Like many other women today, Alexandra of Hanover (Vöcklabruck, Austria, 27 years old) has turned to social media to announce her engagement to Ben-Sylvester Strautmann, her partner for over a decade and the same age as her. This Friday, September 11, the youngest daughter of Caroline of Monaco and Ernst of Hanover —holder of the title Princess of Hanover— posted on her Instagram profile (with nearly 38,000 followers) a post showing off her engagement ring.
The post is a carousel of images headed by a photo of the smiling couple in which the princess shows the jewel. Following that photo are more snapshots, always with the engagement ring as the protagonist: the future bride shows the jewel while resting on a sofa, next to a breakfast, or holding her dog, to whom, by the way, the last photo is dedicated, this time without the ring appearing. Alongside the images, a simple text completes the announcement: “The marriage plot,” something like “the marriage plot.” The large yellow diamond of the jewel, cushion-cut and elongated, is flanked by two triangular-cut diamonds and set in a combination of platinum and 18-carat yellow gold, according to La Razón.
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The Instagram post, which has accumulated more than 4,500 Likes and over 500 comments, has been celebrated by personalities such as Louis and Marie Ducruet, son and daughter-in-law of Stéphanie of Monaco, who congratulated her on the engagement in the comments. With the announcement, the couple seals a relationship that began when they were both 17 years old.
According to ¡Hola! magazine, Alexandra, who graduated in 2024 from Columbia University in Paris after completing her studies in History and Literature (she previously studied Political Science and Philosophy at New York University), left her maternal home at the beginning of 2026 to become independent in her first apartment. Her future husband, a businessman of German origin and former basketball player, has a discreet profile, although he is a regular at events in the Principality of Monaco, where he is perfectly integrated.
In March 2016, at 16 years old, Alexandra of Hanover debuted at the Rose Ball alongside her uncle, her mother, her three maternal half-siblings, and their partners. In April 2020, she gave an interview to the Spanish magazine Telva, where she declared herself a voracious reader and fashion enthusiast. She also shared that she grew up listening to Pink Floyd, devouring books — especially Salinger — and practicing her favorite sport, ice skating.
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Caroline of Monaco and Ernst of Hanover married on January 23, 1999, at the Monte Carlo Palace. Separated since 2009, they have never signed their divorce. Princess Alexandra, their only daughter together, was raised closer to her mother and her Casiraghi siblings: Pierre, Andrea, and Charlotte. On her father’s side, who is still head of the Guelph house, she has two other brothers, Ernst and Christian, with whom she also maintains a good relationship.
Among all the siblings, she holds the highest rank, as she is Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg and Princess of Great Britain and Ireland. Since her father is a descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom — also of German Emperor Wilhelm II — she was even in the line of succession to the British throne (at position 411), from which she was automatically excluded when she was baptized into the Catholic faith a couple of years ago (only Anglicans can be monarchs in England).
In 2019, Monaco celebrated its last royal weddings. In June, it was that of Charlotte Casiraghi and Dimitri Rassam, with a civil ceremony held at the Palace. According to the broadcaster France Bleu, after this, Grace Kelly and Rainier’s granddaughter and her husband took their guests to a meal at Monte Carlo Beach, a luxury hotel located just 500 meters across the border, already on French soil. A few weeks later, Louis and Marie Ducruet celebrated their wedding.
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