Charlotte Casiraghi, Dimitri Rassam & Family Current Events Part 45: February 2022 - October 2024

Chimene said:

I think she’s just shy and looking for love in the wrong places not unlike her mom and aunt Stephanie. It seems that marital fulfillment has alluded the women in the family long term whether it’s the universe or their own fault I cannot say. She would also benefit from spending more time with herself and not jump so quickly into the next relationship. This is something Stephanie finally figured out after how many years… I sense a void in Charlotte and a shielding that is perhaps driven by a fear of judgment as she stated in this interview.

Click to expand...

I agree. She is definetely not the usual royal type. Good for her that she is not in that prominent position to have to represent her country. Being beautiful and rich she can pursue her own interests. She is, a rare example in royals, very intellectual, studied philosphy and much into thinking and contemplating about life and the problem of humanity. And she is a great lover of literature and reads a lot (just like me). That's one of the reasons I can connect with her. In fact I bought some of the books she recommended and wasn't disappointed.
About her private life concerning men and having children I don't know why she made the decisions she made. Does every woman know exactly why she wanted to have children?

I believe she was searching for a good relationship with a man she loved and having a good family life , but unfortunately it didin't work out for her. We don't know how Gad or Dimitri acted as husbands or fathers. Don't forget both of these men already had fathered a child and separated. It cannot be all her fault alone.
I don't think that she is a cold mother to her children, how can we know? I remember seeing pictures some time ago with her two sons, going on holiday, spending time with Dimitri's daughter from his first marriage. I was happy for her watching her relationship with Dimitri, very sad that it didn't work out for them.
She doesn't want to share pics of her children as many other prominent people don't want to. Nothing wrong with that, it is her private decision. I always had and still have a soft spot for her and don't think that she is cold, she is just more into philosophical and literture issues, which is quite unusual in royals.

hereditarytitles said:

I agree. She is definetely not the usual royal type. Good for her that she is not in that prominent position to have to represent her country. Being beautiful and rich she can pursue her own interests. She is, a rare example in royals, very intellectual, studied philosphy and much into thinking and contemplating about life and the problem of humanity. And she is a great lover of literature and reads a lot (just like me). That's one of the reasons I can connect with her. In fact I bought some of the books she recommended and wasn't disappointed.
About her private life concerning men and having children I don't know why she made the decisions she made. Does every woman know exactly why she wanted to have children?

I believe she was searching for a good relationship with a man she loved and having a good family life , but unfortunately it didin't work out for her. We don't know how Gad or Dimitri acted as husbands or fathers. Don't forget both of these men already had fathered a child and separated. It cannot be all her fault alone.
I don't think that she is a cold mother to her children, how can we know? I remember seeing pictures some time ago with her two sons, going on holiday, spending time with Dimitri's daughter from his first marriage. I was happy for her watching her relationship with Dimitri, very sad that it didn't work out for them.
She doesn't want to share pics of her children as many other prominent people don't want to. Nothing wrong with that, it is her private decision. I always had and still have a soft spot for her and don't think that she is cold, she is just more into philosophical and literture issues, which is quite unusual in royals.

Click to expand...

I agree with all of this. I think we often equate intellectual ideals with being a snob or looking up our nose at others, and while that may sometimes be the case with some people, I don’t really think that’s really true. A person who seeks intellectual pursuits to me simply means being intelligent and wanting to be learned. A lot of times, such a person asks a lot of questions, probes, and makes the effort to understand the issues that impact us all. That kind of curiosity gives someone a conscience in my opinion.

On the subject of her life choices, I understand the perspective that finds those behaviors objectionable, but that’s a morality issue. I personally leave the accountability for decisions such as these to those impacted and whoever her higher power is. That is the point she’s making in the interview I believe. If I’m reading between the lines correctly, I think she may even be embarrassed by her current predicament.

Her argument is, or we can take it as an excuse, women are made to feel bad for making choices that are contradictory to societal norms. She wants to free herself from that judgment because she believes we should have the freedom to decide what normal is for each of us. The fact that she doesn’t have a public role is a plus for her, but I think she understands what the privileges are for her. That’s how I read the piece.

