I want to thank all of the people who defended me and my comment in yesterday’s post about the Grimaldis being kind of trashy when it comes to legitimate heirs and such. I can’t believe I have to explain this (because I think it’s pretty obvious from how I write about all celebrities), but here you go: I don’t think someone is “trashy” because they got pregnant before marriage. I don’t care if you or anyone else has a shotgun marriage/engagement or if you never marry or if you don’t want to have kids or anything. I really have no issue with any of that – whatever makes you happy. It’s your choice. I just think that when you’re talking about a ROYAL FAMILY which exists in concert with a national church, it’s kind of trashy to play fast and loose with the rules of legitimate heirs, inheritance, the line of succession and such. At this point, the only fertile Grimaldi who isn’t having babies is the one legally married to the sovereign (that would be Charlene).
So, as we discussed yesterday, Princess Caroline’s daughter Charlotte is pregnant. There were photos of her a few days ago which seemed like the final confirmation on what had been gossiped about for a few months. Well, Charlotte finally got around to confirming the news. Shotgun engagement ahead!
Princess Caroline of Monaco’s happiness streak continues.
After PEOPLE reported that her son Andrea Casiraghi is set to tie the knot with his fiancée, South American heiress Tatiana Santo Domingo, on Aug. 31, sources confirm that the Princess’s daughter, Charlotte Casiraghi, is expecting her first child with French comedian and actor Gad Elmaleh before Christmas.
The good news doesn’t end there: Charlotte, 27, and Morocco-born Elmaleh, 42, are also engaged and plan to wed this fall in a private ceremony.
“Theirs is a beautiful love story and now there is a baby on the way,” a friend of Elmaleh tells PEOPLE. “It’s a proud moment for them.”
The late Princess Grace’s granddaughter met Elmaleh in November 2011 at the home of a mutual friend. The baby on the way will be the first for Charlotte and the second for Elmaleh. He is father to son Noé, 12, from a previous relationship with French actress Anne Brochet.
Charlotte, a champion equestrian and a model for Gucci’s Forever Now campaign, is the third in line to succeed Prince Albert II as Monaco’s ruling sovereign.
You know what’s really interesting? Gad Elmaleh is a Sephardic Jew. Will Charlotte convert? Or will he convert? Because although I don’t care about your religion or anyone else’s, once again, there are rules and this issue affects the line of succession. If Gad converts and their child is brought up Catholic (and Charlotte and Gad marry at some point, like an end-run around the rules), then the child will be in the line of succession. But if Charlotte converts to Judaism and the child is raised Jewish? Not so much. Charlotte will still inherit a lot of money, for sure, but her children will not be in the line of succession.
Oh, and Charlotte will be a stepmother too… fascinating. This is a very modern coupling.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She is so ridiculously pretty, but yeah, for a royal family Grimaldis’ standards of behavior and relationship are lacking, to say the least.
She is so pretty and reminds me of a younger Caroline.
I agree with what you said about their standards of behavior. Does anyone know if they are popular in Monaco? Sorry if this was covered on another thread. I was just wondering how the taxpayers felt about them.
People move to Monaco because they don’t pay income tax there. There are other taxes, but if you’re saving millions each year living in the principality you’re unlikely to care what the Grimaldis get up to.
Plus there’s never any shortage of gossip!
Less than 1/5th of Monaco is Monagasque (a locally born person of Monaco) which means 4/5ths is made up by trashy, tax evading people of the world. That tells you that the people of Monaco probably don’t care about their adopted country’s royals.
Yes, they don’t need to worry about impressing some big masses. For PR purposes their free-living manners propably just add interest among the rich people. Your own divorces etc. seem just ok compared to this family.
Nobody in Monaco pays taxes. Income comes from gambling. Monaco is the Las Vegas of Europe but not nearly as classy!!
P.S.: Almost every eastern european tennis player lists Monaco as their residence.
Thank you, my well-informed friends. I didn’t know that. Very interesting!
