🇲🇨When a (Real) Princess Became a (Real) Pop Star: The Story of Stéphanie (of Monaco)'s “Ouragan”

The Twelve Inch 175 : Ouragan - Irresistible (Stephanie)

I’m writing this at the end of July 2025, right in the heart of summer, a season that’s always been tied to music. Just about a year ago, I published episode 127 on Desireless and “Voyage Voyage”, one of those unforgettable ’80s summer hits we brought home from holiday and played on repeat.

This week’s track is cut from the same sun-drenched cloth.

If you spent the summer of 1986 in the south of Europe, it was impossible to escape Stéphanie’s “Ouragan”, or its English version, “Irresistible”. And “irresistible” is exactly what the song was: it swept across Europe, giving Princess Stéphanie of Monaco a massive hit. While a few smaller singles followed, this was the peak of a brief and curious pop career.

Fortunately, royalty doesn’t rely on record sales. Stéphanie, the youngest daughter of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, was already part of Monaco’s ruling family. So why, when you could be designing swimsuits, modelling, launching a perfume, or opening a boutique café in Barcelona, would …