*Photo of Tatiana and Andrea from 2011, at Albert and Charlene’s wedding.
Several weeks ago, Princess Caroline of Monaco announced her eldest son’s engagement. Andrea Casiraghi and Tatiana Santo Domingo, both 28 years old, had finally decided to get hitched after seven years of dating. I wrote about it here if you’d like to review – I went into the history of the Casiraghi children and some theories behind the engagement, especially as the engagement comes a little more than one year after Andrea’s uncle’s marriage to now-Princess Charlene. It’s definitely believed that Prince Albert married Charlene so that she could provide him with an heir, so the crown of Monaco won’t pass from him (Albert) to his nephew, Andrea. In my opinion, Andrea and Tatiana’s engagement would serve as a good instigation for Charlene and Albert to get to work on heir, however unpleasant that would be (for Charlene).
… But it looks like there might be another wrinkle in this convoluted situation. Fame/Flynet got their hands on these photos (below) of a rather bumpy looking Tatiana returning to Monaco after an engagement party. I could play point-counterpoint with these photos (it’s a sack dress, there could be some wind, etc), but I’m pretty sure we’re looking at a pregnancy in the second trimester. Which means that the House of Grimaldi is looking at yet another child conceived out of wedlock. Which means that Andrea was given a choice: your girlfriend can have your baby and we’ll even throw her some money, but the kid will never be in the line of succession, OR you can marry this girl quickly and the baby will be born in marriage and “legitimized” in the eyes of the Catholic Church, and if it’s a boy, the boy will be the second in line to the throne. And so Andrea made his choice. And what an interestingly political choice he made. BAM! Prince Albert is now watching his back – his young, (presumably) healthy nephew will have a young, rich, fertile wife and a newborn baby, all by the end of the year. If I was Princess Charlene right now, I would be looking for the nearest waterway so I could swim to freedom, because you know some royal minion is going to be coming into her room with a baster full of Albert tonight. Gross.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Swim, Charlene…looks like Andrea (and his little swimmers) is in the lead.
Is this the Casiraghi that got his ass whipped in that bar fight? That fight in that bar in NYC?
ETA: I see it was Pierre that got his ass whipped!
And guess who is suing!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2174672/Monacos-Prince-Pierre-Casiraghi-suing-New-York-nightclub-punch-left-bloodied.html
One would think if you took such a public spanking for being a loud mouth. It would be a good idea to just take a seat and shut up.
No, it isn’t. That was his younger brother Pierre.
No, that’s his brother.
No, that was his brother.
At this moment Andrea is the heir to the throne and his marriage and the birth of a child strengthens his position.
Albert has no legitimate children and does not appear that his late marriage is childbearing.
Regardless of whether she is pregnant, that dress is horrendous.
It looks more like a granny nightgown.
You took the words right outta my mouth!
Like oh wow wish I was brave to roll outta bed with my pjs on and don some old ladies Easter hat. Yeah! ::eye rolls::
I think my grandmother actually had a nightgown in that pattern! It wasn’t as long, though.
I’d like it if it hit mid thigh, like a tunic. As a dress, no.
Yes I agree and she always looks so grumpy and she hasn’t had the baby yet!!!
Oh yep, she is preggers. And that would totally explain the CBF attitude that resulted in her wearing that hideous “dress”.
That’s a pregnancy. Quick, Charlene! Get out while they’re preoccupied with this.
(Speaking of “a baster full of Albert” – SO nasty, BTW – is there a way to sanitise sperm? Because the thought of Albert’s gives me a case of the Blohans. *shudder*)
“Gives me a case of the Blohans” LMAO!!!
By the way, I love scandalous royal gossip. That’s why I couldn’t care less about the British royals- throw some illegitimate children and fighting over the throne in there and maybe I’ll start caring.
Yep, me too! And the Monaco royals are especially full of drama, bitchiness and cool french-y snottiness – I love it!
Oh, Hi Bella! 🙂
Hi Rocket! 🙂
With all their money, why can’t any of these Grimaldis afford condoms? I mean, Albert has 2 or 3 kids out of wedlock, and now his nephew has one on the way.
