One of Europe’s oldest ruling dynasties, the Grimaldi family, which has ruled Monaco for over 700 years, is set to celebrate its first wedding in seven years. On the eve of the wedding, September 11, 27-year-old Princess Alexandra of Hanover, daughter of Princess Caroline and Ernst August of Hanover, and granddaughter of Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, posted a series of photos on social media. In them, she poses with her fiancé, 30-year-old Ben-Sylvester Strautmann, and shows off a luxurious engagement ring with a large yellow diamond.
A marriage story, – reads the caption under the photo.
Grace Kelly’s granddaughter is now officially The phrase, of course, is not accidental. It’s a reference to Jeffrey Eugenides’ 2011 novel. The book follows three 1980s Brown University graduates caught up in a love triangle and explores maturity, mental health, and the nature of romantic love. For Alexandra, who graduated from Columbia University in 2024 with a degree in political science and philosophy and publishes essays on literature in Revue Passager, such a reference is a perfectly natural way to announce her engagement.
The ring Strautmann proposed with is also meaningful. According to Tatler, the piece, featuring a 4.8-carat diamond set in white and yellow gold, was created by the Roman jewelry brand Antinori di Sanpietro. Alexandra’s fiancé personally chose the stone. Hidden within the setting is a secret element—a motif inspired by the geometric patterns of Rome’s Campidoglio square, as well as the engravings “Antinori” and “Made in Italy”—a nod to the couple’s love of Rome. The yellow diamond is reminiscent of another famous Grimaldi family engagement ring—the ring of Beatrice Borromeo, the wife of Alexandra’s older brother, Pierre Casiraghi. Borromeo, an Italian aristocrat and journalist, married Pierre in 2015. Her engagement ring also featured a large colored stone.
Alexandra of Hanover’s engagement was more than expected. She has been together with Ben-Sylvester for ten years, since she turned 17. The couple made their first public appearance at the end of 2016, and officially confirmed their relationship in 2017. Not much is known about Princess Alexandra’s future husband. Strautmann grew up in Monaco, the son of wealthy German expatriates from Lower Saxony. In his youth, he played for the principality’s basketball team, but always kept a low profile, despite his regular presence at Monaco’s main social and sporting events, from the Ball of Roses to the Monaco Grand Prix.
The last time the Grimaldi family attended a wedding was in 2019, and then two weddings took place at once.
On June 1, Charlotte Casiraghi, Alexandra’s half-sister (Caroline’s daughter from her first marriage to Stefano Casiraghi), married French film producer Dimitri Rassam at the Grimaldi Palace. The bride wore a gray lace Saint Laurent dress and a Cartier necklace that had belonged to Grace Kelly. Seven weeks later, on July 27, their cousin Louis Ducruet—the son of Princess Stéphanie, daughter of Rainier III and Grace Kelly—married Marie Chevalier in Monaco Cathedral. It was the first wedding in the cathedral since Rainier and Grace’s own wedding in 1956. Since then, there have been almost seven years without a wedding.
When talking about the marriages of the Grimaldi family, it is impossible to ignore a legend that is already seven centuries old. According to legend, in the 13th century, Prince Rainier I kidnapped a young Flemish woman, and in revenge, she cursed his family: “Never will the Grimaldis find happiness in marriage.” Another version holds that the curse was pronounced by a witch, who was burned on the orders of the prince. This family legend often gives rise to gossip.
Grace Kelly died in a car accident in 1982. Princess Caroline, Alexandra’s mother, was married three times: her first marriage lasted two years, her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi, died in a speedboat race at age 30, and her third marriage, to Ernst of Hanover, is considered a formality. Princess Stephanie, Alexandra’s aunt, was also divorced and had multiple partners. Prince Albert II, who has reigned since 2005, married South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock in 2011, and the press reported that the bride allegedly tried to elope the day before the ceremony and cried during the wedding.
