Grace Kelly’s Granddaughter Makes High Fashion Debut

Some girls really do wake up royalty like Anne Hathaway in our favourite sick-day movie The Princess Diaries. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi first came to the public’s attention in 2006 when news outlets reported that this Orange County, California-based teen was the born-out-of-wedlock daughter of Prince Albert of Monaco, and thus granddaughter of the iconic actress Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier of Monaco. In the years since she mostly kept out of the media spotlight, pursuing her education and becoming closer to her father with frequent holidays to his palace in the Riviera country. In fact, it is only now, at the ripe old age of 24, that Jazmin is speaking to the press and giving her first proper interview to Harper’s Bazaar this month. The interview is accompanied by a couture fashion editorial, where Jazmin wears Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and Dolce & Gabbana. Somehow we think granny would approve.

(The photographer’s work will be familiar to anyone who fell in love with the magazine’s other Hollywood heiress shoot of Audrey Hepburn’s granddaughter?Emma Ferrer last year. Richard Avedon’s grandson Michael took the arresting photos.)

Throughout the interview, Jasmin speaks about her life and what growing up with such famous and royal heritage was like. Jazmin never met her father until she was 11-years-old, and had enjoyed an under-the-radar childhood, attending school and playing sports. She used to receive occasional messages from her father. “It’s just what it was,” is how she describes the situation, one which probably couldn’t have been contained in today’s world of phone hackings and TMZ style reporting.

When the ‘scandal? hit, Jazmin was 14. “It’s a difficult time for any young adult, and it was an adjustment to have that attention. But I knew it was going to come someday,” she tells the magazine. When her identity became public, so did the story of her biological parents. Her mother Tamara Rotolo became pregnant with Jazmin after a brief relationship with the prince on the C?te d’Azur in 1991. Tamara raised her daughter away from the public eye while Prince Albert supported the two financially after a legal battle.

Now 24, Jazmin has made sure her relationship with her father has been bridged. She enjoys a close friendship with her step-mother Princess Charlene and often visits Monaco to spend time with her half-siblings Gabriella and Jacques. She’s also close to her cousin Pauline Ducruet, 21, the daughter of her aunt Princess St?phanie

As for Jazmin’s career ambitions? At the moment, she’s a singer and an actress, like her grandmother before she took up her royal duties. (Jazmin says that while she never met her grandmother, who died aged 52, she did feel a moment of connection while watching her movies.) Jazmin has an operatically trained voice and throws cabaret shows. While she studied business at Fordham Univeristy, she told Harper’s Bazaar that a career combining the arts and humanitarian work is one she wants. While she’s not an heir to the throne, she’s behaving like an ideal princess.

Via Harper’s Bazaar?