Beatrice Borromeo.Photo: Getty
Beatrice Borromeoisn’t your typical royal.
Beatrice may have married into Monaco’s royal family with her 2015 wedding to Princess Caroline’s son Pierre Casiraghi, but she comes from an aristocratic family herself and has built up her own impressive professional résumé.
She was born in Italy to mother Countess Donna Paola Marzotto and father Don Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo, who holds the title of Count of Arona and comes from Italian aristocratic house Borromeo. The family began acquiring the Borromean Islands in northern Italy the 16th century and still own a majority of them, as well as owning countryside estates in the country.
Beatrice has an older brother, Carlo Ludovico Borromeo, as well as three older half-sisters from her father’s marriage to German model Marion Sybil Zota: Isabella, Lavinia and Matilde.
Beatrice Borromeo.Jacopo Raule/Getty Images
After completing her secondary education in 2004 at Milan’s Liceo Classico Giovanni Berchet, she studied at Bocconi University in Milan. She then earned a Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, which she immediately put to use working forNewsweek,theDaily Beastand Italian newspaperIl Fatto Quotidiano.
Beatrice also took her journalism skills to the small screen, working for an Italian talk show, and the airwaves, hosting a weekly show on the Radio 105 Network, with everyone from Italian senators to American book authors.
She has also directed several documentaries, including English-languageMamma Mafiaabout women in the mafia.
Between all of this, Beatrice began modeling when she was 15, strutting down the catwalk for brands such as Chanel, Valentino and Tussardi and becoming the face of Blumarine. She walked the red carpet with Valentino at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 for a screening ofThe Devil Wears Prada.
Beatrice Borromeo and Pierre Casiragi.JacopoR/PierreS/GC Images
Despite both families' noble status, neither Pierre nor Beatrice hold royal titles. Since counts can only pass the title on to male children and Pierre is not a prince (although he is the grandson of Princess Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier and nephew of Prince Albert).
Beatrice Borromeo, Pierre Casiraghi and their two sons.Getty
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Beatrice opened up about her relationship with Pierre in a 2017 interview withVanity Fair España.“Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to have created a real family with someone I trust completely, that we have been in love for almost 10 years and that I know it will last a lifetime,” she said. “Living in Monaco is not a plus, it is simply our life now. The great privilege is to have found a person with whom I am happy.”
Beatrice Borromeo and Pierre Casiraghi.Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images
source: people.com
