For years the love of literature and philosophy of Carlota Casiraghi has overruled other passions such as fashion or horseback riding. And now the work as a writer of the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco begins to pay off. The most intellectual of the Grimaldis published last January her first solo book, La Fêlure, which has just received the first prize at the E Statinate literary festival, held in the Corsican city of Lumio.
Carlota Casiraghi was honored with the Musanostra 2026 prize for this essay, whose title in Spanish can be translated as ‘the fissure’ or ‘the crack’, and in which she explores those intimate fragilities that define us. “La Fêlure speaks of that discrepancy between what we are in our complexity and what others perceive in appearance,” writes the Monegasque in a work that for the moment has no official date confirmed for its release translated in our country.
The niece of Prince Albert asserts from the synopsis of her solo debut as a writer: “I have conceived this book as a living and literary investigation into the small and large tragedies of our shared destiny, which are undoubtedly the place from which we think and love with greater intensity.” But she also warns that “it is not a treatise, nor a tale, and much less a confession.”
“From the bottom of my heart, this is the first prize I receive for this book and I think Corsica brings me good luck,” the author began on the festival stage. She then spoke about the parallel between her work and the island. “In this book there is much talk of navigating the fissure, of facing the waves, also of taking risks, of venturing to the edge of that fissure, and in Corsica we are very close to that, to that relationship with the ocean, with its unpredictability, with the winds and currents.”
Charlotte Casiraghi, Musanostra 2026 Award
“The awareness of our fragility drives us to create,” stated Carlota Casiraghi to the Corse-Matin newspaper about the origin of La Fêlure. And she added that the inspiration to write it arose partly after teaching for several years literary therapeutic workshops aimed at young people with eating disorders.
Carlota Casiraghi poses with her book in front of the trophy for her prize.
“I have been writing since I was very small; I have always loved it, and I had long wanted to work on the topic of fragility. My work in child psychiatry at the Lenval Foundation in Nice inspired me a lot,” said the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco. And finally, she defended that the awareness of our own vulnerability is, paradoxically, what drives us to create, love and improve ourselves.
The book is inspired by a famous short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and offers literary and philosophical reflections. Throughout it we find references to the works of writers such as Ingeborg Bachmann and Marguerite Duras and the poet Anna Akhmatova, who have notably influenced her career. But also to the navigator Bernard Moitessier and to the singer J. J. Cale. In Carlota Casiraghi’s words, “the song of our lives, in which a fixed idea is incessantly repeated: something in us is broken; better so”.
A Strong Cultural Commitment
This publication comes after, in 2018, she co-authored the book Archipel des passions with philosopher Robert Maggiori. And it is part of a deep commitment to intellectual life. Carlota Casiraghi founded the Monaco Philosophical Encounters and has also presented the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon for Chanel, a reading club inspired by Coco Chanel’s passion for literature.
Named Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit in Monaco in 2024 by her mother, Carlota Casiraghi has established herself as an ambassador of literature and philosophy in the Mediterranean country. On December 10, she accompanied Prince Albert II and Princess Caroline at the inauguration of the Carolina Mediateca, a new cultural space in the Principality. With La Fêlure, she now reaffirms her own voice as an author.
