2009 Red Cross Ball

HSH Prince Albert II, HSH Princess Stephanie and Albert's girlfriend Charlene Wittstock yesterday attended the 61st annual Red Cross Ball at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. The theme for the ball this year was a combination "Latin Summer" and "Miami Party" and, as such, the featured guest star was the iconic Gloria Estefan. However, royal watchers were disappointed that HRH Princess Caroline was not in attendance nor were any of the "Casiraghi trio". The boys, Andrea and Prierre have not often attended though the very photo-friendly Charlotte has often done so. This year, however, she was at a horse show in Brazil at the time. The absence of Princess Caroline has been more baffling. Over the years she has only missed the Red Cross Ball twice; the first after the death of her beloved husband Stefano Casiraghi and the second time for the birth of her daughter Princess Alexandra.

Other celebrities on hand were Prince Alexander von Schaumburg-Lippe and his wife Princess Nadja, Shirley Bassey, Buzz Aldrin and Ivanna Trump but other faces often present in the past such as Laurent of Belgium, the Serbian and Italian royals have also not attended nor were familiar faces from Princess Antoinette's family to be found. All of this has again sparked talk common in the last few years that the Red Cross Ball is no longer *the* social event of the season that it once was. Nonetheless, one should always keep in mind that the point of it all is to raise money for the Red Cross and that, like every year, was certainly done and will do many people around the world a great deal of good. Big sister may have been absent but Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie always seem to light up a room, and each other, whenever they appear together.

H.S.H. Princess Alice

Alice Heine was Albert's second wife, and he was her second husband she having been previously married to the Duc d'Richelieu. She was an American, born in the French Quarter of New Orleans into a very rich and well-connected family. The family moved to France because of the Civil War in America where she became known in the high society circles and her family gained prestige when her father helped pay for Napoleon III's (doomed) war against the Germans. She married the Duc d'Richelieu in 1875 and after his death she married Albert I in 1889. She is said to have been the business-savy one of the couple who made Monaco economically stable. She was also a patron of the arts, opera, theater and usual things but especially the opera. She put the opera, theater and ballet of Monaco on the European map. Rumors of an affair between her and the composer Isidore de Lara enraged Albert I, though he had his failings too. The couple parted in 1902 but never divorced. Her former home in New Orleans is now the Princess of Monaco Carriage House and Courtyard and advertises itself as a setting for weddings, receptions, special parties and the like.

H.S.H. Princess Catherine-Charlotte

One of the most famous and controversial princess consorts of Monaco was Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, wife of HSH Prince Louis I of Monaco. She was born probably sometime in 1639 into a very prominent French family. Her father was Marshal of France Antoine III de Gramont and her mother was Francoise-Marguerite du Plessis-Chivre whose uncle was none other than His Eminence Cardinal Richelieu. Catherine was the eldest daughter but just as if not more famous than she was to be was her older brother Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche. Armand was famous for being extremely handsome, extremely rude and difficult and irresistible to men and women alike. He was the paramour of the husband and wife pair Philippe I, Duke of Orleans, and Henrietta Anne Stuart.

HSH Prince Honore II of Monaco had worked throughout his reign to transfer Monaco from the Spanish to the French camp and he arranged for King Louis XIV of France to be godfather to his grandson and heir Louis. He also arranged for Louis to be married to someone very prominent in the French court and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was the choice. In 1660 she and Louis were married and only two years later Honore II died making Catherine and her husband Sovereign Prince and Princess Consort of Monaco. Catherine-Charlotte must have seemed like quite a catch. She was described as being very beautiful, highly intelligent and humorously witty. She was, though, some 3 years older than her husband and came into the marriage with some reluctance. She had previously been in love with her cousin Antonin Nompar, Marquis de Puyguilheim. However, the marriage seemed to be fruitful as Catherine gave birth to a son and heir in 1661 who would eventually succeed to the throne as Prince Antoine I of Monaco.
When Honore II died Prince Louis I, Princess Catherine and baby Antoine had to pack up and travel to Monaco to handle the transfer of power. Catherine was very upset about having to leave Paris and was not impressed with her new principality when the couple arrived in Monaco.

From the glittering court of Louis XIV she found herself faced with her new country which, from

what she could see, was simply a castle and a small coastal village. The Princely Palace was, of course, quite luxurious on the inside but Catherine did not make much of a secret of the fact that she considered her presence in Monaco to be a sacrifice for someone of her background. Nonetheless, she was kept busy in Monaco giving birth to a daughter a year for three years in a row. Perhaps thinking she had done her duty by then, Princess Catherine then moved back to Paris and resumed her affair with her cousin Nompar. King Louis XIV was outraged, probably mostly because he had his eye on Catherine himself, and ordered Nompar to make himself scarce. When Nompar unwisely refused King Louis locked him in the Bastille for six months. Open defiance of an absolute monarch is not usually a good idea.

The Princess of Monaco was thus forced to cool her ardor for her cousin but there were plenty of other opportunities for scandalous behavior. She became very close friends with her brother’s lover Princess Henrietta Anne Stuart, youngest daughter of King Charles I of Britain and herself a sister-in-law and former lover of the King of France. Catherine’s aunt, Suzanne Charlotte de Gramont, Marquise de Saint Chaumont, was attached to Henrietta’s household and governess of her two daughters. Catherine’s husband, Prince Louis I, came to Paris and also spent most of his time away from Monaco but was usually dispatched on military and diplomatic missions for Louis XIV. In part, his absences were diplomatic as Louis XIV himself took Catherine as one of his many mistresses after he lost interest in Louise de la Valliere but this lasted only a few months.

