Royal Profile: Princess Stephanie of Monaco, The Countess of Polignac

Princess Stephanie Marie Elisabeth of Monaco, The Countess of Polignac was born as the 3rd child and second daughter to Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco on 1 February 1965 {Source}. She has a brother, sister, sister-in-law, four nieces, four nephews, two stepnephews, a stepniece-in-law, a stepgreatniece, a stepgreat nephew and stepniece-in-law, and two great nephews:
  1. Princess Caroline of Hanover, Princess by birth of Monaco (1957)
    1. Philippe Junot (m. 1977-1980)
    2. Stefano Casiraghi (1960, m. 1984-1990, his death)
      1. Andrea Albert Pierre Casiraghi (1985)
      2. Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi (1986)
        1. Gad Elmaleh (never married)
          1. Raphael Casiraghi Elmaleh (2013)
        2. Dimitri Rassam (engaged 2018)
          1. Balthazar Casiraghi Rassam (2018)
      3. Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi (1987)
        1. Beatrice Borromeo-Casiraghi (1985, m. 2015)
          1. Stefano Carlo Ercole Casiraghi (2017)
          2. Francesco Carlo Albert Casiraghi (2018)
    3. Prince Ernest August of Hanover (1954, m. 1999-sep 2009)
      1. Prince Ernest August of Hanover (1984, step-nephew)
        1. Ekaterina Malysheva (m. 2017, stepniece-in-law)
          1. Princess Elisabeth Tatiana Maximiliana Iacobella Faiza of Hanover (2018)
          2. Prince We;f August of Hanover (2019)
    4. Prince Christian of Hanover (1985, step-nephew)
      1. Allessandra Osma (2017 civilly, religious wedding 2018)
    5. Princess Alexandra of Hanover (1999)
  2. Prince Albert II of Monaco (1958)
    1. Tamara Jean Rotolo (never married, 1991)
      1. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi (1992)
    2. Nicole Coste (1997-2003, never married)
      1. Alexandre Eric Stephane Coste-Grimaldi (2003)
    3. Princess Charlene of Monaco (1977)
      1. Princess Gabriella Thérèse Marie of Monaco, The Countess of Carladès (2014)
      2. Prince Jacques Honoré Rainier, Hereditary Prince of Monaco (2014)

Her godparents were {Source}:



She spent her educational years in Monaco and France. She began her education at Les Dames St Maur in Monaco (merged with the other Catholic schools in the mid-1990s to create FANB). As a teen, she moved to Paris with her mother and sister in the 1970s {Source}. While residing in Paris with her mother and sister, she attended Dupanloup {Source}. She received her French Baccalaureat in 1982 {Source}. Throughout her education, she studied ballet, piano and gymnastics {Source}.


Upon completing her formal studies, she interned at the Haute Couture firm of Christian Dior under the direction of designer Marc Bohan from 1983 to 1984 {Source}.Then from 1985 through 1987 She designed a collection of swimsuits and swimwear under the name of 'Pool Position" {Source}.She speaks many languages, including French, English and Italian {Source}.


She began official duties at the age of 9 when she participated in her first jury of the International Circus Festival {Source}.Her daughter Pauline followed her suite, with her own festival in 2012, Princess Stephanie acts as President of that festival, while Pauline is President of the Jury. In 1979, she became the patron of the Grand Prix de Gymnastique de la Ville de Paris {Source}. Today, she serves as president or on the board of many organizations including {Source}:




  • The Monaco Youth Center
  • Princess Stephanie Activity Cente
  • The Princess Grace Foundation U.S.A. (Honorary Board Member)
  • The Princess Grace Theatre (Organizational Committee, since 1985)
  • The Jury of the Monte-Carlo Magic Grand Prix
  • Organizing Committee of the International Monte-Carlo Circus Festival (President since 2005, previously vice-president)
  • Fight Aids Monaco (President since 2004)
  • President of The of the International Monte-Carlo Circus Festival
  • President of The NEW GENERATION International Monte-Carlo Circus <> Festival (her elder daughter, Pauline, is the President of the Jury)



In her spare time, she loves swimming, water skiing and downhill skiing {Source}.

In November 2005, her brother awarded her with the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of Grimaldi, for her involvement in humanitarian actions, notably in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and in artistic actions,support of circus arts through the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival {Source}. On June 2006, Princess Stephanie traveled for the first time to the United Nations in New York during a high level meeting on HIV/AIDS in order to explain the contribution of Monaco and to declare her personal involvement in the fight against the illness {Source}. On the 6th October 2006, Princess Stephanie was named as a Special Representative for UNAIDS {Source}. Presently, she is a Goodwill Ambassador for this institution {Source}. On the 26th June 2010, Princess Stephanie inaugurated the "Maison de Vie" ("House of Life") {Source}.

She has been married twice, and has three children. Her first marriage was to Daniel Ducuret on 1 July 1995 {Source}. Together, they had two children, and now have a daughter-in-law:

  1. Louis Robert Paul Ducruet (1992)
    1. Marie Hoa Chevallier Ducruet(1992, m. 2019)
  2. Pauline Grace Maguy Ducruet (1994)



She also gained a stepson, Michael Ducruet (January 1992) in her marriage to Daniel Ducruet. The Princess and Mr. Ducuret were divorced in October 1996 {Source}. She married Adans Peres in 2003, and the marriage ended 10 months later in divorce in 2004{Source}. She gave birth to her youngest child, Camille Marie Kelly Gottlieb, on 15 July 1998 {Source}. Her father has never been publicly acknowledged, therefore, she is not in line for the throne. However, it's an open secret who he is-a former palace body guard, Jean-Raymond Gottlieb.

Family is an important part of Princess Stephanie's life. She is godmother to her oldest biological nephew, Andrea Casiraghi. She and her children are said to be close with Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, the illegitimate daughter of Prince Albert II. She shares a close relationship with her daughter Pauline. She reportedly had a difficult relationship with her big sister in the 1990s.

In February 1986, Stéphanie self-produced and released her first single with the French label Carrere, under the production of Yves Roze. The song "Ouragan" and its English version "Irresistible" were both international hits, reportedly selling more than 2 million copies.

She was said to be closest with her mother of her siblings.She was also in the accident that killed her mother in 1982.It was during this accident she allegedly had a big fight with her mother.It was rumored for many years that she was the one driving, when in fact, she was not. She is said to be close with her brother, Prince Albert II.

Her title The Countess of Polignac originated from her paternal grandfather, Prince Pierre, who was given the title upon his marriage to Princess Charlotte. Princess Stephanie was born the year after her paternal grandfather died from cancer. The current head of the House of  Polignac is her distant cousin, Charles-Armand-Emmanuel-Marie-Joseph-Jules, prince de Polignac.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Royal Profile: Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands

Royal Profile: Prince Constantin d'Orléans

Royal Profile: Gabriella Janssens