Charlotte Casiraghi: “I don’t particularly like this “official representing,” I prefer to be free”
Charlotte Casiraghi at the Rendez-vous littéraires Rue Cambon, organised by Chanel © Facebook / Chanel
Between her role as a mother, as a representative of the Princely Family and her career, Charlotte Casiraghi is charting a unique course in a “perpetual quest” for freedom and well-being.
Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and granddaughter of Grace Kelly, is an independent, driven woman and absolutely of her time.
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In an interview with The Telegraph, she talked about her childhood, her career and how she learned to reconcile her “royal” status and her quest for personal freedom. As journalist Hermione Eyre points out in her article, one word keeps coming up: freedom. During the 45-minute interview, Charlotte Casiraghi mentions it ten times.
A perpetual quest for freedom
Although she is eighth in line to the Monegasque throne, Charlotte Casiraghi prefers not to be defined by her title. “I always try to detach myself from this “royal” status,” she says. “I don’t particularly like this “official representing”, even though I do it if there’s a purpose or if it’s important for my family. But this brings pressure, people judge you (…) I prefer to be free,” she adds. This quest for freedom extends to every sphere of his life, from her career and family life to her commitments in Monaco.
She says that reading female writers has helped her to overcome society’s expectations: “Reading a lot of female writers has helped me not to live by expectations and judgments. For me, it’s important to be free from certain conventions.”
The challenge of being a mother and a free woman
The mother of two boys, Raphaël and Balthazar, Casiraghi talks about the difficulties faced by women who have to juggle career and motherhood. “I think for women it’s a challenge having children… Any working mother feels harassed and torn, and men do not experience this in the same way.”
She stresses the unequal burden of gender, saying that mothers are constantly mindful of their family responsibilities. “Before you have kids you don’t realise you’re going to have to fight for your own space and creativity.”
Maternal health salons in Monaco
Although she tries to distance herself from her official role, Princess Caroline’s daughter is involved in a number of projects in Monaco, including salons on maternal health. “It’s a small country so it’s politically easy to set something up. I work with [the departments for] education, culture, health – in a larger country it would take such a long time to do, whereas in Monaco we can experiment. It’s an opportunity,” she says.
In Monaco, we can experiment. It’s an opportunity.
Touching on subjects such as ‘the pregnant body’, Charlotte Casiraghi told the journalist that she organises seminars at the Princess Grace Hospital. She believes “It’s a vulnerable time and there’s a lot of questioning going on so it’s important not just to offer support, but to consider this experience as constantly questioning our human condition.”
A far from privileged childhood
Although her name is synonymous with prestige, Charlotte was brought up far from the Monegasque spotlight after the tragic death of her father, Stefano Casiraghi. Her mother, Princess Caroline, chose to move to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to keep her children away from media attention.
She and her brothers went to ‘normal’ schools, “with a lot of different social backgrounds. I wasn’t at a privileged school at all,” Casiraghi says. This upbringing forged her character, enabling her to understand at an early age the social tensions associated with her status. “So you’re confronted with the fact that your social and economic situation creates tension, comparison, rivalry..” she adds. “It was always difficult having… all that background.” The disconnect fuelled her desire to prove her worth “so people would consider me for my own capacities.” She goes on to explain: “Discomfort makes you creative, makes you seek another level of meaning.”
An ongoing struggle for emancipation
There have been moments of personal reinvention on her journey, whether through her literary studies, her salons with Chanel or her divorce from Dimitri Rassam. “I’m still emancipating myself,” she says. “Too often we’re imprisoned in a vision of what a family is, and I want to live my life free from that, especially when people constantly judge your life and your choices.”
During the interview, Charlotte Casiraghi stressed the importance of complexity and diversity in the debates she organises in Monaco, notably through the Rencontres Philosophiques. She explains that even though she sometimes invites people she doesn’t agree with, it’s part of her philosophy: “Freedom of expression, gender, feminism are all topics that we’ve tried to explore in audacious ways.”