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The Morrocan/French comedian accompanied his life partner, daughter of Princess Caroline of Hanover, to the shiny event, marking his second public appearance in Monaco.
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No less than 4, 000 people were invited by Prince Albert and Princess Charlene to the inauguration of Monaco’s new yacht club, held last Friday. Among them was Gad Elmaleh, life partner to Charlotte Casiraghi, the daughter of Prince Albert’s elder sister, Princess Caroline of Hanover.
The 43 year-old Elmaleh, a popular Morocco-born French comedian and actor, has been in a relationship with the soon-to-be 28 year-old Casiraghi since 2011, and the two have a son, Raphaël, who was born in December 2013. Elmaleh’s attendance at the prestigious event marked his second public appearance in Monaco.
The couple raised eyebrows when they got together in December 2011 because of their 15-year age gap. But they have since earned the approval and the warm embrace of the public, and more importantly, of the royal family. Casiraghi’s mother, the comedian says, seems to love his sense of humour.
“Princess Caroline has a great sense of humour. I think she likes my jokes. She laughs a lot”, he told People Magazine last year. “Charlotte has inherited her sense of humour. Her family are very kind and generous. They aren’t intimidating at all.”
Gad, who already has a 12-year-old son, Noé, from his previous relationship with French actress Anne Brochet, also spoke about how he first met Casiraghi in 2011.
“We don’t have a crazy love story, nor a fairytale, ” he admits. “The most beautiful stories are the ones that are real. The great thing is that we were friends before. When you know someone first as a friend, you get to know them and you talk a lot, and then you really understand who the other person is.”
Whether the couple will marry remains to be seen. Last summer, rumors emerged that they were engaged, after Charlotte was spotted out and about wearing a silver band on her left ring finger. However, the couple later snuffed the reports, with Gad recently saying “maybe one day'”.
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Gad Elmaleh was born in 1971 into a Moroccan Jewish family in Casablanca, where he grew up. He first went to a primary school in the neighborhood of Maârif, then to high school at Maimonides Casablanca and at the Lycée Lyautey.
He is the brother of actor Arie Elmaleh and Judith Elmaleh, an actress and director. Gad ( גד ) means “joy” in Hebrew, and Elmaleh means “salty” in Arabic (El Male’h) . He is the son of David Elmaleh, a local businessman who also practiced the art of mime as an amateur in Casablanca, and of Régine Elmaleh.
When he was 16, Gad left Morocco to study political science at the University of Montréal in Québec. Then, in 1992 he moved to France in order to undertake his professional artistic training in Paris, at the “Cours Florent” acting school. He trained there for two and a half years after winning a scholarship programme.
Subsequently, he has made a name for himself and gained fame in France as a stand-up comedian.
In the last decade, Gad has branched out from his stand-up life to make his mark on stage and in film. Credits include “Olé!” with Gerard Depardieu, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” with another Jewish funnyman, Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”, Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin”, and “Coco”, which he wrote, directed and starred in.
Since 1997, he has been a sponsor of “The Silence of the Righteous”, a charity organization which helps children with autism and psychosis .
In 2006, he was the sponsor of “Act React”, a CD issued to help the victims of an earthquake that shook the region of Al-Hoceima, in Morocco, on February 24th, 2004.
On 22 March 2006, he was made a “Chevalier (Knight) des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture, for his contribution to the arts. Five years later, in 2011, he was made an “Officier” (Officer) of the same order by the Minister Frédéric Mitterrand.
On 16 June 2007, he received an honorary master’s degree in humanities and social sciences at Al – Akhawayn d’Ifrane University in Morocco.
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