She is the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and his wife, former American actress Grace Kelly.

[4][5] In an interview for People in April 1982, shortly before her death, Grace described Caroline and Stéphanie as "warm, bright, amusing, intelligent and capable girls.

In addition to visiting her mother's family in the United States, she spent the summer of 1971 at Camp Oneka in the Poconos at the age of 14.

After a semester at Sciences Po, Caroline continued her studies at the Sorbonne University, where she received a diploma in philosophy and minors in psychology and biology.

Caroline is the Patron of Peter Le Marchant Trust, an organization that operates canal boat trips for ill and disabled people.

[14] Her other patronages include the International School of Paris,[15] Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, which she also founded,[16] the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra,[17] the Association des Guides et Scouts de Monaco,[8] the Monte Carlo Garden Club and The Spring Arts Festival.

[8] Following her mother's death in 1982, Caroline served as de facto first lady of Monaco until her brother married Charlene Wittstock in 2011.

[31] Their lavish wedding ceremony was attended by some 650 guests, including Hollywood stars Ava Gardner, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

Lagerfeld photographed Caroline and Casiraghi and their three children at the Villa La Vigie, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin for their fifth wedding anniversary in 1989.

On 11 January 1999, shortly before Caroline and Ernst's wedding, his third cousin once removed (Queen Victoria was their common ancestor), Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, issued this Order in Council, "My Lords, I do hereby declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between His Royal Highness Prince Ernst August Albert of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite of Monaco...".

As a legitimate male-line descendant of George II, Ernst August was subject to the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (repealed in 2015).

Prior to the repeal of the Act, the revised form of which limits those who must gain permission to the first six people in the line of British succession, marrying without the Queen's Royal Assent would have meant their marriage would be void in Britain, where Ernst August's family owned substantial property and he holds (dual) citizenship.

[40] Likewise, the Monégasque court officially notified France of Caroline's contemplated marriage to Prince Ernst August and received assurance that there was no objection, in compliance with Article 2 of the 1918 Franco-Monégasque Treaty.

[42] Despite obtaining the official approval of the governments of France, Monaco and the United Kingdom, upon Caroline's marriage to Ernst August he forfeited his own place in Britain's order of succession.

[43] Caroline has had a bad relationship with media and paparazzi since her youth, when she complained she "could not live the life of a normal student".

[45] Caroline invoked the judgment in combination with articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Basic Law (human dignity and personal freedom, respectively) as well as § 22 of the German Art and Photography Copyright Act or KunstUrhG (no publication of personal images without permission) in a new domestic case, attempting to get the courts to prohibit publication of certain images of her in a private setting.

[52] Albert's lack of legitimate children until the 2010s prompted Prince Rainier III to change the constitution so as to ensure there would be a successor to the throne, which strengthened the places of Caroline and her descendants in the line of succession.

[52] Before this change, the crown of Monaco could pass only to a descendant of the last reigning prince, excluding such collateral relations as siblings, nephews, and nieces.