Caroline: 50 Years A Princess

Princess Caroline Louise Margueritte was born Jan. 23, 1957. So, on April 19, 1958, when this photo was taken, Caroline was nearly 15 months old. She is in the arms of her father, Prince Rainier of Monaco, as Princess Grace holds the newborn Prince Albert on the balcony of the palace.

This photo was taken Oct. 29, 1959, when Caroline was 3. Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, together with 19-month-old Prince Albert, were leaving a hotel in Saulieu on route to Monaco.

Here is the royal family on vacation in Switzerland on Feb. 26, 1960. Caroline (on top) was just a month past her 4th birthday. With her parents and brother Albert, she is sliding down a Swiss road.

Shortly before Grace and Rainier marked their 10th wedding anniversary, the family posed on the steps of the palace in 1966. Princess Stephanie had been born just the year before.

The Grimaldi children were taught their royal duties from a tender age. In this photo, taken Dec. 23, 1966, Stephanie, Prince Rainier, Albert, Caroline and Princess Grace offer gifts to some local children during a Christmas party at the palace. Caroline was just a month away from her 10th birthday.

Nov. 19 is always a big occasion in Monaco, because it is the principality's National Day, when it observes its anniversary. In 1968, when Caroline was 11, the whole family stood on the balcony of the palace in Monte Carlo to greet the populace.

By the time she was 17, Princess Caroline was occasionally accompanying her mother on official trips. Here, in July 1974, they are seen taking a stroll through a rose exhibition in Vienna.

Another big event in Monaco is the annual Red Cross Ball. From left, Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Prince Rainier III are shown opening the ball on Aug. 7, 1976.

Prince Rainier III of Monaco, his wife, Princess Grace, and their children, Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie, center, pose for a family picture in Monte Carlo on April 26, 1976, 20 years after the prince married the movie star.

The union did not exactly have the royal seal of approval, but after a jet-setting romance that whipped the paparazzi into a frenzy, Princess Caroline married French businessman Philippe Junot on June 28, 1978. She was 21 and he was 38. The marriage was over after 28 months.

The family suffered a cruel blow on Sept. 14, 1982, when Princess Grace died after a car accident that also left Princess Stephanie seriously injured. Here, the 25-year-old Princess Caroline and her father grieve at Princess Grace's funeral Sept. 18, 1982.

On Dec. 29, 1983, a year after her mother's death, Princess Caroline married Stefano Casiraghi, center, a sportsman and heir to an Italian motor oil fortune. In this family photo taken in 1987, Caroline holds newborn son Pierre, Stefano holds daughter Charlotte, and Prince Albert holds the eldest Casiraghi child, Andrea.

Princess Caroline faced tragedy again when Stefano was killed during a speedboat race on Oct. 3, 1990, at the age of 30. Here, she is seen being comforted by fashion model Ines de la Bressange as they leave Caroline's Parisian home on their way to Monaco shortly after she received word of her husband's death.

As time passed, Caroline seemed increasingly inclined to step into her mother's shoes of duty. On Oct. 8, 1996, in New York, she posed with her brother for photographers at the annual Princess Grace Foundation awards, honoring aspiring dancers, filmmakers, playwrights and actors. Because of a stress-related illness, Caroline suffered hair loss and for a short time wore silk turbans in public.

A radiant Princess Caroline arrived at the 55th Red Cross gala dinner Aug. 8, 2003 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Four years earlier, in 1999, she had married Prince Ernst of Hanover and the following year, she gave birth to her second daughter and fourth child, Princess Alexandra of Hanover.

Monaco's Princess Caroline and Prince Ernst August of Hanover looked every inch the royal couple on May 13, 2004, as they made their way to the Royal Theater in Copenhagen on the eve of the marriage of Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson.

Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie leave the cathedral in Monaco after attending the funeral Mass for their father, Prince Rainier III, April 15, 2005. The prince who had ruled the Mediterranean principality since 1949, died April 6, 2005, at the age of 81.

Princess Caroline of Hanover greets a child at the Opera Gala Evening "La Rondine" by Giacomo Puccini at the Salle Garnier as part of Monaco's National Day celebrations on Nov. 19, 2006, in Monte Carlo.

On Dec. 7, 2006, Caroline and some family members attended the Nijinski Awards ceremony in Monte Carlo. They included, from left, her son, Andrea Casiraghi, 22, daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, 20, and her husband, Prince Ernst August of Hanover.

Prince Albert is the ruler of Monaco now, but the constitution was changed in 2002 so that if Albert dies without legitimate children, the throne will pass to Caroline and then on to her children with Casiraghi. But daughter and mother, Charlotte and Caroline, seemed happy just to sit together at a Chanel fashion show Dec. 7, 2006, in Monte Carlo.