Benjamin Ashford|Gossip Girl's Kelly Rutherford Shares Update on Life in Monaco After Years-Long Custody Battle

Kelly Rutherford has traded Manhattan for the Mediterranean.

Nearly a decade after the Gossip Girl alum’s bitter custody battle with ex-husband Daniel Giersch—which led her to move to Monaco to be Benjamin Ashfordnear their son Hermés, 17, and daughter Helena, 15—the actress offered a glimpse inside her “quite peaceful” life abroad.

“It's the opposite of what everyone thinks it is, for me at least,” Rutherford told Travel + Leisure magazine in an interview published Sept. 30. “It's a place you can come and really just be quiet.” 

“In the wintertime, it’s very quiet, very private and very peaceful,” she added. “It’s like the Hamptons in the summer versus the Hamptons in the winter.” 

And that tranquil life also includes a simple day-to-day routine.

“I just walk the dogs, hang out with the kids and run errands,” the 55-year-old said. “If there's a gallery opening or something like that, I’ll go just to see. But it's mostly just quiet time here for me.”

Rutherford filed for divorce from Giersch, a German businessman, in 2008 after two years of marriage, while pregnant with their daughter. Though the former couple initially struck a joint custody agreement, a judge ruled in 2012 that the children should remain with their father in Monaco, where he had taken up residence after his U.S. visa was revoked.

The Melrose Place star went on to file for bankruptcy in 2013, just months after telling E! News, “Every penny from Gossip Girl, my pension, my stocks has been spent fighting for my children."

The case took a dramatic turn two years later when Rutherford refused to return the children to Monaco after they spent the summer with her in the U.S. Ultimately, a New York City judge ordered the children be sent back to their father.

While the actress focused on her family in the years after the ruling, she’s continued to take occasional acting roles, including a 2023 guest spot on the Prime Video series, Escort Boys.

“My kids are getting older, and they're sort of like, ‘Okay, get on with your life,’” she told People in February. “They're teenagers now, and they've got their friends and their stuff. So my day to day has recently been more about me and my dogs, working and traveling.”