The objections that have been raised about her on this thread are human failings, and as we all know, people are not perfect. I know that’s rich coming from me (), but I have biases like everyone else, and I’m tolerant of her because I make room for the possibility that she maybe making these, we’ll call them mistakes, due to personal problems.

We all have issues, and that’s not an excuse since we all have our fair share, but my non negotiable for people who are flawed is: you should never deliberately do harm, malign, and set out to destroy others. Everyone has their own limits and I can appreciate that too.

I’ve read a few of her recommendations as well. She has great taste and reads a wide range of authors which I appreciate. I’m happy to throw those books at her (), if and when she gives me a reason.

I read Duras' L'Amant at her recommendation, and I also purchased Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal". Fascinating and strange reads, both of them.

As for her personal life I was ecstatic when she got together with Dimitri Rassam. They were a gorgeous glamourous couple, the brunette version of Pierre and Beatrice. I don't know what went wrong and I don't need to. But I do feel sad when families with children break up.

Charlotte unlike her brothers she does not seem finding long stability and this is sad. We don't know why ofcourse, but how could we? She never spoke about anything related to her private life. I would say the more public act she ever did related to her partners, is when she appeared to the TV show with Gad.
So, impossible to find out what happened behind closed doors.
And her choices were not butter smooth easy men...
Gad ... much older, from a completely different world....and with previous separation with kid...

Dimitri... son of a strong personality father, drug addicted and comitted suicide... heavy weight to lift. By the way what do we know about Dimitri ? Handsome, son of a gorgeous mother.. and then what? Cold person introverted. Difficult to see the relation. I never remember any picture of them showing feelings. Also from a show-business world.
Pierre and Andrea both choose matches from their own circles.
Charlotte left the confort zone, maybe this is one of the reasons.
Yes with Dimitri she (kind of..) disappointed all if us as she broke the fairy tale match we were all dreaming of.. We even not know if she left him or if he broke with her . Just she moved on first but we don't know about him either.
As for the kids i don't see any indication her being cold... we don't know either. I just think that generally she does not show her feelings...

She is just a product of her environment and upbringing. I've always maintained she was a nerd who looks like fairytale princess and that's caused some issues for her, even though those might be issues regular people could only dream of. We don't know how she was raised by Caroline, and how her father's death impacted her, and how the constant comparisons (and then often found being lacking) with her grandmother, one of the most beautiful and famous women ever, contributed to her personality.

I found the interview the same as previous ones. I don't find her talk on philosophy and literature to be particularly pretentious--that's literally what her work with Chanel is about and what she's interested in so she is bound to focus on those topics. I also don't think she should talk about pop culture just to seem relatable if that's not her thing, since that would be condescending of her.

However, I do find her inaccessible and fiercely private and perhaps not fully cognisant of the massive privilege she has. She finds going to a public school and exposure to different backgrounds a source of discomfort that drove her creativity. I couldn't help roll my eyes at that. I hope that experience allowed her a glimpse into what normal people go through, how much even a tiny bit of her wealth can make a difference in people's lives, and what struggle actually means for most people. I understand she was very young back then, so perhaps that's why it doesn't seem like that experience impacted her in any meaningful way, other than how it contributed to her creativity.

Also, I don't know if her comment about her struggle for emancipation was made with reference to her marriage, or if it was the interviewer piecing things together. If it's the former, --why marry in the first place if you felt marriage was something you need to be emancipated from? It was a choice she made, after all, unlike her background and her sex and whatnot. I would be very interested in how she views romantic relationships, or how she'd intellectualise them. Are romantic relationships something she'd want freedom from?

From this interview, I don't think she's pretentious, just out of touch but also interesting. Certainly more interesting than most of her title-less/throneless peers on here.

Inaccessible… I like that. She literally went off the grid since spring perhaps protecting herself from the spotlight. I see her as someone who’s not very comfortable in her own skin unless she’s discussing books and then she sorts of comes alive. She is definitely intriguing.