Honestly, Monegasques have been raised to keep civil tongues in their mouths about the Grimaldi family. Residents are more willing to express their disdain for the royal family (the issue of them having a lack of class comes up a lot), but it’s done in hushed tones because Monaco is not a democracy, and if anyone in a position of authority who’s tucked in Al’s back pocked decides to report you, you could be barred from ever coming back. Basically, there’s a general consensus in the principality and it’s not a flattering one, but people know not to advertise their views.
lol, it has always been the case in Monaco !
Marie Juliette Louvet, the great great grandmother of Charlotte was married to a photographer, had children with him and yet became the lover of the prince of Monaco in the late 19th century. She was a cabaret dancer and met him through her mother.
This relationship produced an illegitimate child, a daughter named Charlotte, the grandmother of Princess Caroline, the great grandmother of Charlotte….the three even look the same.
As the prince didn’t have children of his own and afraid to relinquish the principality to France as the law state it in case of no heir, he officially adopted his illegitimate daugher who became officially princess Charlotte an was unknown until then, future mother of the late Rainier III, future husband of Grace.
When Caroline became a Young woman, Grace wanted her to marry Charles of England or ironically her ex german husband Ernst August of Hanovre.
It is rumored that Ernst who is princess Sofia of Spain’s cousin was advised by her not to because of Monaco’s low standards when it comes to relationships.
Caroline was very rebellious as a Young adult : alcohol, parties, she went marrying a mature divorcee and notorious playboy : Philippe junot.
When her mother died, she was already divorced and had a string of boyfriend including that tennisman she dumped. Soon after we learn that she is getting married with the kind of youngman her mother would be proud of and she even admitted that she would have given everything for her mother to be there and be proud of her.
After Stephano’s death, she dated french actor Vincent Lindon for a while. The relationship ran its course, she was devastated and went to her best friend, mother of her godson for some consolation several times. She at times even spent days with her surrounding by her BBF husband and their two sons…that’s where she began her affair with her BFF’s husband under their roof.
Newspapers were very vocal about Ranier’s reaction as he was reported being outrageous by that saying : it’s out of line to date your BFF’s husband.
Ernst divorced of course, as the BFF stayed mute…nobody criticize a princess, ever. They end up married as she was already pregnant and had a daughter together…
As for Stéphanie and Albert, they all have their share of scandals.
It’s typical from Monaco, a principality that is often branded as a paradise for money laundering through his casinos and shady businesses. A principality that was founded by some kinda of a pirate who took over it and declared it his own…the ancestor of all Monaco princes.
That was really interesting. What Scandal do you have on Stephanie and Albert? Please do share.
Jeez this is juicy. I had no idea.
Great story. I knew all of that but, going back further, wasn’t one of the previous Princesses the washer woman for the palace who got pregnant by the Prince? I can’t remember how far back that goes.
The “tennisman” you mentioned was Guillermo Vilas (Argentina) and they had a very passionate romance for awhile but I suppose he didn’t really have enough money to please her, even though he was wealthy enough for most people. (Hanging with her did cause his career to go down quite a bit.)
When Caroline fell for Ernst under such morally corrupt circumstances, she lost ALL of her hair from stress. I mean, she went completely bald and was that way for a couple of years. She not only got flack from Rainier but she was cut off by many, many other Euro-royals because they loved Ernst’s wife, who was from a family far classier than Carolines.
So this “royal family” of Monaco is far from royal and way too trashy to even called royal.
Wow I didn’t know any of this about Caroline. She always seems so classy (if “classy” is really a term we can use when it comes to the Grimaldi) compared to her younger sister Stéphanie. Guess not haha. Stephanie has dated two of her bodyguards, married an acrobat (she met him through the international circus festival of Monaco) and then divorced him a year later.
I thought Caroline lost her hair to alopecia?
@ ANNA
Oh goodness me where to start with Stéphanie…. she is my fave of them all, so unstable, her father loved her so much and put up with her antics… she had a brief singer career, she dated Rob Lowe and started a relationship with her bodyguard Daniel Ducruet, Ducruet’s girlfriend was 6 months pregnant with when he went public with his relationship with Stéphanie. They married much to Rainier’s despair and they have 2 children. The Danile cheated on her with a stripper or whatever Miss Belgium, pics of them by the pool half naked and the dude even tried to deny saying he was set up LOL! Rainier sent him a hand written divorce request and he was done. Then Stéphanie had a 3rd child, a girl, and the father is rumoured to be father is the head of Monaco security, another “bodyguard” you name it. Anyway since she was born out of wedlock the girl is not included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne.