Well, to be fair they have been dating for close to ten years.
they’re Catholic and may well use the “it’s against my religion” argument. Yes, I know that sex outside of marriage is also against the doctrine of Catholicism but most of the “devout” Catholics I know seem to completely disregard that rule while remaining adamant on the no contraception one
Caroline was pregnant when she married Andrea’s father, and pregnant with her 4th child when she married her present husband. It does seem to run in the family. Except for poor Charlene.
They don’t really care about condoms (also Princess Stephanie) because they have enough money to pay off their mistakes or fund servants to maintain their lifestyles.
Pregnant before marriage ? How Grimaldi.
This poor young man has serious problems.
(I guess with a ho for a Mom and a ho for a Grandma, )
Interesting, given his “lifestyle” that his wife is described as “Colombian”……
Trash Grimaldis and Trash Casiraghis… and BTW neother the Grinmaldis od the Casiraghis are “ROYAL”……
Rich kids marry rich kids. They will spend their entire life on yachts, drinking grey goose and partying in Sardinia. Sitting in front rows at Chanel. Their children will be the next “it girls” and the new most eligible bachelors. It’s kind of trashy, isn’t it? I mean – everybody envies them, but is their lifestyle really enviable?
I think what’s enviable is not having to worry about paying the bills, at least it is for me
True, but I don’t think they are grateful for not having to worry about the bills. I don’t think that makes them happy. In fact, ironically, some of them become the unhappiest people. I recently traveled to Switzerland. I learned that this is one of the countries with the highest rate of suicides! I was amazed how many people kill themselves in this unbelievably rich and beautiful country.
I’d rather have all my worries about bills (and I have a lot) than have to deal with people like Mr. Backpfeifengesicht there or any of the male part of that family. They make my skin crawl. There’s not enough money in the world for me to agree to sleep with either Andrea or Albert once. Prince Harry they ain’t. Heck, Prince Charles they ain’t.
I agree. It’s sort of a useless existence.
rrright
If it was a political decision, you best believe Caroline made it. She wants her kids to be the ones who rule Monaco not Albert and his bastards. This is some old-school royal deception at play here.
If the Grimaldi family will turn out, Monaco will go to the France.
Well, the family is sketch-ville. But other than that, two people in their late 20s, who have been together for a long time, decide to make their union “legal” because they have a baby on the way…meh? Really doesn’t sound too shocking or scandalous.
And, really, if they have been together seven years, then I don’t see this as marrying “only” because the bride is pregnant. Obviously, they have some sort of relationship. Can you blame them for doing what it takes, ie. legally marrying, to ensure their child’s future as heir to the throne?
Andrea had to wait years until Albert got married, so he could marry Tatiana. It’s highly unfair now to claim he’s doing it only because she’s pregnant. They would have been able to go naturally about it if Albert hadn’t taken so long to make up his mind.
Good point!
Can you expand on that a little further? Is there something that governs who can get married? Every heir has to get married before the next one in line can? Is it specific to Monaco, or is this standard in royalty? I know Wills got married before Zara, but Harry would fall in front of Zara, so I’m curious how it all works.
Zara is way down the line. Prince Charles’ 2 brothers each have 2 children-they’re all ahead of Peter Phillips, his 2 kids and THEN Zara.
I understand that, but Zara was able to get married even though all the people in front of her are not married. So is it because she so far from the throne that the rules don’t apply, or are British rules different? or is it just protocol that you let the ruling monarch or top in the line get married first and then it’s a free for all? Or that the first in line from each generation gets priority boarding status? Just trying to grasp how it all falls together.
For the British royals, they can marry whenever they want-there’s no rule about that. They just have to get the Queen’s permission/blessing-that’s it.
If it is then it’s a Monaco thing not a British thing. I’ve never heard of that.
QE2’s father was married with kids before EdwardVIII was ever trying to marry Wallis Simpson.
it’s not a hard and fast rule, it’s more about public perception & pressure. some say it’s the reason why zara got engaged so quickly after william and kate; people argued that she was told she had to wait till william finally put a ring on it, because doing it first would have upped the ante for wills to finally get on with it and marry kate, and he didn’t want the pressure.