I think she's intellectualised everything (sometimes pseudo intellectual) that I don't think she has feelings or leads with them.

I used to defend her when people called her haughty or miserable because I really think that was just her face. I've always felt she was insecure in front of cameras and anxious and possibly depressed. I related to that. I'm so in my head all the time. I have anxiety.

I've seen a few pics where she's been friendly to Princess Charlene. I haven't heard of any diva behaviour.

Maybe it's just the interviews and especially if they're translated so then all the meaning is lost or misunderstood so she comes across cold and lacking any humour.

She barely smiles or shows any politeness, friendliness and that's just being a decent human no matter how protective of your privacy you are.

Princess Caroline at least did a lot of charity work, visited so many locations for AMADE. It'd be nice if Charlotte (and her brothers) used this power to actually help people. She basically just admitted she doesn't know how to be around 'common' people. It comes across as bad. That is nothing like Grace. Even Caroline. Albert and Stephanie seem more humble and like their mother.

People say Dimitri seemed cold but maybe it was her. Maybe he tried and she was incapable of affection. She was probably thinking and analysing everything rather than just being.

I read the interview & what I got out of it was a fixation on rebellion, sexism, intellect, privilege & victimhood. This constant “freedom” that she seeks in multiple ways be it away from royalty or judgement may be one of the reasons her life is somewhat chaotic. She may not know what she’s searching for & doesn’t seek stability. She’s also not really taking blame for her mistakes but instead blames so much on anything “official’ or “visions” or sexism without self-reflection. Anything that has worked & stood the test of time for even her brothers she’s offended by because she can’t achieve the same.

I think her intellect is her personality. It’s what she wants to come across as. Not a bad thing at all, but other than that I have no idea to describe her it’s also interesting how she talks so much about the problems of humanity without really doing anything to try to help make a difference in the world with her privilege. She stays in her elite & rich social circles even for these meeting but could have the same discussions with any of us on this forum because we’re just as passionate, intelligent & invested in what she’s talking about. But she doesn’t engage with anyone normal or not of the same status & chooses not to.

Another point that bothered me is her lack of self-awareness with not understanding why anyone would be interested in her private life as a way to avoid judgement. Judgement isn’t always a bad thing, it could be used to as motivation. I get that she didn’t choose the life she was born into but she can choose how to improve her life. Whether she likes it or not, she is who she is & people are interested.

The last thing I wanted to bring up is the sexism against men. I’m all for female empowerment & strong mothers but not when it brings down the other sex. Her comments to me are in bad taste for multiple reasons. What if it was stefano who had to raise 3 kids on his own? What about when her sons grow up to be husbands & fathers since she’s raising them? Maybe Demitri also feels that he doesn’t have the same creative freedom with kids around? How does she know that he or any other father, especially a single working father, doesn’t have the same challenges in a home life? Btw, I personally never found them to be a gorgeous or glamorous couple. It’s sad what happened to them though.

I nominate you to go interview her (). Those are very important follow up questions that someone should challenge her on precisely as she views herself through an intellectual lens.

Regarding the disconnect as it relates to her privilege, I would say that none of us are not without our contradictions. I agree she should do some self reflection. Also, I would rather she doesn’t take causes just for optics or self serving purposes, and we have no way to know if she doesn’t contribute in other ways. Besides she’s always accompanied her mother and supports her uncle when needed or interested.

Some people do their activism or charity work privately through donations for example. Perhaps she goes and reads to school children. I don’t know, I think we have enough prophets and some of them are even false.

Sexism towards men? I’m struggling with that one. Historically men have always had the advantage of doing and being whatever they want to be. Let’s take her relationship with Dimitri, he’s had a failed marriage, picked up and moved on and his career hasn’t skipped a beat. I’m saying it shouldn’t, maybe she was unhappy when he went on long shoots and she was left at home with the children. I’m not onboard with this complaint because she has resources to hire the best possible help, but perhaps her emotional needs were not being met. But that’s between her and Dimitri.

