Andrea Casiraghi



In 2005, after the death of Prince Rainier and the accession of Prince Albert, Princess Caroline's elder son, the new reigning prince's nephew, became second in line to the throne, thrusting the already popular young royal even further into the spotlight.

Though he doesn't carry a title, Andrea has already projected the glamorous image of a 21st century prince. He inherited the dashing good looks of his Italian businessman father Stefano Casiraghi, who died in a tragic speed boat accident in 1990. Andrea, the eldest of Stefano's three children with Princess Caroline, was just six years old at the time.

Born on June 8, 1984 in Monte Carlo, Andrea, along with younger siblings Charlotte and Pierre, grew up in his family's country estate in Saint Remy de Provence, far from the glamour of Monaco where his grandfather reigned. Highly regarded for his skills as a skier, rider, footballer and long distance runner while at secondary school in Paris, he speaks French and English as well as some German and Italian.

Though his profile was boosted when he became second-in-line, Andrea wasn't always groomed for a possible royal role. It was a 2002 change to inheritance laws which changed his future, dictating that siblings of Prince Albert would be able to accede to the throne - with Caroline first in line, followed by her children - should he die without legitimate heirs.

In 2005, as he prepared to succeed Rainier, Prince Albert revealed he had a two-year-old child called Alexandre with a Togo-born flight attendant. As the toddler was born out of wedlock, Albert explained, he would have no rights to the throne.

But Andrea is not just Monaco's potential ruler. With his sun-kissed surfer looks and Hollywood lineage - thanks to his late grandmother Grace Kelly - he's very much one of the next generation of royal heartbreakers. Named as one of the world's most beautiful people alongside a host of film stars in America's People magazine, he's also a bit of a fashion icon, like his mother. In 2002, he won hellomagazine.com's Most Stylish Royal poll, pipping Prince William to the top spot.

Linked to beautiful and wealthy young women, including German aristocrat Caroline von Stauffenberg, in 2004 he began stepping out with striking Colombian heiress Tatiana Santo Domingo. The couple quickly earned a jetsetting reputation, spotted on jaunts in Ibiza and the Austrian ski resort of Zurs, as well as London, where she studies at a University in Marylebone.