There is no rule that says the oldest member of the Royal family has to get married first! Monaco must have a male heir to succeed to the Princedom otherwise Monaco resorts back to France. Zara is not an ” official member” of the British Royal Family and does not receive money from the Civil List and can do as she pleases On the other hand, Harry is next in line to his brother William who is next in line to the heir apparent Charles Prince of Wales
There is no rule that says the oldest member of the Royal Family has to get married first! Monaco must have a male heir to succeed to the Princedom otherwise Monaco resorts back to France. Zara is not an “official member” of the British Royal Family and does not receive money from the Civil List and can do as she pleases On the other hand, Harry is next in line to his brother William the heir presumptive who is next in line to the heir apparent Charles Prince of Wales
Caroline was pregnant with Alexandra when she and the Prince of Hanover married.
Ooops-was trying to ask why Andrea and Tatiana could not may until Albert did-reply in the wrong place….
Caroline was also pregnant with Andrea when she married Stefano.
Totally preggo
She does not look like somebody who enjoys being in the spotlight. So I’m going to hope for her sake she doesn’t end up as the Princess of Monaco. I’d love to be a fly on the wall with Albert & Charlene. I swear she’s secretly taking bc pills so she can’t get pregnant. I think she’s hoping they’ll be able to get their marriage anulled and she can escape. I really think she’s had a change of heart of giving over her child to Albert and getting the big payout.
But do you really think that they are trying and trying (obviously having sex) and taking the pills? I’d rather have the child tan having to sleep with him over and over again!
I think she tells him when she’s thinks she’s fertile, and then they do it while she closes her eyes and mentally counts her shoes. It’s been a year, so at some point she’s going to have to pay off a doctor to say she’s infertile.
she has cankles. bad ones.
she could really be just fat. the other pics don’t look like she’s ever been in great shape. i think she is wearing spanx most of the time.
Poor Charlene. Now she might have to sleep with that jerk of a husband. Pressures on.
i will say, i prefer him w/ his hippie curls.
The tackiest “royals” out there…and that’s saying a lot. The only royal family I want to know anything about is Sweden’s, esp. the prince.
Prince…as in Carl-Philip? The Swedish royals are turning out to be more of a mess than than the Monegasques.
He’s giving the Grimaldis a run for their money with his trashiness and sleaziness! Like father like son.
King Carl-Gustaf is a womanizing creep who had his own friends bring him prostitutes!!! Queen Silvia’s father was a possible Nazi supporter in WWII. Madeleine seems to be self-destructing after her ex-fiance cheated on her.
Carl Philip himself is dating a woman who has posed nude in magazines and started posing for nude photos when she was only 14-15 y.o., as well as joining an erotic-trash TV show because she wants to be a celebrity.
And the whole Swedish royal family seems to be approving of the relationship and going along with an act to show their approval for a former ‘glamour’ model. The girlfriend has been invited to royal family events, something that is not done in other royal families unless an engagement announcement is around the corner. She’s started showing up to charity events to pretend that she is more than a glorified porn star.
Even Charlene wasn’t allowed to attend royal gatherings until Albert proposed to her and she was “legit” in the eyes of the media.
Princess Victoria’s husband, Prince Daniel, wasn’t allowed to accompany her until they were allowed by Parliament to get married and had the King’s approval, and Victoria is the future Queen!
And now her own brother is freely bringing along his trashy girlfriend (whose past was already being whitewashed by the Swedish Palace since last year) to official royal events for the public to see. Once Victoria got married, the bar was not only set so low, it was completely removed. So Carl-Philip dumped his GF for several years and started dating someone who has a history of chasing after fame.
The Bernadottes of Sweden might turn out to be the real Euro trash of the royal families.
Carl-Philip will be the downfall of Swedish monarchy if he ever proposes to that girl. I can’t imagine him presenting him as “Princess Sofia of Sweden” to other royals, no matter the skeletons in their own closets.
