Grief, fame and inspiration: Charlotte Casiraghi on loss and her tribute to Britney Spears
Charlotte Casiraghi sent a touching message to singer Britney Spears, her childhood idol © DR
Appearing on several programmes to promote her first book, La Félure, Charlotte Casiraghi opened up about the death of her father and the public image that has followed her since childhood.
Charlotte Casiraghi has been making numerous media appearances to present her latest book, La Félure, published on 29 January by Julliard. This essay combines personal reflections with references to writers who have influenced her career.
On Laurent Delahousse’s talk show, Princess Caroline’s daughter spoke about the weight of public image: “We all have an image that sticks to us. It’s perhaps more obvious when you’re a public figure and you’re very young.” According to her, you have to “learn not to be afraid to deviate from the path, from what is expected of you.”
The journalist then referred to a photo of her as a child, in which she appears “too worried, too serious”. Charlotte Casiraghi responded by mentioning the death of her father, Stefano Casiraghi, who died in a motorboat accident on 3 October 1990 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, when she was only four years old: “I was marked by my father’s death. Then by the fact of being so exposed in painful moments.” She explained that “reading and writing were really, for me, places where I could also shelter this fragility.”
Charlotte Casiraghi: “La filosofia è la cosa più concreta del mondo”
A touching message to Britney Spears
In “C à vous,” Charlotte Casiraghi played the answering machine game and chose to send a message to Britney Spears, her childhood idol: “We danced to your music and dreamed of being like you. For a few years, you were an image that drove people crazy, and you undoubtedly suffered a lot because of it.” She added that “every song is a memory and a possibility for movement. ‘ She also made the connection with her book: ’I’ve just written a book in which I invoke writers, but I could just as easily have talked about you.” She concluded: “The whole world, not without obscenity, saw this break in you beneath the glossy surface, beneath the apparent perfection. Envy sought out what was breaking.”