Although it may be hard to believe, Caroline of Monaco, sister of Prince Albert, came very close to becoming Queen of England.
Her relationship with the then Prince Charles of Wales could have been an arranged marriage, a common practice within royalty.
For many years, Caroline was considered one of the most desirable young women among the European nobility.
As the eldest daughter of Rainier III and Grace Kelly, her beauty and style placed her at the center of media attention, which attracted suitors from all over the world.
Her father, aware that Caroline could not reign in the Principality of Monaco, had more ambitious aspirations for his daughter, far from the typical romantic ideal.
Although Caroline has never explicitly addressed this chapter of her life, it is known that her family arranged a series of appointments with European princes. On one of these occasions, the 20-year-old met Charles of England.
Story about Caroline of Monaco and King Charles
During the 1970s, meetings between Caroline and the then Prince Charles became more frequent, fueling rumors of a possible relationship.
Charles began to visit Monaco regularly, and on many of these occasions, he was accompanied by his brother, Prince Albert.
However, their relationship quickly faded, even though the son of Elizabeth II confided to his closest friends that Caroline was “the only chance” he had of finding love.
While the press documented their meetings and spoke of a budding romance, Caroline fell in love with Philippe Junot, a commoner businessman 17 years her senior, forever shattering Rainier’s dreams of seeing his daughter become queen. Caroline and Junot married in 1978.
Caroline divorced Junot only two years later and, soon after, found what she would consider the great love of her life, Stefano Casiraghi, whom she married in 1983. For his part, Charles also moved on with his life and married Princess Diana.
Tragically, the love story of Caroline and Stefano ended abruptly when he died in an accident in 1990, while that of Charles and Diana was no less tumultuous, with a contentious divorce and a death that shocked the world.
Their love life did not stop there. Charles was finally able to realize his dream of a great love story with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he made queen, while Caroline found love again at the side of Ernest of Hanover.
Undoubtedly, the future of both could have been very different if Caroline had decided to explore a deeper romance with the then Prince of England.
The decisions they made, seemingly simple at the time, have shaped not only their destinies but also that of European royalty as a whole.