Then Stéphanie moved onto the circus field and she began a relationship with a married circus guy and moved in with him and her 3 kids in his circus caravan, all that for the relationship to end just as fast. Then she married another circus guy, some acrobat who was working in the same crew as her other ex circus guy… you follow? aaaand she divorced just as fast…
As for Albert… well he shattered the gay rumours by not only having one but TWO kids out of wedlock, a son with a Togolese flight attendant, girl was living in his Parisian apartment, and receiving an allowance from him and all… and a daughter with an American woman…
I think Charlotte is absolutely stunning without even trying! She looks happy and in love. Time will tell how thngs turn out for her and Gad. If you look her up on Google, you’ll see pictures of her where she is absolutely effortless. The family’s standards are certainly questionable without a doubt, but there is no denying how lovely charlotte is. I’ve read in numerous articles that she is quite sweet.
I didn’t realise the pregnancy was a secret it was reported in the French press ages ago? The engagement is new though.
She went from a long term relationship with a guy her age to pregnancy with someone else rather quickly…
a. Her ex Alex Dellal just had a baby
b. remember her mom got knocked up by 2 of her 3 husbands prior to marriage (she had no kids with Junot).
I forgot to mention that Junot was also much older. So charlotte is just following in moms footsteps.
At least she seems to have picked an interesting and intelligent person to procreate with – that counts for a lot in my book. I will wait and see if this marriage ever happens. There seem to be a lot of long-term engagements floating around in the fam.
I like the younger Grimaldi’s precisely because they DON’T live their lives like other Royals. They aren’t so horribly stuffy and dull and bound by protocol. I suppose the fact that their luxe lifestyle’s aren’t actually dependent on taking up royal duties helps.
But anyway, illegitimate children are hardly anything new amongst Royals. More than a few have illegitimate offspring have ended up being Kings and Queens after all. If anything the Grimaldi’s are actually a throwback to past times, when Royal families were far more entertaining.
Didn’t Charlotte’s mum refuse titles for her kids? They’re considered commoners and Charlotte’s only ‘duties’ involve her riding competitions.
So her child, and those of of her siblings, won’t be in line for succession.
Their father had no titles, so they have none.
Princess Caroline’s current husband is a german prince with an HRH, so their daughter is HRH Princess A.
As @suze pointed out yesterday, both Caroline and her 4th child outrank their entire Grimaldi family (including Albert) by dint of this marriage!!!
She divorced her 3rd husband, Ernst of Hannover a while ago. It seems that FINALLY Caroline is boyfriend free for a while and dedicated to her youngest daughter, who is an ice skating competitor.
For all that Caroline has had quite her share of suffering with the tragoc deaths of her mom and handsome 2nd husband, she seemed to me like tnose women that cannot be alone for a minute. She overlapped relationships, etc. Just for not be alone for a minute.
Same with Stephanie, who never acted like a. Princess in her love life, or at least was very less choosy. It seems that they both were kind of alike, but Caroline selected her lover in the upper crust, and Sthephanie just did not care about money.
So true. They live their lives like any other family – not as slaves to Victorian-style morality. Don’t get me wrong, I also believe in marriage etc, been married for over 24 years and mine was not a shotgun wedding but I am not trashing anyone based on “out of wedlock” situations. Besides, both of her brothers are in long term relationships, despite their wealth, status and good looks, they don’t behave like typical playboys. The whole family seems to care more about relationships than making things legal or big weddings.
That’s intriguing that you find them interesting, because I find the Grimaldis incredibly dull. They wander from upscale place to place, looking dirty and bored, always huffing away on their omnipresent cigarettes. Very occasionally someone will impregnate someone, get into a bar fight or urinate in public. But that gets old.
Actually, Charlotte is the only one with a bit of life in her with her show riding. And she is, imo, a spectacular beauty, far prettier than any of the other European royals.
Spot on.
I agree. Dull and spoiled.
I take the Grimaldis over the stuffy Windsors any day. All the propriety and protocol is hypocritical anyway, remember Charles and Camillas affair?
