Who Is Beatrice Borromeo, the Stylish Italian Model–Turned–Royal of Monaco?

Getty Beatrice Borromeo

Beatrice Borromeo isn't your typical royal.

Beatrice may have married into Monaco's royal family with her 2015 wedding to Princess Caroline's son Pierre Casiraghi, but she comes from an aristocratic family herself and has built up her own impressive professional résumé.

She was born in Italy to mother Countess Donna Paola Marzotto and father Don Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo, who holds the title of Count of Arona and comes from Italian aristocratic house Borromeo. The family began acquiring the Borromean Islands in northern Italy the 16th century and still own a majority of them, as well as owning countryside estates in the country.

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Through her father, she is related to Carlo Borromeo, who was archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584, a cardinal and later canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint.

Beatrice has an older brother, Carlo Ludovico Borromeo, as well as three older half-sisters from her father's marriage to German model Marion Sybil Zota: Isabella, Lavinia and Matilde.

Jacopo Raule/Getty Images Beatrice Borromeo

After completing her secondary education in 2004 at Milan's Liceo Classico Giovanni Berchet, she studied at Bocconi University in Milan. She then earned a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, which she immediately put to use working for Newsweek, the Daily Beast and Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Beatrice also took her journalism skills to the small screen, working for an Italian talk show, and the airwaves, hosting a weekly show on the Radio 105 Network, with everyone from Italian senators to American book authors.

Jacopo Raule/Getty Images Beatrice Borromeo

She has also directed several documentaries, including English-language Mamma Mafia about women in the mafia.

Between all of this, Beatrice began modeling when she was 15, strutting down the catwalk for brands such as Chanel, Valentino and Tussardi and becoming the face of Blumarine. She walked the red carpet with Valentino at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 for a screening of The Devil Wears Prada.

JacopoR/PierreS/GC Images Beatrice Borromeo and Pierre Casiragi

Beatrice and Pierre's love story began in 2008, with them tying the knot in summer 2015. They married in a civil ceremony in the gardens of the Prince's Palace of Monaco, followed by a religious ceremony in Italy a few days later. Beatrice wore four different bridal gowns: two by Valentino for the civil service in Monaco and two by Armani Privé for the religious service in Lake Maggiore.

Despite both families' noble status, neither Pierre nor Beatrice hold royal titles. Since counts can only pass the title on to male children and Pierre is not a prince (although he is the grandson of Princess Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier and nephew of Prince Albert).

Getty Beatrice Borromeo, Pierre Casiraghi and their two sons

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The couple are parents to two sons: Stefano Ercole Carlo was born in February 2017, followed by Francesco Carlo Albert, in May 2018.

Beatrice opened up about her relationship with Pierre in a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair España. "Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to have created a real family with someone I trust completely, that we have been in love for almost 10 years and that I know it will last a lifetime," she said. "Living in Monaco is not a plus, it is simply our life now. The great privilege is to have found a person with whom I am happy."

Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images Beatrice Borromeo and Pierre Casiraghi

Given her fashion background, it's no surprise that Beatrice was recently named "the most stylish European royal" by Tatler. Whether she's getting glammed up for the annual Rose Ball to benefit The Princess Grace Foundation or throwing on jean shirts to join Pierre on at a sailing event, she always turns heads.