Princess Stephanie: From Tiaras to Trailer Parks

L O N D O N, April 30, 2001 -- Photographs of Princess Stephanie have been splashed across the center pages of a British tabloid.

But Monaco's most controversial royal family member wasn't topless this time. Pictures in The Sun featured a more modest princess — puffing cigarettes while riding a toy scooter, and stepping out of a mobile home in her bathrobe. The images appeared below the headline: Trailer Park Princess.

Princess Stephanie, it seems, is now spending her days traveling with the circus in Switzerland.

It's not that she's poor. Although the princess has been largely written out of her father's will, she still collects large sums from the royal purse of the tiny Mediterranean kingdom.

And it's not that the owner of the caravan, Franco Knie, who also appears in The Sun photographs, is poor either. The sixth-generation Swiss ringmaster and world-renowned Asian elephant trainer is said to be worth millions.

But after years of being photographed cavorting with bodyguards and male strippers, royal watchers say Stephanie may have finally found comfort in her favorite childhood pastime — the circus.

"It's the romance — the dream of running off with the gypsies," says Fiona Fleck, a free-lance journalist who writes about the princess. "After all the dissatisfying relationships, she's finally found one that makes her happy."

Knie and Stephanie met at the annual International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo two years ago when she presented him the award for Best Animal Tamer. The couple's relationship became public in February when Knie announced plans to divorce his wife Claudine.

Taming the Wild Child

Clowning around at the circus is relatively tame compared to Stephanie's wild past.

None of her children were fathered in wedlock, which led Prince Rainier to cut them from Monaco's royal line of succession. Business ventures and a short-lived pop-star career all flopped, despite her fame and royal connections.

"She's a fairly disturbed person," Fleck says.

Family Circus

Based in Zurich, the Knie Brothers' Circus will tour 51 cities with 350 performances between March and November. Officials at the circus and royal palace declined to comment on the relationship.

But Fleck points out Stephanie and her father remain quite close, especially as his health deteriorates. She says he's a huge fan the circus, too.

Stephanie and her children now travel frequently with Knie's circus. Even the princess' 6-year-old daughter Pauline gets in on some of the acts. A smiling Pauline was pictured holding hands with Knie in The Sun.

— ABCNEWS' Christel Kucharz in Bonn contributed to this story.