pavese, Paul Valéry
  8. Magnolia: J.J. Cale
  9. Devant la prison: Anna Akhmatova
  10. Habiter la chute: Roberto Juarroz
  11. Le grand cap: Duras, Bernard Moitessier
  12. L'âme forte: Deleuze, George Sand
  13. Ce qui est vrai: Bachmann, Charles Baudelaire
  14. Amour de chien: Colette, Elizabeth von Arnim, Virginia Woolf
  15. Réparer la lune: Fitzgerald, Sigmund Freud
  16. La couleur de la mer: Anne Dufourmantelle, Freud, Catherine Pozzi
  17. Notre fondement craque: Chrétien, Blaise Pascal, Marguerite Périer
  18. Épilogue: Deleuze, Freud

Equestrianism

In June 2009, Casiraghi, accompanied by her uncle Albert II, Prince of Monaco, appeared on the French television programme Stade 2 to speak about her recent enrollment in the Global Champions Tour.

Since returning to the show jumping sport in April 2009 (after a four-year hiatus), she continued to train with Thierry Rozier.

Casiraghi continued participation in the Global Champions Tour throughout 2010. As Gucci sponsored her competitions, she and her horses wore accessories from that fashion house.

In 2010, she assumed the role of honorary president of the Global Champions Tour (now the Longines Global Champions Tour) in Monaco; her mother had been honorary president of the event as it existed prior to its inclusion in the Global Champions Tour. After 2015, Casiraghi reduced her participation to the Monaco phase of the tour only. Over the course of time from about 2015, her participation has largely been representational and supportive (i.e. attending the prize ceremonies) of the event)

Journalism

Casiraghi is a published writer and magazine editor. Her credits include work for AnOther Magazine (its issue for January 2008) and the Sunday supplement to the British The Independent newspaper in the late months of 2007.

Through her work as the editor-at-large for Above magazine, Casiraghi befriended Stella McCartney, whom she interviewed for the magazine's first issue. McCartney enlightened Casiraghi and readers as to the many ways the fashion industry can harm the ecosystem. Also for Above, Casiraghi was reported in Women's Wear Daily as being "instrumental in securing an interview with Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano (which took place in hiding thanks to Saviano's dissection of the Mafia)."

On 21 September 2009, Casiraghi announced plans to publish 3,000 copies of Ever Manifesto, a free publication on what she considers the fashion industry's harmful impact on the global environment and to promote sustainability in fashion. Casiraghi joined her partners on the project, Niedzielski and Guttman, at the gallery of Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Biella, Piedmont. Along with the artist and the Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, they unveiled plans for Ever Manifesto and the Città dell'arte Fashion: Bio Ethical Sustainable Trend.

In October 2009, Casiraghi was a guest at the Stella McCartney show in Paris. Sitting in the front row with Dasha Zhukova, Paul McCartney and Gwyneth Paltrow, she told Women's Wear Daily about Ever Manifesto.

Film

Casiraghi founded Swoon Productions in 2012 that focused on equestrian films. However, in 2014, she bought the film rights to the book Notre-Dame du Nil (English translation:Our Lady of the Nile) by Scholastique Mukasonga. That book was adapted into feature film, Our Lady of the Nile (2020) that was co-produced by Casiraghi and her former husband, Dimitri Rassam. Casiraghi explained (in an interview first printed in Madame Le Figaro) why she invested in this project: "When I read it, I immediately saw the cinematographic potential,” she said, adding, “I saw characters carrying universal values, beings who want to conquer their freedom and go in search of their identity.”

Philanthropy and Public Life

Casiraghi is a private citizen, but occasionally attends official functions in Monaco, such as a fundraising gala for AMADE Mondiale and Nelson Mandela's foundation in September 2007. In 2006, she made her debut appearance at Monaco's Rose Ball (in French: Bal de la Rose), which also raises money for the Princess Grace Foundation.

In 2015, she joined the governing committee of FXB France, a humanitarian organization founded by her godmother Albina du Boisrouvray in 1989 to combat AIDS and poverty. FXB is a global organization with headquarters in France, Switzerland, and the USA.

Casiraghi grew up with a complicated relationship with the media. In spite of being a private citizen, without an official public position or title in the Princely House of Grimaldi, she was often treated in the media as if she were a princess. At the age of 16, Casiraghi was named number ten on a list of the world's most eligible young women. Vanity Fair selected Casiraghi as one of the International Best Dressed List of 2006.

When she was still a child, her grandfather Rainier III, Prince of Monaco designated her patron of the Public Safety Division in Monaco, a representational role that continues in the current reign of her uncle, Prince Albert II.

In 2024, she was appointed as a Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit ( Monaco).

Personal life

In December 2011, Casiraghi started dating stand-up comedian and actor Gad Elmaleh. Their son, Raphaël, was born on 17 December 2013. As Raphaël's parents were not married, he is not included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne. The couple split in June 2015.

In March 2018, several credible media sources reported Casiraghi's engagement to Dimitri Rassam, the son of French actress Carole Bouquet, and it was widely noted that she wore a diamond ring at Monaco's Rose Ball on 24 March. She was visibly pregnant by the summer and the couple chose to postpone a wedding until after the birth of their child. On 23 October 2018, she gave birth to a second child, a son named Balthazar. The couple married civilly at the Prince's Palace of Monaco on 1 June 2019. They celebrated in a reception at the nearby Villa La Vigie in Roquebrune Cap Martin. On 29 June 2019, they married religiously at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Pierredon, Mouriès, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. In early 2024, it was reported that the couple had separated and they were said to be divorced later that year.

In March 2024, an article in Paris Match suggested a romance between Casiraghi and Nicolas Mathieu with further speculation appearing in Libération. Two years on, the relationship gained another round of widespread media speculation as they appeared together in a box at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Publications

  • La Fêlure. By Charlotte Casiraghi. Published by Éditions Julliard, January 2026.
  • Archipel des Passions (H.C. ESSAIS). By Charlotte Casiraghi and Robert Maggiori. Published by Éditions du Seuil, 1 March 2018.
  • Les Cahiers des Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. Role: Editor-in-Chief (in French, Rédactrice en chef) with Laura Hugo (2015-Present.)
  • Everlution. Ever Manifesto. First Issue. October 2009. Role: Editor-in-chief with Alexia Niedzielski and Elizabeth von Guttman.
  • Ever Bamboo. Ever Manifesto. Second Issue. June 2011. Role: Editor-in-chief with Alexia Niedzielski and Elizabeth von Guttman.

Honours

National honours

  • 50px Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit (18 November 2024).

See also

  • Ever Manifesto
  • Global Champions Tour
  • Princely Family of Monaco

References

  • Charlotte Casiraghi's official website
  • Philo Monaco website
  • Palais Princier de Monaco
  • Hello! Profile: Charlotte Casiraghi
  • Charlotte Casiraghi : peut-on habiter nos fragilités, nos failles, nos fêlures ? #680 (Podcast interview via Audible)