As for converting, are these rules set in stone? Its literally just a matter of legislating these archaic rules out of existence. They can start by changing the dumbass law that keeps the child the Prince had with the air steward (also evidently the true love of his life given how many times shes been back in the picture) to be heir to the throne.
Just the same sexist rules that made adultery only when the woman committed it, and in a man only physical abuse was a cause for divorce but not his adultery.
That was the man could impregnate whomever he felt like it with no consequences, and only recently (in comparative terms) is a man even required to pay child support for out of wedlock children. My grandfather was an illegitimate child and not only was he owed nothing by his biological father but he was also forbidden by him to address him or refer to him as his father (small village bigshot vs poor young boy).
@Ennie- Caroline is still married, she just hasnt been seen with her husband in years which makes it evident that they are go longer together.
in order to really give an opinion, you must know them and we do since we’re from monaco! yes, the family is rather trashy and that’s a fact!
Ha! I find them fascinating in an unconventional (and trashy) way.
Her ex boyfriend just had a baby too. So great timing.
I think if their Grandma was still alive she would have a few things to say about their shenanigans, but to me they a just a super rich jet setting family that has their own issues. I think Charlotte looks just like her mother and Aunt Stephanie, very pretty.
I heard Grace was quite naughty in her youth.
And, I’m just curious, but in most couples of different religion it is almost always the woman that converts. I don’t understand why, in this day and age.
I don’t understand why the whole conversion thing is even being brought up.
Gad is Jewish but that doesn’t mean he believes in god, or even cares that much (I have no idea either way, I just find it strange that it’s being mentioned at all).
Seriously it’s a non-issue.
Grace is rumored to have slept with almost all of her leading men and they were much, much older than she and married.
I don’t know much about converting religions except that for a Jewish child to actually be Jewish, the mother has to be Jewish. So, the woman needs to make the decision to convert or not. (Two examples: Ivanka Trump converted because her husband’s family are prominant Jews and her kids will be raised Jewish; Caroline Kennedy did not convert because her family are prominent Catholics and their kids were raised Catholic.)
Not really. Actually Christianity (atleast eastern christtians) and Islam dictate that religion passes down paternally, therefore the woman doesn’t have to convert. But Judaism is the abrahamic religion that passes down maternally. I think it’s a load of bull anyway because I don’t think religion should be ‘passed’ down, it’s not genetics, it’s a belief. You either have it or you don’t (major secular here, you see, and I grew up in the holy city so I kind of get tired of it).
Anyway, I doubt Charlotte would convert, and there is no need for her fiancee to convert if they decide to raise their child Catholic.
Charlotte is the image of her mother. This is so weird. It’s like a replay of her mother’s marriage to that first much older husband Junot. Hopefully there will be a better outcome here but not too likely.
Not quite the same, really. Junot was a dedicated playboy when he married Caroline; I don’t think Gad is known as being a playboy. Plus, Caroline was not pregnant when they married and, very smartly, never became pregnant by Junot. Charlotte is older and more mature and has lived a life, something Caroline had not done since she was very sheltered by Grace. She tried very hard to raise her children in the image of real European royalty. It just didn’t turn out the way she wanted.
Boy, she looks like her mother. What a pretty name, Charlotte. I am so sick of reading all the odd names lately with celebs’ babies, that just reading a name like Charlotte is refreshing.
That’s my youngest daughter’s name, so that was a sweet comment to read. 🙂
It seems really strange to me that a royal would model for a fashion house.
Her BF looks like a French Nicolas Cage.
I don’t think Charlotte is in to pretty boys, her last bf had a rather interesting face. I just remember her once dating a guy who looked like Gaspard Ulliel when she was in college, but then that ended–in fact, people thought she was pregnant by him way back when.
I don’t see a problem with her having children out of wedlock. As for the succession, as long as the parents are married by the time the child is born or (hypothetically) takes the throne, it shouldn’t affect it. They have the money to take care of unexpected children so power to them!
Can I just point out that the principality of Monaco is only 1.2 square miles? If it hadn’t been for a Hollywood actress and some Casinos in the 50’s this place would barely raise an eyebrow. I’m pointing this out because it’s amazing how ‘minor’ this royal family is in theory. They don’t even rule over a majority indigenous population. They are destroying themselves and let them do it! They are a joke!
