AT HOME WITH THE GLAMOROUS BOURBON-TWO SICILIES SISTERS MARIA CHIARA AND MARIA CAROLINA THE ROYALS TELL OF THEIR PASSIONS AND PURSUITS

As European aristocrats who lead an enviable, high-paced international lifestyle, Princesses Maria Carolina and Maria Chiara Bourbon-Two Sicilies love nothing more than to retreat to their family home in the French Riviera to recharge their batteries.

- ROSALIND POWELL

The breathtaking St Tropez chateau is where the family – and their eight pet dogs – go to regroup, having spent the year jetting between their homes in Paris, Monte Carlo and Rome.

Although sisters Maria Carolina, 21, and Maria Chiara, 19, both graduated from the Marangoni Fashion Institute in Paris a year and a half ago and are now finishing their studies at Harvard University in the US, they were able to catch up with their parents, Prince Charles and Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, at their impressive stuccoed villa set in lush grounds sheltered by cypress and palm trees.

As hello! discovers in this exclusive interview, the rapport between the siblings is strong – they finish each other’s sentences and are touchingly proud of each other.

Home-schooled as children, they have relied on each other, and their parents, for friendship and companionship.

“Our bond was always based on a lot of love, support and respect. In our family, the words jealousy, competition and rivalry don’t exist,” says Maria Chiara, who describes herself as the “artistic” one, while her older sister is more interested in the worlds of business and marketing.

“We have a unity of strength, and sisterhood is super-powerful,” she adds, “especially in a world where there’s a lot of solitude.”

Maria Carolina nods in agreement. “I heard a quote once that said parents leave too early, your future partner maybe arrives too late, but the only person who stays with you forever is your sibling.

“It’s great to have someone by your side who always has your back, who helps you and loves you, and with whom you can create memories.”

Most siblings enjoy a healthy dose of rivalry, but for the Princesses, whose father heads one branch of the royal house that once ruled southern Italy and Sicily from a base in Naples, encouragement is far more important.