The likelihood of the marriage failing was 50/50 or more than that according to the statistics. It’s unfortunate for her and her kids. There’s probably a bit of why didn’t it happen for me like my brothers going on internally, but she needs to practice all that philosophy she learned and work on herself. Who knows… it could be exactly what she’s doing.

With the sexism, I referred to what Charlotte specifically mentioned about not being able to be creative at home with kids & how challenging the home life was for a working mother. While true, I found it unfair to ignore working fathers, especially single ones & dismiss their struggles which is why I brought up the possible scenarios with her father & sons if they’d ever be working fathers having to take care of kids on their own. Traditionally yes, I agree with her about women thinking more about the home life but marriages don’t have traditional roles anymore & for her marriage specifically, I doubt it with how free she likes to be regarding everything so in her case, I’d imagine that either she or Dimitri was taking care of the kids while the other was working & both were equally thinking about home & raising kids together. If there were communication issues about needs being met then that’s one of the things that could’ve led to their marriage’s sad downfall. While his career hasn’t stopped neither has hers. Not her Chanel or philosophy work. Even her love life.

How come this interview is only published now?
The salon withe Rachel Cusk and Naomi Campbell was in March.

fandesacs2003 said:

Charlotte unlike her brothers she does not seem finding long stability and this is sad. We don't know why ofcourse, but how could we? She never spoke about anything related to her private life. I would say the more public act she ever did related to her partners, is when she appeared to the TV show with Gad.
So, impossible to find out what happened behind closed doors.
And her choices were not butter smooth easy men...
Gad ... much older, from a completely different world....and with previous separation with kid...

Dimitri... son of a strong personality father, drug addicted and comitted suicide... heavy weight to lift. By the way what do we know about Dimitri ? Handsome, son of a gorgeous mother.. and then what? Cold person introverted. Difficult to see the relation. I never remember any picture of them showing feelings. Also from a show-business world.
Pierre and Andrea both choose matches from their own circles.
Charlotte left the confort zone, maybe this is one of the reasons.
Yes with Dimitri she (kind of..) disappointed all if us as she broke the fairy tale match we were all dreaming of.. We even not know if she left him or if he broke with her . Just she moved on first but we don't know about him either.
As for the kids i don't see any indication her being cold... we don't know either. I just think that generally she does not show her feelings...

Click to expand...

Charlotte and Dimitri didn't show feelings?? Oh you couldn't be more wrong. At the beginning they were completely all over one another. Their photos on the PACHA, swimming in the Med, on Caroline's yacht..some of it made me blush.
Dimitri had a very prestigious education and upbringing even though he is not an aristocrat like Charlotte. And unlike her other partners he was a match for her in the looks department, exotic and handsome.

On paper they seemed a great couple imho.

A traditional aristocratic "fairly tale" marriage was probably not in the cards for Charlotte after her time with Gad Elmaleh and the birth of their son. And based on what little we know of her character and personality it's probably the last thing she ever wanted for herself.

Charlotte seems a hybrid of her aunt Stephanie and her mother Caroline in terms of her attitude.

The perception of Charlotte as lacking in humor or warmth does indeed come across as valid to outsiders, but I doubt that it's real. This is her public mask. It's the way she wants it and that's ok. I am not offended. She is not a tax payer supported person and does not owe me anything.

Charlotte and to a lesser extent her siblings are a perfect example that just because someone is blessed with great physical beauty the public expects them to also reflect inner beauty.

I think it was Sidney Poitier who said that one mustn't become the repository for another person's dreams.

He was right.

kath2833 said:

With the sexism, I referred to what Charlotte specifically mentioned about not being able to be creative at home with kids & how challenging the home life was for a working mother. While true, I found it unfair to ignore working fathers, especially single ones & dismiss their struggles which is why I brought up the possible scenarios with her father & sons if they’d ever be working fathers having to take care of kids on their own. Traditionally yes, I agree with her about women thinking more about the home life but marriages don’t have traditional roles anymore & for her marriage specifically, I doubt it with how free she likes to be regarding everything so in her case, I’d imagine that either she or Dimitri was taking care of the kids while the other was working & both were equally thinking about home & raising kids together. If there were communication issues about needs being met then that’s one of the things that could’ve led to their marriage’s sad downfall. While his career hasn’t stopped neither has hers. Not her Chanel or philosophy work. Even her love life.

