Yesterday, we brought you the exciting news that Charlotte Casiraghi is the new face of Gucci — and as if by magic, the first image has just popped into our inbox this morning! Doesn't the Princess of Monaco look utterly sumptuous?

With her mega brows, pouty pout and smouldering stare, Charlotte makes an ideal muse for the Italian fashion house. Shot by Peter Lindbergh against the backdrop of a stable, is that a HAY BALE the young princess is leaning against? Yes, instead of the glitziness we've come to expect from Gucci (and indeed the royal family), this campaign has a very wind-swept-on-a-summer-evening kinda vibe. How refreshing! 

The behind the scenes video we've been treated to verifies exactly that [scroll down to watch]. Charlotte casually frolicks about with her beloved horse while her brunette hair swishes about wildly (we love how her tresses are of the naturally tousled rather than perfectly preened variety). Next, we seeing her looking elegant yet undone in a blood red blazer with Gucci's signature scarf tied around her head, bandana-style. Can you imagine K-Midd doing anything of the like? Nope, us neither.

'Over the last two years I have had the pleasure and privilege to get to know Charlotte through our shared passion for horses,' Frida Giannini says of her latest heroine. 'She not only embodies the beauty and the grace of the equestrian, but is also a wonderful ambassador for the sport.'

As for Ms Casiraghi, she had this to say about creating the campaign: 'I admire Frida’s talent as a designer and she has really managed to reinvent the codes of Gucci by giving them a modern twist and a timeless elegance.'

And there's more to come! Charlotte is the star of the Forever Now advertising campaign series conceived by Creative Director Frida Giannini in collaboration with the young royal herself. Over the course of the next two years, the campaign will see the 25-year-old portrayed by four of the world’s most respected photographers in a series of sittings celebrating the Italian brand’s renowned icons.

As our Gucci friends inform us, this first campaign tells the story of Gucci’s signature green and red stripe. It was back in the Fifties that Mr Gucci was first inspired by the green and red stripe from the strap on a horse’s saddle, using the colours on his luggage creations. Ever since, the stripe has become an icon for the House of Gucci.

So let's take five and watch the dreamy behind the scenes video below...