Caroline of Hanover
The most beautiful grandma in the world is celebrating her birthday
Caroline von Hannover celebrates her 65th birthday on January 23rd.
© imago/Spöttel Picture
Even princesses don’t always have it easy in life. This is proven by Caroline von Hannover, who is celebrating her 65th birthday on Sunday.
One of the most famous and beautiful women in the world is getting on in years. Caroline of Monaco turns 65. So what?! She has never looked so good, so womanly, so full of character. Certainly, there are the telltale wrinkles and fine lines of age. Around the mouth and eyes, around the neck area. The hair color is now changing from dark brown to silvery. But never before has Caroline embodied a ladylike, charismatic and timelessly elegant appearance so confidently and naturally as she did on her birthday on January 23rd.
Princess and haven of peace
“Despite the tragedies that accompanied her life, she never lost her naturalness, did not become hard. She always remained true to her reserved, proud style, always remained a princess,” has the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” observed more than ten years ago. That description applies to her now, perhaps more than ever. In the small principality of Monaco, which is ruled by her brother Albert II (63), who is one year younger, Caroline acts as a reliable haven of peace.
For her close friend, the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019, she was the “incarnation of a modern woman”. The Chanel designer found Caroline “intelligent, active, athletic and romantic, free and passionate”. She is perfect and leaves “nothing to chance”. The fashion bible “Vogue” judged about her: “Caroline of Monaco inherited the elegance of her mother Grace Kelly”. The American actress was before her marriage to Prince Rainier III. of Monaco (1923-2005) one of Hollywood’s most famous stars. According to the magazine, Caroline’s “grazie” is “a discreet one who never succumbs to retouching and stages what Mother Nature gave her”. Her fashion reflects “her natural beauty: she always relies on feminine and never ostentatious looks”.
She had to cope with many strokes of fate
However, one cannot reduce Caroline’s image to that of a (perfect) fashion icon. She has experienced too much for that, including strokes of fate: She was 25 when her mother Princess Grace (1929-1982) died in a car accident at the age of 52. The pictures of the grieving Caroline went around the world in 1982.
Eight years later, her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi (1960-1990), with whom she had three children, was killed off the coast of Monaco in a racing boat world championship competition. His tragic death had hit the princess hard. In her first marriage, she was married to the Parisian investment banker Philippe Junot (81) for two years from 1978 to 1980. Her parents are said to have been against this marriage. After the divorce, Caroline’s first marriage was annulled by the Catholic Church in 1992 at the instigation of her father, Prince Rainier.
Rise to the nobility
On her 42nd birthday in 1999, she married her third husband: Prince Ernst August of Hanover (67), who is also related to the English royal family. For her, this marriage was a social advancement into the European aristocracy. Her official name is therefore: “Her Royal Highness Caroline Louise Marguerite Princess of Hanover, Her Serene Highness Princess of Monaco, née Caroline Louise Marguerite Grimaldi”.
Her fourth child was born on July 20 of the same year: Princess Alexandra Charlotte of Hanover (22). The father and husband Ernst August has not been seen in Monaco for a long time, and Caroline has hardly ever been spotted in Hanover. The couple is said to have had their last joint appearance years ago.
grandmother of seven grandchildren
The princess is now a grandmother of seven. She was last seen with two of her grandchildren and her brother Prince Albert’s six-year-old twins at the Monaco Christmas market. For most Monegasque people, Caroline, who has a Sorbonne degree in philosophy and speaks Italian, Spanish and German in addition to her mother tongues French and English, embodies a warm-hearted country mother, especially since Prince Albert’s wife Charlène (43) has been the representative first for a long time due to illness Lady has failed.
Caroline will only celebrate her birthday with her immediate family and in camera. Otherwise it was usual for her day of honor to be embedded in the circus festival in Monte Carlo and for Caroline to sit with her family in the royal box. But the big circus show was canceled this year because of the corona pandemic.
Elegant from head to toe
Legendary Hollywood star Cary Grant (1904-1986), a close friend of Caroline’s mother, whom he regularly visited in Monaco, once said of young Caroline: “She has the air of a real queen.” That hasn’t changed over the years. On the contrary: the fact that things have calmed down around her has only done Caroline and her image good.
She knows that true elegance always has something to do with renunciation. Ultimately, for her, elegance is “a refusal,” as she once said in an interview with “Vogue.” Renunciation of accessories, superfluous, frills. Caroline refuses in any form.