Click to expand...

Understood. I wouldn’t call that sexism against men however. It’s a recent phenomenon that many men are now opting to be equally involved or in some cases primary care takers of their children. Unfairness would be a better term for her complaint, but maybe she’s making a general point. I understand your argument better now and somewhat agree that is not her personal situation.

We know nothing about her private life. What we know is that she has a licence de Philisophie à la Sorbonne and she failed her exam for ENS( Ecole Normale Supérieure )
I don't understand all these posts now ?

We are engaging in conversation .

Chimene said:

We are engaging in conversation .

Click to expand...

Exactly! Engaging in conversation prompted by an interview that Charlotte Casiraghi gave, to be precise.

I don't understand the lack of understanding.

moby said:

Exactly! Engaging in conversation prompted by an interview that Charlotte Casiraghi gave, to be precise.

I don't understand the lack of understanding.

Click to expand...

Emphasis is essential. maria-olivia even contributed to the conversation by providing a detail I didn’t even know - she failed her ENS exam.

Chimene said:

Emphasis is essential. maria-olivia even contributed to the conversation by providing a detail I didn’t even know - she failed her ENS exam.

Click to expand...

Some precisions: the ENS exam is a very highly selective. Each year, nearly a thousand candidates are taking it and only 75 people pass in the section in which she took it. So, each year, very brilliant people fail the exam, and that doesn't mean they are not brilliant. It only means there a more brilliant people than paid students positions offered each year at the ENS.

Sancia said:

Some precisions: the ENS exam is a very highly selective. Each year, nearly a thousand candidates are taking it and only 75 people pass in the section in which she took it. So, each year, very brilliant people fail the exam, and that doesn't mean they are not brilliant. It only means there a more brilliant people than paid students positions offered each year at the ENS.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that context and clarification. I’m of the view that it is okay to fail sometimes because it can be a teachable lesson that can provide further growth in life. It’s also good to point out here that her status and privilege were not invoked in order to get her in. That’s is a very important distinction as well.

After contemplating a while about what Charlotte said about the relationships in a marriage with children:

It might have been the case that Dimitri was away a lot because of his career as a producer and Charlotte felt alone with the children. Not being the type of being happy with just motherhood or being just a housewife but having her own interests and ambitions she wanted to pursue, there must have been clashes of interest.
Being able to hire help surely is helpful, but is a compromise. Possibly feeling guilty sometimes might have been there. You don't put children into the world nowadays and let them be raised by nannies. At least I hope those times are over.

That might have been the reason for their break up. All that is speculation, I know.

I remember that Caroline with her 3 children seemed to be very happy with Stefano and didn't have any ambition to be something else than a wife and mother.

There is always a conflict of any mother whether to have a professional career or not, and in most cases (I am talking about experience) one or the other has to give in at least to a certain level. Holding together a family with two children and at the same time having a career in whatever profession you have chosen, is difficult. To agree to compromises is essential for the success of the relationship.

That goes along with the moving too fast problem that I think can cause you to overlook incompatibility which then helps create misalignment in any relationship. That’s why it’s prudent to take the time to get to know a person. You will get a better sense of whether or not you share the same outlook, but even then it’s not a guarantee… Her approach seems to be jump in head first and figure out the repercussions later. I personally prefer backward mapping because I don’t like wasting my time or have regrets, but you live you learn.

Charlotte does not have a regular job that requires her to be away from home every day. For her modeling career, I see a video every now and then. For the rencontres philosophiques, we are talking about a meeting every month. François-Xavier BELLAMY, (a man who is only a year older than Charlotte Casirahi and who went to ENS), organizes similar events at the same frequency in Paris (called "Les soirées de la philo") without making such a fuss about it and trying so hard to be seen as an intellectual. He managed to be an european deputy at the same time in Strasbourg since 2019 !

