Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, Grace Kelly's 'enfant terrible,' turns 57

Stéphanie of Monaco is not the average princess. The daughter of Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly has lived an adventurous life. Dating very different sorts of men, singing with Michael Jackson, joining the circus... these are just a few chapters in the story of the princess whom Grace Kelly lovingly called her 'enfant terrible' (rebellious child).

Born on February 1, 1965, Stéphanie is the youngest daughter of the late Prince of Monaco, Rainier III, and the American actress Grace Kelly. She has one elder sister, Caroline, and an elder brother, Albert, who is the leader of the tiny state of Monaco today.

Stéphanie's mother Grace Kelly once called her an 'enfant terrible' in an interview with People Magazine. She meant it in a good way though. Stéphanie was bright, athletic, and artistic. Besides classical dance and piano, she practice horse riding and gymnastics as a child.

When she was 17 years old, Princess Stéphanie experienced what undoubtedly has been the most traumatic event of her life. During a trip with her mother, coming home from their farm in France, they had a terrible car accident. Grace Kelly died in the crash, and Stéphanie hurt her neck vertebra.

Besides the experience of losing her mother in such a horrible way, Stéphanie also had to cope with rumors that it was her, not Grace Kelly, who had driven the car and caused the accident. The princess has always denied these claims.

After the accident, Stéphanie started her career in fashion and modeling. She worked for Christian Dior and made the covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair, among others. Her unique style, which made the trends of the 1980s her own, helped the young Stéphanie become a desired figure in the European jet-set and fashion world.

Stéphanie was living her best life and meeting many famous and powerful men on the way. She dated racer Paul Belmondo (on the photo), actor Anthony Delon, nightclub owner Mario Oliver Jutard, and - reportedly - actor Rob Lowe.

Stéphanie traveled and enjoyed sports, men, and modeling. Because of the accident, she realized how lucky she was to "have life." Hello Magazine quoted the princess as she looked back on her 'wild' eighties. "I had my arms open to the future and I said to myself, 'This could be all over tomorrow.' Nobody has really tried to understand me or my behavior, which just reflected my decision to enjoy life to the full."

In 1986, when she was 21 years, old, the princess launched her own swimwear line. Three years later a perfume with her name came out. "We're in the 20th century," her agent said in People Magazine. "You can be a princess, you can be beautiful - and you can still have a job."

Europeans may know Stéphanie most of all from her singing career. She made one of the best-selling singles ever in France ('Ouragan') and also sang in English: 'Irresistible' and 'One Love to Give.' However, she never really consolidated international success, even though she recorded an album in Los Angeles and appeared in The Oprah Winfrey Show.

When we hear the song 'In the Closet' by Michael Jackson, we may remember the guest performance of supermodel Naomi Campbell in its steamy video. But did you know that Princess Stéphanie of Monaco sings along with the King of Pop in this track? The credits say 'Mystery Girl,' and when you consider the racy lyrics of the song, it's understandable that a respectable monarchy wants no association with it. Years later, the real identity of 'Mystery Girl' was revealed to be Princess Stéphanie.

After a series of romances and artistic adventures, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco fell seriously in love with this racing man: Daniel Ducruet. He was her bodyguard at the time.

The couple got together in 1992 and had their first child in the same year: a boy with the name Louis. In 1994, their daughter Pauline was born. Interestingly, the couple was unmarried when they had their kids. In 1995, they decided to tie the knot after all, but the event was discrete because the bride's father, Prince Rainier, wanted to draw very little attention to it. Stéphanie, meanwhile, managed to put on the shortest wedding dress in royal history.

The marriage did not last long. One year, three months, and three days to be exact. There were rumors of Daniel Ducruet's infidelity. A Miss Belgium was named as his romantic interest. Whatever the truth was, Stéphanie left with her son Louis and daughter Pauline while maintaining a friendly relationship with their father.

In July 1998, Princess Stéphanie gave birth to a baby girl: Camille. She did not have a confirmed relationship with anyone at the time, and she did not even put the name of a father on the birth certificate. The modern princess was a consciously single mother.

Camille herself would later acknowledge that her father was one of Stéphanie's bodyguards - yes, she had a taste for them! - and that she had taken on his last name: Jean Raymond Gottlieb.

As a Princess of Monaco, Stéphanie has long been the patron of the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo. Over time, it became clear that she had a special affinity with circuses: perhaps it was the music, the athletics, or... the men?

In 2001 the news broke that Princess Stéphanie was seeing the elephant trainer Franco Knie. He was also the director of the family circus bearing his name.

Franco Knie was a married man, but allegedly he fell hopelessly in love with Stéphanie. They had eleven years in age between them, but they shared their love for elephants.

Head over heels, the Princess of Monaco moved into the circus caravan of Franco Knie and took her three children with her. They had a romantic time together for about a year. Then Stéphanie and the kids moved out of the trailer again and the love was over.

While at the circus, Stéphanie had apparently fallen in love with one of its acrobats, the Portuguese Adans Lopez Peres. He was ten years younger than the princess. In 2003, they got married. A year and roughly two months later they got divorced.

That was the last marriage for Princess Stéphanie of Monaco - so far. She returned to her family villa in Monaco and raised her three children. To her left on this photo are Louis and Pauline Ducruet, and to her right is little Camille Gottlieb.

Besides music and the fashion industry, Princess Stéphanie is interested in philanthropy. She founded an association to support people with HIV and AIDS, trying to take the stigma away from the illness. In 2006, Stéphanie became a UN ambassador for its HIV/AIDS program.

Apart from these individual activities, she also appears regularly at royal events with her elder sister Caroline and her brother Albert. The latter became Prince of Monaco when their father died in 2005.

Stéphanie of Monaco has an estimated net worth of $100 million. According to Yahoo Finance, this makes her the fourth richest princess in the world (after her sister-in-law Charlene, the Italian Princess Gesine, and little Princess Charlotte of England). Stéphanie has the same fortune as her sister Caroline, who comes in number five on the list.

Princess Stéphanie's rebellious side has been eternalized with tattoos of a flower bracelet on her wrist, jumping dolphins on her foot, and a snake-like drawing on her back.

The Princess of Monaco is often seen in close harmony with animals such as dolphins, seals, or elephants. However, ecologists and animal rights activists disagree with her about the fate of circus animals. When the French government banned the use of wild animals in traveling circuses in 2020, Stéphanie was critical of that legislation. She does not think animals are necessarily worse off in a circus, the Daily Mail reports.

Together with her daughter Pauline, Stéphanie still visits the circus regularly. Pauline is interested in gymnastics and elephants, just like her mother.

Louis and Pauline are in their late twenties now. They have become beautiful young socialites like their mother was in the eighties.

As far as the tabloids know, Stéphanie's daughter Pauline Ducruet (right) is still single. Camille Gottlieb (left) declared in 2020 that she'd rather be "alone" than "in bad company," and it seems she is still single as well.

We can see some aesthetic corrections in the appearance of Princess Stéphanie, although none of them have been confirmed. Experts told the online paper El Confidencial that the princess looks like she's had at least some lifting of the skin and botox in strategic areas.

As she has moved beyond the age that her mother Grace Kelly would ever reach (she died at 53), it seems that Princess Stéphanie of Monaco prefers more and more to have a quiet life outside of the spotlights. No more singing or modeling, less circus, and less paparazzi. It seems that the 'enfant terrible' has settled down.