Monaco royals get candid about Grace Kelly: 'There is no question of comparisons'

Glamorous Hollywood starlet turned royal Grace Kelly has been a source of public interest for years. Now, members of Monaco's royal family have shared what they think about her behind closed doors.

Grace's daughter Princess Caroline and granddaughter Charlotte Casiraghi shared their memories of the late Princess of Monaco with French publication Madame Figaro.

Their conversation in the magazine spanned from Grace's legacy to feminism to resemblances within the family.

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Charlotte, who never met her famous grandmother, suggesting there were similarities between her mother and Grace.

Having watched a number of Grace's Old Hollywood films, she told Caroline, "I see a lot of your mum in you."

"The relationship between a mother and a daughter is a complex thing, the mother occupies an all-powerful place, even when she is loving and tender…" Charlotte added.

"There is no question of comparisons, but there are mirrors. When I watch films of my grandmother, I see in her your grace, your requirement, your discipline and your mystery too."

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However, Caroline, the second child of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III, said she was more similar to her father's mother Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois.

"Physically, I look like my paternal grandmother," she said.

Charlotte, who has become a style icon in her own respect, called the Duchess of Valentinois a "very free woman" and "an original".

"She was a nurse during the war, then ran [a rehabilitation centre for ex-convicts]. Totally unclassifiable."

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The House of Grimaldi has a long history of strong women and female powerhouses.

Princess Alice, the first American princess in the family, married Prince Albert I in 1889 and moulded the modern glamour and culture associated with Monaco.

Charlotte's cousin Pauline Ducruet also boasts her own gender-neutral fashion line called "Alter Designs", described on the company's site as a "Non-binary brand."

"The rawness of Alter comes from a more street wear inspiration," Ducreut previously told Tatler.

"I design for people not genders. I always loved both menswear and women swear and I wanted to give this freedom to my clients not to have to choose between the two."

Charlotte said the strength of female role models in her family was inherent in her "whimsical" great-grandmother's and grandmother's choices.

"I feel rich in all these family stories, all these contrasts, all these women who have come out of a clear path," she told Madame Figaro.

Princess Caroline echoes her daughter's views, reflecting on her upbringing.

"I remember my mother telling me in good faith, 'You don't need to go to school'," she recalled. 

"I also remember a university professor who told me with incredible cruelty: 'You are taking the place of a deserving student.'" 

Charlotte finished off the conversation by likening the role of being a woman to "a struggle, whatever your position".

"It is a struggle, not a war, but it is not an easy thing," she said.

"Under the pretext that women have emancipated themselves, that they are allowed to have a career, children, while remaining desirable, we see less today the part of sacrifice that there is in being a woman. And yet!"