Princess Carina, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Carina, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born Carina Axelsson on August 5, 1968) is an American author and former fashion model. She is best known for creating the teen fashion detective book series Model Undercover, alongside her Nigel of Hyde Park and Royal Rebel series. As a former model, she featured in notable international publications during the 1990s. Through her marriage to Gustav, 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, she is part of the extended Danish royal family.

Axelsson was born in Northern California to Bertil Axelsson, an electronic engineer born in Sweden, and Alicia Axelsson, who is Mexican. She grew up in California alongside her brother, Erik, and her sister, Liselotte. After growing up in California, she moved to New York to pursue a career in fashion modeling.

Throughout her modeling career, Axelsson appeared in several major magazines. In 1991, she was featured in the August and September editions of American Vogue, photographed by Robert Diadul and Angel Morale. In December 1992, she appeared in a 10-page Vogue Italia spread styled as Bianca Jagger and shot by photographer Ellen von Unwerth, later returning to Vogue Italia in 1993 and 1995. She also appeared on the covers of the French magazine Madame Figaro in July 1993, the German edition of Elle in September 1993, and Vogue Patterns in early 1994.

Moving from New York to Paris, Axelsson studied art and wrote and illustrated her first book, the children's picture book Nigel of Hyde Park, published in 2004. She also worked a short stint as a personal assistant to fashion designer John Galliano. Influenced by her fashion experiences and an interest in Agatha Christie and Scooby-Doo, she wrote the Model Undercover series, which launched in 2014 and ran through 2016. She subsequently published her Royal Rebel series between 2018 and 2019.

Axelsson dated German-Danish aristocrat Gustav, 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, for 19 years before they married civilly on June 3, 2022, and religiously on June 4, 2022, in Bad Berleburg. The marriage was previously delayed due to restrictive inheritance clauses in her husband's grandfather's Nazi-era will regarding non-Protestant, commoner, or non-Aryan backgrounds, though she was consistently treated as his official partner by the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg House. She is the godmother to Countess Athena of Monpezat.

The couple resides at Schloss Berleburg in Germany with their four dogs. They have two children born via surrogacy in the United States: Prince Gustav Albrecht, born on May 26, 2023, and Princess Mafalda, born on April 26, 2024.