Royal parents have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to bringing up children, historically leaving such business to nannies and tutors. Now, Princess Caroline of Monaco has revealed that such was the case for her and younger brother Prince Albert, who are the children of actress-turned-princess, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier II.
Speaking to Isabelle Rivère for her new book, Albert II of Monaco, The Man and The Prince, she explained how close the siblings were to their nanny, Maureen Wood: ‘For my brother and I, Maureen was the key figure in our life. When we were little, we were probably closer to our nanny than to our parents.’
She reveals that she even grew upset whenever their nanny would leave them to go on her own vacations, saying: ‘When she was leaving Roc Agel, Albert and I would yell ‘Don’t go, don’t go! We were sad for days. Most often than not, our mother would end up calling her to ask her to come home earlier than planned.’
Other contributors to the new book about the Monaco royal include the man himself, Prince Albert, as well as the nanny, Maureen Wood. She shared a sweet anecdote recalling how when the royal parents were attending a family wedding in Greece (King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, naturally), she put on a pretend banquet with the children to cheer them up.
‘I decided that we would have our own gala dinner at the Palace,’ she shared. ‘The Chef cooked a special menu, Caroline wore one of her mother’s gown, Albert wore a uniform, and I wore a gown too. Then we put on music, and we danced.’
Very Mary Poppins-esque indeed.