Charlotte Casiraghi has spent much of her life being photographed, yet in her new book she argues that the polished picture was never the whole story. The writer and philosopher, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and Stefano Casiraghi and a long-standing Chanel ambassador, was in Milan to present the Italian edition of La crepa (La fêlure in French, roughly “The Crack”), published by La Nave di Teseo on 27 October. On Sunday 25 October she discussed it with Fabio Fazio on the talk show Che tempo che fa, answering partly in Italian, which she described as her father’s language, and partly in French.
More than a glossy image
In the book, Casiraghi writes that she was often reduced to a glossy image of a dreamlike, privileged life, and that she frequently wanted to shout that she was not the person people imagined. Asked who she really is, she admitted she has no neat answer, describing identity as too complex to fit rigid categories. She pointed to social media as a place where we easily mistake a curated picture for real life. Few people, she said, cared about the years she spent studying, reading and writing.
She also recalled her friendship with Karl Lagerfeld. She said he cared less about photographing her than about her curiosity, and sent her books every month.
Why a crack is not a break
The title comes from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s autobiographical essay The Crack-Up. For Casiraghi, a crack is a fine fracture rather than a break: it can be invisible and still let us carry on, but if ignored it may become the point where things give way. Literature may not heal it, she said, but it helps us recognise and accept it. The crack, she stressed, is not one single event, though she lost her father in a powerboat accident in 1990, when she was four. Everyone reacts to hardship differently, and that individuality, she suggested, is what makes us creative.
She does not ask us to put every flaw on display. We need to explore our cracks, she said, but also to keep the right to protect them from intrusive eyes. A keen rider, she draws a lesson from horses too: falling is a real risk, and the aim is not to avoid every fall but to accept the risk of living.
It is a thoughtful message about the gap between how we look and who we are. Perhaps that is why the pieces we love most are the ones that feel personal, such as a meaningful pendant from our pendant necklaces, a ring from our women’s rings, a pair of earrings or an everyday companion from our women’s bags.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Charlotte Casiraghi: «Sono stata ridotta a un’immagine patinata…»” (25 October 2026); d la Repubblica interview by Giovanni Montanaro (17 October 2026); Style Corriere della Sera, Che tempo che fa guest list (25 October 2026). Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