Yes, well, there are for sure many many other people who have achieved much more than Charlotte. And the world doesn't know about hem. That is completely unjust, but that is exactly how society is and has always been.

If Charlotte didn't belong to the royal family of Monaco she wouldn't get the attention of Chanel or the philosphical society and wouldn't be featured in the international magazines or even in the royal forums.

That list of unknown people who have achieved lots of important things is endless, an we don't ever get to know about them unless they win the nobel prize or go into politics or into show business. And even then, they might fade away when their time is over.

Her interview was picked up by daily mail (yes I know it's the horrible one) but again she doesn't look good in it and I agree with with most comments.

(..)

fandesacs2003 said:

Charlotte unlike her brothers she does not seem finding long stability and this is sad. We don't know why of course, but how could we? She never spoke about anything related to her private life...
As for the kids I don't see any indication her being cold... we don't know either. I just think that generally she does not show her feelings...

Click to expand...

She's just a very private person. Just like when you are at work with the same people for years, or decades, and you don't really know about their lives because they simply keep it out of the workplace. In Charlotte's case she has done an extraordinary job keeping her family life private.

hereditarytitles said:

Yes, well, there are for sure many many other people who have achieved much more than Charlotte. And the world doesn't know about them. That is completely unjust, but that is exactly how society is and has always been...

Click to expand...

Charlotte was born a celebrity, like her mother, without her having a say about it. Both are descendants of one of the most famous Golden Era Hollywood royals herself, Grace Kelly, and because she became the wife of a hereditary head of a state her children and grandchildren carry on the attention from the press, again without them having a say about it.

hereditarytitles said:

Yes, well, there are for sure many many other people who have achieved much more than Charlotte. And the world doesn't know about hem. That is completely unjust, but that is exactly how society is and has always been.

If Charlotte didn't belong to the royal family of Monaco she wouldn't get the attention of Chanel or the philosphical society and wouldn't be featured in the international magazines or even in the royal forums.

That list of unknown people who have achieved lots of important things is endless, an we don't ever get to know about them unless they win the nobel prize or go into politics or into show business. And even then, they might fade away when their time is over.

Click to expand...

I wasn't talking about Charlotte's achievements. It's not fair to ask her to do great things. I was simply saying that her workload is not particularly heavy. I don't see how motherhood can prevent her from pursuing her career, which consists of shooting a 30-minute video every 3 months for Chanel and attending a conference once a month at most for ‘Les rencontres philosophiques’.

Sorry if you misunderstood my post. I was just musing about how famous people are being judged and how the world in general is reacting. I guess that her complaints about motherhood and workload have irritated you. That's just one part of that interview. Maybe she was just talking about mothers usually having the main responsibility of raising the children and taking care of them. We can only speculate if that was the case in her relationship with Dimitri, maybe she was disappointed by Gad about how he cared for Raphael? There must have been reasons for her to make that statement, she could as well have said nothing about that at all but just talk about philosphical issues.
Her mother, Caroline, was much more careful about giving interviews to the press. I always admired her absolute silence about her failed marriage to Ernst August. But that is OT, so I leave it at that.

Has Charlotte already given up her equestrian career?

Toledo said:

Charlotte was born a celebrity, like her mother, without her having a say about it. Both are descendants of one of the most famous Golden Era Hollywood royals herself, Grace Kelly, and because she became the wife of a hereditary head of a state her children and grandchildren carry on the attention from the press, again without them having a say about it.

Click to expand...

It is indeed because she is a member of the Monegasque princely family that she receives so much attention. Had Grace Kelly married someone else, her grandchildren would most likely not be in the public spotlight.

Blog Real said:

Has Charlotte already given up her equestrian career?

Click to expand...

Yes, she did a few years ago. She more recently rode a horse for a fashion show and said that she felt very stiff on the horse as she wasn’t used to it anymore.