Philippe Junot, the 'playboy' who dazzled Caroline of Monaco when she was 19, has died.
The princess's first husband was 85 years old and spent time in Madrid with his daughter Isabelle.
BarcelonaOne of the most popular faces in celebrity magazines since the 1970s, a witness to the golden age of European royalty, the investor and sociality Philippe Junot (Paris, 1940), Princess Caroline of Monaco's first husband, has died at the age of 85, according to an announcement by his eldest daughter, Victoria. Junot had two other children, Alexis and Isabelle, who is married to Álvaro Falcó, Marquis of Cubas. This connection has kept the businessman in the public eye and led him to live for periods in Madrid, where he died on Thursday.
Philippe Junot rose to fame thanks to his relationship with Caroline of Monaco. She was 19, he was 17. Despite the reservations of the princess's family, because Junot already had a reputation for leading a dissolute and polyamorous life—he was even called "the Emperor of the Night"—he was ultimately the first man to marry Caroline of Monaco when she was 21, in 1978, after a two-year courtship. The wedding had 800 guests, including Hollywood stars and members of European royalty, and the couple graced magazine covers for years. His profession as an investor proved to be unreliable, and his supposed aristocratic lineage was also untrue. It soon became clear that Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly had been right. The marriage broke down two years and countless infidelities later, and was annulled in 1992. Later, Junot married Nina Wendelboe-Larsen. They were together for ten years and had three children. Junot's third marriage was to Helen Wendel, and in 2005 they had their youngest daughter. He had other high-profile relationships, such as with Marta Chávarri, who years later would become his daughter-in-law. He had left business years before, but still had a place in glossy magazines, which were the first to bid farewell to a heartthrob who represents an entire era.
