Princess ‘Barbie’ Chiara and her romance with Prince Christian:


It’s a match made in minor royal heaven; complete with warring families, a threat of prison and even an Italian heiress known as “Barbie” — and it is all anyone can talk about on the Côte d’Azur.

Prince Christian of Denmark, second in line to the Scandinavian throne, and Princess of Chiara of the brilliantly-named defunct kingdom of Bourbon Two-Sicilies may be a mere 18 and 17 but there is already talk of engagements among some — perhaps overly hasty — royal watchers.

The two are family friends, with Chiara’s father — who takes the titles Prince Carlo of Bourbon Two-Sicilies and Duke of Castro — also the godfather of Prince Christian’s youngest sister Josephine.


Princess Chiara and Prince Christian (left, in white shirt) were seen out and about in St. Tropez, after she had been at the Cannes film festival. A romance involving two royals in such glamorous locations has created society waves.
EliotPress / ELIOTPRESS / MEGA

Princess Chiara and Prince Christian in St. Tropez
The two shared ice cream after being seen cozying up together at the Monaco Grand Prix, setting tongues wagging.
EliotPress / ELIOTPRESS / MEGA

But they are said to be in the passionate throes of a teenage romance, after being spotted getting handsy together on the circuit of the Monaco Grand Prix and on the beach in St Tropez. 

Not for decades have two real-life royals been — possibly — having such a glamorous romance. And never before has it played out on social media.

While the Danish royals normally allow their good works do the talking, Chiara and her family are regulars on Instagram (where she has as her bio “See The Good In the World”) and on Tik Tok where they model their designer wardrobes and jet set lifestyles for thousands of followers. 


Princess Maria Chiara (right) and Princess Maria Carolina (left) of Bourbon Of Two Sicilies
Princess Chiara, 18, (right) and her 19-year-old sister, Princess Carolina Of Bourbon-Two Sicilies are now European royalty’s most glamorous pairing, stepping out on the Côte d’Azur regularly.
TheImageDirect.com

Princess Chiara (right) and her family — from left, sister Princess Maria Carolina, mother Princess Camilla and father Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, do not own their family’s former palaces but are frequent visitors to places such as the Caserta Palace in Naples.
Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies

Chiara, full title S.A.R. la Principessa Maria Chiara di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Duchessa di Noto e Capri, has also been nicknamed “Barbie” by the Euro social set. But marriage to Christian would eventually make her Queen Chiara in the very distant future.

Hints have been dropped that it is something serious, with Chiara telling Italian newspaper Corriere, “We’ve known each other since we were little,” before revealing that she “hopes to meet Queen Margrethe soon.”

Australian magazine Woman’s Day even claims that Chiara has already met the indomitable Danish queen who is apparently keeping a close eye on her grandson and eventual heir.


Prince Christian will inherit the throne of Denmark in the distant future: He is second in line to his grandmother Queen Margarethe II, who at 83 has reined since 1972.
Getty Images

Crown Prince Henrik and his family outside a church
Prince Christian (third from right) is the eldest of four children born to Crown Prince Henrik (third from left) and his wife Crown Princess Mary, an Australian with Scottish parents who met her husband in a pub in Sydney.
via REUTERS

Quite what she will make of Chiara and her family will be interesting to learn.

She has, after all, welcomed commoners into the family – Christian’s mother Mary, the Crown Princess of Denmark, is an Australian who met Frederik, the heir to the Danish throne in a Sydney pub when he was there to watch the 2000 summer Olympics.

Chiara, however, is very definitely a member of a royal family – even if it is a distinctly Ruritanian one. 


Princess Chiara in Hungary
The Duke of Castro (second left) and his family actively keep their royal profile despite last having a throne in the family in 1861. Earlier this year he and wife Princess Camilla (second right) took their daughters Carolina (left) and Maria (right) to award Hungary’s Katalin Novák the title of Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I.
@carolinadebourbon/Instagram

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was the largest sovereign state in Italy before the country was unified in 1861.