I believe too that without especially Grace there wouldn’t be this much interest in them. At least for me it’s her that makes me curious about this family. I’m not a royalist, but I find Grace’s persona absorbing.
I think that Charlotte and Elmaleh could be a harmonious match. At least he’s not a scandalous persona.
(@Kaiser If my comment yesterday happened to be one of those which came out as blaming you for judging their non-wedlock pregnancies trashy, it’s then my fault – I’m not a native/bilingual english speaker and I struggle quite a bit to express things correctly. I definitely know you are a very open-minded and non-judgemental person !! I was just trying to comment on this broad generalization there sometimes is in their threads, that they are trashy people in all their choices.) )
Oh that’s interesting. I just saw him in a cute film called “Hors de Prix” with Audrey Tautou.
I wondered where I knew him from! Thanks
That was a cute film.
Wow spitting image of her mother!
Incredibly gorgeous!
I thought Charlotte was smarter than that, but apparently not. Like her mom in more ways than beauty.
Does keeping her place in the line of succession truly matter though? At the moment she is 4th in line. However is Andrea marries his girlfriend than his son would be included and that would push her down to 5th.
I have a good friend who has lived in Monaco for many years now, and it’s fascinating to hear how the Monégasques really view the Grimaldi Family, sans the palace PR spin to the media. Many are simply disgusted with Albert, and don’t exactly hold him in high esteem. Caroline is viewed by many in the principality as a total snob who believes she breathes different oxygen from the rest of humanity. Charlene?…people there simply laugh and roll their eyes.
Believe it or not, it is Stephanie who is the favourite of many Monégasques. My friend worked with her on two of her “Fight Aids Monaco” fundraising events, and says Stephanie is a very warm, funny, engaging and very down to earth woman. A lot of people look at her past wild life with a lot of amusement, but she is said to have totally calmed down now and is the best of the Grimaldi bunch. She is also purported to be a very caring and hands-on mom to her three children, who are said to have turned out to be decent, normal kids. To be fair, many also credit Caroline for being a good hands-on mom, too.
PS: Charlotte is so damn gorgeous.
Oh, and by the way, my Monaco pal said that Caroline’s estranged husband, Ernst, was simply despised by many – total, total drunken trash.
So what’s up with Albert? I know he has illegitimate children but I am wondering if there is some sort of “side agreement” with Caroline to pass on the line of descent to her children. I am saying this because he has put off marriage for so long and prior to his own father’s death there was a lot of background noise about illegitimate children not being able to inherit. (It’s been awhile so my memory/details are sketchy.) It also seems like Caroline has been acting like the heir for the last 10- 15 years or so.
Which begs the question, why in hell did Albert even feel the need to get married in the first place? I never understood his marriage to Charlene – it all seems pointless and an utter waste.
Rainier (sp?)’s final act as ruler was to renegotiate with France to remove the rule that if there was no legitimate MALE heir and thus ruler, it would revert back to France. He also changed the constitution so that females were added to the succession with equal rights as the male heirs. And succession could be birth order as opposed to Gender. This instantly made Caroline, Stephanie and their legitimate children heirs.
This took pressure off Albert in terms of being the last ruler of Monaco.
Albert never admitted his indiscretions whilst Rainier was alive even though they weren’t secret. Almost the first thing he did after Raineir died was to acknowledge his children.
Though it’s not pressing for him to produce legitimate heirs now, there was that odd statement from the palace about how Charlene was the perfect choice to make an heir (words to that effect) so I don’t think he is entirely satisfied that Caroline is his heir.
It certainly says something about why he didn’t marry his Togolese lady even though she seems to be the love of his life.
It certainly says something about why he didn’t marry his Togolese lady even though she seems to be the love of his life.
*******
Exactly. I think their son’s name is Alexandre or something like that. I think a woman in California came out of the woodworks as well about a daughter she’d had with Albert.
I thought that he and his Togolese lady love had been together for awhile. I thought I read somewhere that they used to travel together.
