Princess Maria Carolina de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles isn’t a name that rolls off the tongue – but it’s now on the lips of every socialite and political pundit in France. The 22-year-old Italian aristocrat, who is the elder daughter of the Duke of Castro, was splashed across the cover of gossip magazine Paris Match last week, gazing into the eyes of her new beau. Was he notable for being a duke, a prince or another such member of the hereditary elite? Not at all. The suitor in question was Jordan Bardella: the right-wing powerhouse whom polls suggest will succeed Emmanuel Macron as French president next year.
In an interview with Hello! in 2024, Maria Carolina declared she was ‘still waiting for Prince Charming to come and serenade me with a guitar and a red rose’. It’s not known if Bardella wooed his princess with a song and a flower but the two certainly looked like they were head over heels as they strolled along the Corsican coastline. The official line is that the pair were unaware they were being stalked by a photographer. But their clothes, their posture and their poise strike many as a little too stage-managed.
One prominent left-wing politician described the relationship as part of a ‘sickening new phase in the normalisation of the far-right’. The headline in the radical left newspaper l’Humanité screamed: ‘Paris Match is peddling the fairy-tale romance between a princess and a fascist.’ The cynical subtext is clear: could this ‘fairy-tale romance’ really be nothing more than a fantasy?
Such scepticism, perhaps, is understandable. It’s an unlikely love story and not just because 30-year-old Bardella is the president of the ‘far-right’ National Rally (RN) party. Actually, what makes Bardella unusual among France’s political class is that he is genuinely working-class, a child of Italian immigrants who grew up on a council estate in northern Paris. Boys like him don’t date princesses.
But Bardella has come a long way in the ten years since he joined the National Front, as Marine Le Pen’s party was known at the time. He was swiftly identified as a star on the rise and there is now a word to describe his popularity: Bardellamania.
Despite this adulation – which is particularly strong among the under-30s who form a core part of his 1.3 million followers on Instagram – Bardella has jealously guarded his private life until now. It was previously reported that he had a relationship with Le Pen’s niece Nolwenn Olivier but last year rumours began to circulate that he was gay. Eventually, Bardella felt compelled to state for the record that he was heterosexual.
As for Maria Carolina, hers is hardly a rags-to-riches story. The Bourbon des Deux-Siciles’ aristocratic lineage can be traced back to Louis XIV. For the past 60 years, however, her family ‘branch’ has been locked in a dispute with the rival Infante Carlos branch over who is head of the royal house – in a saga that’s long made headlines in both tabloids and society ‘bibles’. In the past, Maria Carolina has been romantically linked with Crown Prince Christian of Denmark. Yet she has previously spoken of her desire to look beyond class barriers for love, telling Hello! that she wanted a man ‘with the same values, who complements me and with whom I can build a happy future, regardless of title or status.’
Handsome, courteous and attuned to middle-class values, Bardella’s relationship with Maria Carolina will further enhance his appeal
If she has the same values as her new boyfriend, then she’s certainly not a socialist. Unlike Le Pen – who has unconvincingly declared she is ‘neither left nor right’ – Bardella is unashamedly right-wing particularly, when it comes to immigration. He has praised Donald Trump’s ‘appeal to American pride’ and told the BBC in December: ‘Mass immigration and the laxity of our governments in the last 30 years… are shaking the balance of European countries, of Western societies.’ He has been labelled a ‘fascist’ and a ‘racist’ over his comments – accusations he rejects – and twice in the past year has been assaulted by members of the public.
Yet Bardella is also more economically liberal than Le Pen and last year began courting France’s business leaders with almost as much enthusiasm as he is now showing for Maria Carolina. His stance appears to be working with voters: a poll in December favoured him over Le Pen to run as the RN’s presidential pick in the next election. Just last week, a separate survey found that, if an election were held tomorrow, then Bardella would be favourite to win.
Traditionally, the RN’s main obstacle has been the bourgeoisie. This demographic has been put off by the anti-Semitism and boorishness of the party’s founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and more recently the left-wing economics of his daughter. Bardella, however, is far more palatable. Handsome, courteous and more attuned to middle-class values, Bardella’s relationship with Maria Carolina will further enhance his appeal.
Then again, perhaps we should be less cynical of their relationship than left-wing commentators. Maybe we should look instead to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who reportedly had lunch with Bardella earlier this year and could back him during the election next year. ‘Sarko’ also raised a few eyebrows when he began dating Italian supermodel Carla Bruni in 2007. Almost 20 years later, however, and they’re still together. Perhaps what really bugs the left is the thought that conservatives make better lovers.
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