Europe’s most ambitious princesses! Italian influencer, 22, is linked to  French presidential favourite, 30, after her sister’s rumoured fling with Denmark’s future King – and there’s a momager behind the scenes

He’s the favourite to become France’s next president and the protégé of hard-Right leader Marine Le Pen, while she’s the influencer heiress to a defunct Italian throne whose sister was once romantically linked to Denmark’s future King.

Together, Jordan Bardella, 30, and Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, 22, make an impressive power couple and have proved to already be a divisive duo in France as they dominate the headlines.

Dating rumours were sparked over the weekend after they were spotted leaving a party for Paris’s elite at the Grand Palais together before getting into the same car, reported Point de Vue. 

Princess Carolina was photographed inside the lavish event with her sister Princess Maria Chiara, 21, and her parents, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, and Princess Camilla, Duchess of Castro, the bouffant-haired ‘momager’ to her socialite daughters.

Prince Carlo holds a claim to the now-defunct throne of the former House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family, which ruled over southern Italy and Sicily during the 18th and 19th centuries.

But despite having no land or people to rule, the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has made sure they stay as relevant as possible in high society, having previously rubbed shoulders with US President Donald Trump, Prince Albert of Monaco, King Frederik of Denmark, Spain’s King Felipe and Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent.

In the summer of 2023, the princesses hit headlines after Chiara was rumoured to be engaged to Prince Christian of Denmark, with the royal even seemingly fanning the flames of the rumours until she later appeared to dismiss the speculation.

Now, Princess Carolina has her own rumoured romance causing a storm across Europe. Bardella, the president of Le Pen’s far-Right National Rally, tightly controls his own image and is said to have used the outing with the socialite to appear ‘presidential’.

The sighting of Bardella with the princess comes while his mentor was busy appearing in court on Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome. Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing.

If Le Pen is ultimately prevented from running next year, Bardella is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership. 

‘Obviously, he’s doing it to make himself look presidential, appearing with a first lady while the trial gets under way,’ a Right-wing politician said to French newspaper Le Parisien, reported The Times.

Italian news agency Adnkronos asked: ‘Will an Italian princess be the next first lady of France?’

However, French newspaper Le Monde suggested Bardella, the son of Italian immigrants who was raised on Paris housing estates, made an error in judgement by appearing with the princess.

‘Bardella claims to be the voice “of a forgotten people” and the “authentic spokesperson for a France despised by the elites,” yet in appearing in public with the heiress to a fortune worth several hundred million euros – at a time when angry farmers are descending upon Paris – his choice has not gone unnoticed,’ wrote the newspaper.

Alexandre Loubet, a National Rally MP, criticised Le Monde on X for stooping to ‘tabloid-style gossip’ and ‘trampling on Bardella’s private life’.

Bardella’s apparent ‘video-opp’ goes against his usual preference to keep his private life under wraps. He has reportedly not been publicly linked with anyone since splitting with Nolwenn Olivier, Marine Le Pen’s niece, in 2023.

Meanwhile, when asked to respond to long-running speculation that he was gay, Bardella said: ‘I’m straight. I could say the opposite to please you, but … there’s not the shadow of a doubt,’ reported Tatler.

Bardella and Carolina, who splits her time between Paris, Rome and Monaco, met one another in Monte Carlo, during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in May 2025, reported Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The Daily Mail has contacted Jordan Bardella and Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies for comment.

Chiara and Carolina, whose mother is the daughter of Italian industry Tycoon Camillo Crociani and the actress Edy Vessel, have become well-known in aristocratic circles for their lavish parties and fashionable looks at glitzy events. 

They’ve also been known to chase the spotlight, often posing for photos on glamorous trips and giving tell-all interviews to Italian media.

They’re not above flexing their connections either, with Chiara previously saying: ‘The Bourbon family is related to almost all the royal families or former rulers of Europe, it’s a kind of big club.

‘King Felipe VI of Spain, he is my father’s cousin and I am very close to the heir, Leonor, who, like me, loves sports and in particular women’s football.

‘Then the Belgian royals were often our guests in the summer in Saint-Tropez… and one of my best friends is Alexandra of Hanover, Caroline of Monaco’s youngest daughter.’

While the family has no official remit, they spend their time doing charity work and promoting the interests of Southern Italy. 

The two sisters also rub shoulders with the most elite socialites of Europe, speaking fluently in English, French and Italian.

In recent years, they have been building a large fanbase by sharing snaps of their luxurious lives on Instagram, and clips of themselves on TikTok, dancing, showing off their style, and having fun in various glamorous locations.

The sisters – who are managed by their mother – have also made appearances at Paris Fashion Week while in 2023, the siblings announced they would be starring in ‘Côte d’Azur: In the Privacy of Billionaires, Stars & Princesses’ on the French streaming service, myCANAL.

Carolina, Duchess of Calabria and of Palermo, will inherit her father’s title and duties, and his claim to Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. 

The family enjoy an extravagant lifestyle, with frequent trips to Trump’s Mar-a-lago complex in Florida.

Meanwhile, Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. 

She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.

Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year’s ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. She denounced it as ‘a democratic scandal’.

Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out ‘the nuclear bomb’ to prevent her from becoming France´s president.

Anti-corruption campaigners argue that Le Pen’s conviction was proof that French democracy works, and that no one is above the law. Advocacy group Transparency France noted that her conviction came after years of investigation and a lengthy trial in which Le Pen and other party members were able to freely defend their positions.

The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last for five weeks. The panel is expected to announce its verdict later, possibly before summer.

Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar her from running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew – up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million).

In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.

All defendants denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.

The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country. It is most well-known for its anti-immigration, nationalist stance and its rhetoric often targeting Muslims.

Le Pen and other party members also have long criticised the EU and its rules and campaigned for more national sovereignty, even while serving in the EU Parliament. She stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Bardella.