Does anyone know if it’s true that Stephanie & Caroline don’t get along with each other? That sort of speculation used to be rumored when write-ups about Stephanie used to appear in gossip magazines when she was younger.
Following the same path as the rest of the Grimaldi clan. The real shocker would be if one of the family actually had a proper courtship and marriage.
As a longtime fan of Gad Elmaleh it is so beyond weird to see him featured on Celebitchy! He has been famous for a long time but it seems Americans are only realizing who he is thanks to his relationship with Charlotte. If you guys want to see what he is like check out the segment he did on Jerry Seinfeld’s online show comedians in cars getting coffee (on YouTube). Gad comes across very down to earth and incredibly flattered Jerry decided to include him amongst more famous American comedians.
Most people forget Stephanie has an illegitimate daughter as well (with her bodyguard) since she never married the father. Unlike albert’s children Camille grew up in the Monaco spotlight since she was raised by her princess mother (Albert’s kids did not since they were raised by their mothers and it doesn’t seem like Albert has done much apart from admitting his paternity).
Oh I was about to say the same! I’m french girl who’s been reading this site for so long and it does feel weird/cute to see a french artist featured here.
For those who’ve seen Midnight in Paris, there’s a glimpse of him..
There lots of pictures of Albert with his son on the internet which suggests that Albert is a somewhat involved father with him. No definitive sighting of 3rd rumoured child so who knows.
His daughter lives in Monaco now (or I think she did for a while) and attends events with him.
So he is more involved than people give him credit for.
All those pictures were when the boy was a baby there haven’t been any new ones in years. And his daughter never lived in Monaco she attends college in New York City now. There was a picture of Jazmin with Albert and Charlene in NYC at some formal dinner in honor of Princess Grace taken this year though.
Serious genetics at work. But yeah, Royal Euro trash.
Caroline’s latest husband is a piece of work, and the less said about Albert the better.
Wow she’s a dead ringer for her mother, who in my opinion is maybe the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
Yes! AND her great-grandmother Charlotte! The resemblance between the three of them is truly amazing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Charlotte,_Duchess_of_Valentinois
Charlotte wasn’t exactly hiding the pregnancy, but is there some rule that someone isn’t officially pregnant/married/gay/in a relationship unless their publicist actually sends out a press release?
Seriously, you actually linked to photos of Charlotte shopling for baby clothes and said ”okay, I really think she’s pregnant guys!”
Sheesh Is nobody on the Pill anymore? I would just think for convenient’s sake and because this family has an active love life that all the females would be on the Pill. Which leads me to believe they are getting pregnant on purpose.
I have 2 girls, and they will be on the Pill when they leave for college if not sooner.
Is she sure that the blue dress is short enough? I can’t find her knees lol. Another Kate with short hemlines. Why are royal women these days dressing like street walkers?
Er, where’s the bit where you claim she’s “admitting” she’s pregnant? It seems obvious she is but she’s made no public admission as far as I can see.
Question. Whatever came about from the scandal with Albert and another illegitimate child that popped up around the time of his marriage to Charlene?
Gad Elmaleh is very handsome and very accomplished but he is jewish and monaco is a catholic country. I wonder if either Albert or Caroline is against the marriage.
A few points:
As I understand it, the royal’s spouse needn’t convert so long as the children are raised Catholic (Monaco’s official state religion). Charlene opted to convert.
So if Charlotte wants her children to be included in the line of succession, her children must be raised Catholics but her husband doesn’t have to be Catholic.
Furthermore, while boys inherit first, if there is no boy, a girl can inherit (it’s happened a few times in Monaco history).
Gambling is no longer the chief source of revenue but accounts for less than 5-10%. Monaco makes the bulk of its money from light industries (pharma, medical, cosmetics such as Biotherm, small parts (electrical and electronics), research labs, mechanical engineering, printing, clothing) ab. 10%; tourism/services obviously 25%; commerce; real estate.
While there is no income taxes for residents/citizens, businesses do pay taxes although at much lower rates than in France for example, and many businesses are eligible for R&D and other grants, everyone pays sales tax on consumer goods and of course transfer tax on real estate transactions
Charlotte looks so much like her mom Caroline, now that she is no longer a stick. Extra weight is flattering on her. Her fiance-interesting….