End of a Bad Romance

It was on this day in 1880 that HSH Prince Charles III of Monaco, on his own authority as Sovereign Prince, legally dissolved the marriage of (then) Hereditary Prince Albert and Princess Mary Victoria. There were some high-powered match-makers behind the marriage but, alas, the two never seemed to really hit it off. The daughter of the Duke of Hamilton didn't really seem to like anything about her life after she said "I do". She didn't like her husband, didn't like her new country or her new family. After the birth of their son Louis, Princess Mary Victoria essentially ran away and it was years before she and her husband even exchanged letters. When they did it was because she had fallen in love with a Hungarian nobleman and asked Prince Albert to see about getting their marriage annulled. That took a great deal of time, money and arguing with the Vatican before it was all settled. However, on the civil side of things, Prince Charles III could settle things easily, as in Monaco he was the law, and so he did 131 years ago today. Prince Albert I later went on to marry the American-born Alice Heine who, if that marriage did not last either, was at least much more pleased with and popular in Monaco.