The island of Sicily and a large area surrounding Naples were split between two crowns during the middle ages, and when the Spanish Bourbon royal family took over both kingdoms in 1816, it became the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. 


Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Princess Chiara’s great-great uncle, King Francis II, was the last of the Bourbon-Two Sicilies to actually be king. The idea that she could become queen of Denmark has fueled interest in the possible teen romance.
De Agostini via Getty Images

Amalienborg palace in Copenhagen
Unlike the Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Prince Christian’s family has real palaces, including the main royal residence of Amalienborg in Copenhagen.
Getty Images

The Bourbons were deposed and exiled in 1861, meaning Chaira does not have her own palace, although the family are now regular visitors and treated as VIPs.

There is, however, a dispute over who exactly is head of the Bourbon Two-Sicilies family, something Queen Margarethe might want to take into account for her grandson.

Despite the lack of palace or lands, the family cannot agree whether Princess Barbie’s father, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, is the head of the royal house, or if it is his second cousin once removed, Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria. (Their more distant Bourbon cousins include Spain’s King Felipe VI.)


Princess Chiara
The 18-year-old princess is a prolific social media poster, with she and her sister becoming the first Euro royals to gain massive TikTok followings.
@carolinadebourbon/Instagram

The Princesses Maria Christian (left) and Maria Chiara (right) at Cannes.
The sisters are also red carpet regulars, hitting La Croisette in Cannes for the premier of “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” at the film festival this summer.
Shootpix/ABACA/Shutterstock

The Duke of Castro, Chiara’s father, has also only sired girls and he has said that he will change the family rules of primogeniture history by leaving his title to a woman – Chiara’s big sister Carolina. 

Prince Carlo isn’t the only member to not get on with his family; her mother Camilla has fallen out with her sister over the family trust, and has even been threatened with prison. 


Edy Vessel
The girls’ grandmother is Italian actress Edy Vessel, who instructed both her daughters Camilla and Cristiana to marry royalty. The two daughters warred over a trust fund; Princess Camilla was threatened with jail.
Silver Screen

Despite her father, the Duke of Castro (center) being in dispute with a cousin over who is heir to the throne, and her mother Camilla (third from right) being at war with her own sister, Princess Chiara (between her parents) and Princess Caroline (second right) are also close to other Bourbon-Two Sicilies, including (left) Princess Anne and (right) Princess Beatrice.
@carolinadebourbon/Instagram

Duchess Camilla, born Camilla Crocanai, is the daughter of the Italian actress Edy Vessel. When Camilla’s father died, her mother set up a trust fund for her daughters Camilla and Cristiana – while also instructing them to marry into royalty. 

In 2010 Cristiana, whose marriage to a different Italian prince had lasted just four months, claimed the trust had been swindled out of $125 million and that the money had gone to Camilla.

Princess Camilla was threatened with jail for refusing to pay a $3million dollar fine from the court for failing to disclose details of her mother’s wealth. 


Princess Marie of Denmark and Prince Joachim of Denmark
All is not well in the court of Denmark, despite the smiles of Princess Marie and Prince Joachim in 2013. The two were stripped of their titles along with their children’s by Queen Margarethe, and quit Denmark shortly afterwards.
Getty Images

Prince Christian of Denmark.
Prince Christian’s possible romance which could see a princess elevated to queen in the distant future has been dismissed as speculation by some, but has been catnip to the Euro social scene.
Getty Images

Of course, warring relatives is something familiar to all royal families and Queen Margrethe may have some sympathy; earlier this year there was a very public fall out with her second son, Prince Joachim, and his children when she took away their titles. They have now settled in Washington D.C. 

A marriage between these two families certainly would be an interesting match even if talk of an engagement does seem a little hurried for two youngsters who haven’t even started college. 

“It is a summer romance between two friends,” said royal historian Marlene Koenig. “He isn’t even 18 and he knows he has a whole future which has been mapped out for him; the university, the military and it would be a huge surprise if anything serious came out of this. But it is fun to speculate all the same.”



Source link