Caroline, Princess of Hanover Caroline, Princess of Hanover Caroline, Princess of Hanover (Caroline Louise Marguerite Grimaldi; born 23 January 1957), is the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly. She is the elder sister of Prince Albert II and Princess Stéphanie. Until the births of her niece and nephew, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, in December 2014 she had been heir presumptive to the throne of Monaco since 2005, a position which she previously held from 1957 to 1958. Caroline is married to Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (born 1954), the heir to the former throne of
Albert II, Prince of Monaco since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his royal functions. On 6 April 2005, Rainier III died and Albert succeeded him as Albert II. The first part of Prince Albert II's enthronement as ruler of the Principality was on 12 July 2005, after the end of the three-month mourning period for his father. A morning Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral presided over by the Archbishop of Monaco, the Most Reverend Bernard Barsi, formally marked the beginning of his reign. Afterward Albert II returned to the princely palace to host a garden party for 7,000 Monégasques born in the principality.