“King Carl-Gustaf is a womanizing creep who had his own friends bring him prostitutes!”
So he’s like pretty much all male royalty throughout history, then? Not that it’s okay, but it’s not shocking either.
Hot waxy gray opiate pallor. Flat-backing a nice pair of loafers like a boss. He’s gonna make an awesome dad!
It’s the oldest trick in the book, but Andrea’s probably not too unhappy about it since she puts up with his wandering eye.
From all accounts, Albert is very close to Andrea and treats him more like a son than a nephew. While I’m sure Albert would prefer to have a child of his own inherit, it’s obviously not a priority for him or he would’ve legitimized one of his children or gotten married much earlier in life.
What? It’s Pierre, not Andrea, that has the reputation of screwing every model in the world.
I’m not saying he’s a playboy like his brother, but Andrea hasn’t been involved with Tatiana exclusively this entire time and I’m not sure that’s going to change after they get married.
Who knows whether she is or not, I hope Andrea has gotten help for his drug problems. Albert needs an heir because they’ll all be in deep sh!t if he’s forced to leave the throne to any of the Casiraghi kids.
I know this is nit-picking, but if she’s pregnant, the kid would be third in line to the throne, not second (behind Caroline and Andrea).
I’m fairly sure that the throne can only go to men. It was originally through the male line only (daughter’s son’s couldn’t inherit), but Caroline managed to get that changed so that, while the throne couldn’t go to a woman, it could go via the female line.
This means Andrea is first in line and if the child is male, it will be second.
Monaco’s constitution is here:
http://www.gouv.mc/Gouvernement-et-Institutions/Les-Institutions/La-Constitution-de-la-Principaute#eztoc81068_11
Title II, Article 10, deals with succession. It says the primogeniture with male priority is IN THE SAME DEGREE OF RELATIONSHIP. That means Andrea has preference over his sisters, NOT over his mother (because he is not in the “same degree of relationship” to Prince Albert as Caroline).
The constitution further states that primogeniture with male priority in the same degree of kinship “operates FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS” of the reigning Prince, and their direct descendants.
Thus Caroline is Albert’s current successor, as she is the oldest sister of the reigning prince. If Albert had a younger brother, he would come before Caroline, because he and Caroline would be in the same degree of relationship to Albert. However, since Albert only has sisters, Caroline is next in line. Then, her children are next, with male preference primogeniture among the children (who are in the same degree of relationship).
These changes to the constitution were made in 2002.
If she keeps wearing clothes like that, no guy is going to stick around long. Too matronly!
Yeah! How dare she assume the man she has been with for 8 years would love her for her and not some random unfortunate clothing choice.
*eye roll that can be seen from space*
Most guys don’t give a crap what you wear, so long as it’s clean. They just want to get you out of it as much as possible. My fiancé would be happiest if I sat around naked all day. Other than that, getting his opinion on clothing is impossible, because he just doesn’t care.
Yikes. With her wealth and connections you’d think she could get a little help with her style choices. Damn you’re marrying into Monaco royalty, I’m sure Chanel could help you out. There’s no reason to look so hideous. I mean the wedding pic hurts my eyes. That hat, the bag, the 80’s chocker, the shoes, none of it goes together. And the Laura Ashley hat and Mrs. Roper going to a garden party tunic? Blegh. Money don’t buy taste.
Ah, lifestyles of the rich and snooty kids who don’t know what a real job is.
The Grimaldi family is so trashy and ridiculous, they should be a reality show.
I happen to like both Andrea and Tatiana. Sure she is rich, but she is running a shop where everything has to be made by the locals and organic. And she is wiling to pay a fair price for it. And she always dresses a bit bohemian. She doesn’t care what people think, she is just herself. She may not be pregnant at all, just liked the dress. Apparently the wedding is planned for next year.
The pair of them are one heck of a lot more interesting that William and Waity. To me they are boring. And she always looks perfect and acts perfect which makes her seems a bit fake. He always looks tense. Andrea and Tatiana seem very tactile with one another.
Charlene looks better this year with her hair shorter. Maybe she loves Albert???!!!