Princess Caroline of Monaco and her royal siblings didn't have a close relationship with their parents, the late Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, when they were young.
Caroline is opening up about her famous father and mother — the former Hollywood movie star Grace Kelly — in a new book, "Albert II of Monaco, The Man and The Prince," which is being released to mark her brother's 60th birthday.
"Until we were 14, we wouldn't eat with our parents," Caroline, 61, says, according to a new report from Hello!
For many years, she and Albert — their little sister, Princess Stephanie, 53, was much younger — had a stronger relationship with their longtime nanny, Maureen Wood, she admitted.
"For my brother and I, Maureen was the key figure in our life. When we were little, we were probably closer to our nanny than to our parents," Caroline said.
When their nanny would go on vacation, the young royals would be distraught. "When she was leaving [our 125-acre palace retreat, the working farm] Roc Agel, Albert and I would yell, 'Don't go, don't go!' We were sad for days," Caroline revealed.
"Most often than not, our mother would end up calling her to ask her to come home earlier than planned," she added.
Albert has previous speculated on what kind grandparents his late father and mother would have been.
"I think she would have been an outstanding grandmother," he said of Grace in a 2015 interview with People magazine.
As for his dad? "He would have been a little more indulgent, more lenient than he was with myself and my sisters," he said.
Caroline has a much different relationships with her own children — Andrea Casiraghi, 33, Charlotte Casiraghi, 31, Pierre Casiraghi, 30, and Princess Alexandra of Hanover, 18.
"She's a very good mother, and probably an even better grandmother now if that's possible," Prince Albert told People of Caroline in 2017.
In addition to losing her mother in a tragic 1982 car accident (their father died of a heart attack 2005), Caroline also lost her first husband, Stefano Casiraghi, in a speedboat accident when he was just 30.
"She really raised her kids well. Without a father for many years, that's important," explained Albert, who has 3-year-old twins with his wife, Princess Charlene, as well as two older children from previous relationships. "I'm incredibly proud of her children and to have them turn out as they have — that's a tribute to her."