The turbulent love life of Princess Stephanie of Monaco

As the youngest daughter of the late Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Stephanie inherited her mother's movie star charisma and striking beauty. 

Unlike her mother, however, Stephanie has had a somewhat turbulent love life.

Where to begin? There's not many of us who can say we ran away with the circus, but that's just one example of Stephanie defying her father's wishes, following her heart and refusing to abide by royal protocol.

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Leading up to her first marriage, Stephanie dated several high-profile men, including racing driver Paul Belmondo, nightclub owner Mario Jutard and actors Rob Lowe and Anthony Delon.

Then came the "bodyguard" phase, followed by the "circus performer" phase: an elephant trainer and then an acrobat who worked alongside the previous lover at the same circus.

(Truth is almost always stranger than fiction.)

It's impossible not to admire anybody who refuses to do things by halves and, if anything, Stephanie embraced her self-imposed role of "royal rebel."

Let's take a look at the intriguing love life of the woman who remains, arguably, the most colourful of the Monaco royals.

Daniel Ducruet: body guard

In 1995, Stephanie married her former body guard, Daniel Ducruet, the father of two of her children, Louis and Pauline.

At first, Prince Rainier was horrified about the relationship. Not only was Daniel an employee, but his then-girlfriend was six months pregnant with their child.

It wasn't long before Stephanie fell pregnant too, giving birth to their children "out of wedlock" because Rainier refused to grant permission for her to marry Daniel.

But it's been said the Prince so loved his new role of being a grandfather that he softened his heart towards Daniel and that's why he eventually allowed the wedding to go ahead.

However, he insisted Daniel sign a pre-nuptial agreement in which he relinquished custody rights to his children and promised to learn royal protocol.

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Sadly the marriage was done and dusted just a year later. What went wrong? Let's put some of the blame on "Miss Nude Belgium" who caused the kind of chaos only a woman with that kind of title could possibly create. 

Shortly after he was officially accepted into the royal family, Daniel managed to mess things up. He was caught getting romantic with "Miss Nude Belgium" and he was swiftly kicked out of the palace.

Stephanie had little option but to divorce him, as the scandal was made public and was way too much for the royal family to accept.

Not only was Daniel was banished from the palace, Prince Rainier also had him banished from Monaco.

But Stephanie was able to pick up the pieces and move on. Who's next? Well, how about another handsome bodyguard?  

Jean-Raymond Gottlieb, a palace guard, became Stephanie's next boyfriend and the father of her daughter Camille, although his identity was kept under wraps until very recently.

Jean-Raymond Gottlieb: palace guard

Stephanie's relationship with Jean-Raymond Gottlieb was kept secret and never officially confirmed. 

When Stephanie's youngest child Camille was born in 1998, it was widely rumoured Gottlieb was the father. However, the princess declined to name a father on the birth certificate.

This only added fuel to the rumour; Monaco royal-watchers said that by not naming a father, Stephanie was clearly trying to avoid the publicity she'd attract by having hooked up with another of her body guards.

The identity of Camille's father was only recently confirmed by Camille on Instagram where she has posted photos with her father and the hashtag #LikeFatherLikeDaughter. 

She's also posted, "I'm sorry but my heart belongs to daddy."

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Because Stephanie and Jean-Raymond never married, Camille is not in line for the throne, although her half-brother and half-sister are 12th and 13th, respectively.

Camille is considered to be the only Monaco royal who bears a strong resemblance to her movie star grandmother Grace Kelly.

Franco Knie: elephant trainer

Princess Stephanie was 37 when she first met her future lover Franco Knie after she presented an award to him as "best animal tamer" at the Monaco Circus Festival in 1997.

Franco, who was a decade older than Stephanie, was a sixth-generation circus elephant tamer, who was highly regarded in his field.

The circus festival is a highlight of the Monaco calendar; Prince Rainier took on the role of the honorary ringmaster, and once held dreams of being in the circus himself as a younger man.

The festival is so popular it has only ever been cancelled once, in 1982 when Princess Grace was killed in a car accident. (Stephanie was a passenger in the car and there were rumours the then-17-year-old was driving, but those rumours were proved to be false.)

Three years after meeting Franco, Stephanie ignored her father's wishes and moved into her lover's caravan in Zurich, along with her three children, aged nine, six and three at the time.

Franco's wife, Claudine, was reportedly so devastated to be dumped for a princess, she suffered a nervous breakdown and refused his requests for a divorce.

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Her refusal to divorce Franco led to grave consequences for the new couple.

The relationship only lasted 18 months, with the couple splitting up in 2002 for multiple reasons: Stephanie's children were having difficulties at their school in Zurich and perhaps the realities of travelling with a circus were a far cry from the fantasy.

There was also the issue of Franco's failure to obtain a divorce that was said to contribute to the breakup.

Stephanie and the kids left the circus caravan and returned to the palace, where the princess took on a more traditional royal role.

But her fascination with circus performers continued with her next lover, acrobat Adans Lopez Peres, a member of Franco's circus ensemble.

Adans Lopez Peres

Portuguese acrobat Adans Lopez Peres married Princess Stephanie in 2002 after what we can only guess was a whirlwind romance in the aftermath of her breakup with Franco.

Very little is known about their romance apart from the fact they married in a private wedding ceremony in Switzerland and there were no family members, on either side, who attended.

It's clear this second marriage caused Prince Rainier a certain amount of despair.

At one stage it's believed he cut Stephanie off from his estimated $2 billion fortune, as well as removing her children from the line of succession.

Eventually all was forgiven when Stephanie divorced Peres in 2003.

Pop star princess

The Princess was an early adopter of many designs considered "uber retro" (80s vintage) today. In her early 20s, Stephanie studied fashion design and became something of a fashion icon herself.

Then, following her pattern of following "un-princessly pursuits", Stephanie tried her hand at pop music.

She became a highly-acclaimed pop star when her 1986 single "Ouragan" became a huge hit throughout Europe, selling more than two million copies.

(The English version "Irresistible" was also a huge hit, although her career didn't quite take off outside of Europe.)

The mother of three is also the president of multiple associations including Princess Stephanie Activity Centre, and she's an honorary board member of the Princess Grace Foundation.

These days, it seems the former "wild child" of Monaco has settled down, preferring to surround herself with family.

As Stephanie has said, "I may be a princess, but above all I'm a human being."