In fact, the match had, in part, been a set-up. Princess Henrietta had aimed her friend at the king to distract him from Valliere so that she could become his primary mistress again. It did not work out as Henrietta planned however and when Louis XIV tired of Catherine he turned to the famous Madame de Montespan. There were even rumors that at the same time Catherine was having an affair with Henrietta herself but there is no real evidence of this and may have been the result of a guilt-by-association mentality because of her brother’s affairs with the Orleans couple. The Princess of Monaco then had an affair with the Chevalier de Lorraine, a friend of the Duke of Orleans. This put off Henrietta and their friendship effectively ended. No longer welcome at court she returned with her husband to Monaco for the next four years.

In 1672 France and Holland went to war and Prince Louis I was recalled to duty and sent to the front which allowed Catherine to return to Paris. She would remain there the rest of her life and first received a position as lady-in-waiting to Madame de Montespan. King Louis gave her a house at St Germain where she spent the last six years of her life which was cut short by her death in Paris on June 4, 1678 at the age of 39. She had spent enough time with her husband to give him six children but her short life had mostly been a succession of affairs and scandalous behavior from end to end. As more recent famous figures of wild reputation might say, she lived fast, died young and left a good looking corpse.

Prince Honors Astronaut

Today HSH Prince Albert II honored US Astronaut and moon landing veteran Buzz Aldrin (who is 79-years-old) for his trailblazing space exploration work. Actually, the honor was given by the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco.

Albert and Charlene Out & About

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and girlfriend Charlene Wittstock have been quite the pair lately, taking in a number of events together in the last few days. There was Albert's inauguration as one of 40 new "protectors of the jury"; that is an unofficial ambassador for the wine industry of Bordeaux which was followed by an excursion to a scenic French beach at St. Tropez which (from the photos) was obviously "clothing optional" but Albert gallantly shielded a blushing Charlene from some of the more "unsightly" views. Most recently the pair attended the 13th FINA World Championship at Foro Italico Swimming Complex in Rome, Italy yesterday. All these photo-ops together have, of course, set some gossiper tongues wagging, but cooler heads will remember that we have seen the like before though it is probably safe to say that no other woman so far as been so prominently featured at official events with the Sovereign Prince as his past associations. What can be said with certainty is that none of the talk has had the slightest effect on Albert II who continues on his own path at his own pace.

H.S.H. Prince Honore II

Honore II was the first Grimaldi to officially be titled as “Prince of Monaco”. He was the son of Lord Hercules I of Monaco, who was the brother of Lord Charles II, and Maria Landi. During this period Monaco had fallen within the Spanish sphere of influence which was often heavy-handed and causing considerable discontent among the Monegasque. There had also been numerous attacks and conspiracies against Monaco originating from Provence or the House of Savoy. In 1604 Lord Hercules I was assassinated and Honore II, who was only 6-years-old, became Lord of Monaco. Because of his age he was acted for by his uncle Frederico Landi, Prince of Val di Taro, who was very much a Spanish partisan and the year after Honore’s succession he allowed Monaco to be garrisoned by even more Spanish troops.

The people of Monaco were disarmed, forbidden to carry weapons and young Honore and his two sisters had to relocate to Milan for a time. Needless to say the regent became very unpopular amongst the Monegasque and the ruling Council of Monaco tried to limit Spanish influence but there was little they could do. The Spanish did try to maintain good relations with the young Grimaldi monarch, granting him the Order of the Golden Fleece. They also confirmed the title of Prince for Honore II, which had been used before but simply as a courtesy. Now it was official making Honore II “Prince and Lord of Monaco“. However, these outward displays did not appease the people who were outraged by the abolition of communal prerogatives by the regent Landi. The Spanish also encourage Honore II to mint his own coinage but more or less hinted that he should be content to entertain foreign guests and live a life of idle luxury while they and their supporters ruled Monaco.

Honore II did take the advice of the Spanish -but only to some extent. He made Monaco a haven for poets, artists, musicians and so on. Monaco’s Princely Palace gained a reputation across the civilized world as a center of great culture and learning. The art collection of Prince Honore was one of the most respectable in Europe. However, that sparkling reputation ran headlong into ugly reality in 1631 when a plague swept the tiny country, supposedly spread by some infected linens from La Turbie that had been brought to Monaco for washing. Strict quarantine laws were put into effect, forcing people to remain in their homes and forbidding any congregating and most social interaction. However, some monks finally arrived from Nice and announced that the cause of the disease was nothing fancier than dirt and led practically the whole population to the seaside for a huge, national mass-bath. People brought their clothes and their furniture and washed them as well. Homes were scrubbed and fumigated and a cleansing rain even fell to help matters and as the monks had promised the plague lifted.

Meanwhile, Honore II was planning big changes for Monaco; the most important of which was the desire of the Francophile Honore II to take Monaco out of the grip of Spain and ally with France. The situation was growing increasingly critical. At one point the Spanish troops occupying Monaco asked permission to pillage the Princely Palace they were officially there to protect because their had been in arrears for so long. Working secretly Prince Honore II negotiated the Treaty of Peronne with France’s famous Cardinal Richelieu acting on behalf of King Louis XIII. The treaty stipulated that Monaco become a French protectorate but that the independent status of the Prince should remain and that he be granted compensating lands in France for any potential losses he would suffer in breaking away from Spain. French troops were to garrison Monaco but the officers in charge would be answerable to the Prince of Monaco rather than the French authorities. Most importantly Monegasque independence was to be maintained.

On November 17, 1641 Honore II carried out what was effectively a coup in his own country against the Spanish. He quickly arrested numerous individuals known to be in league with the Spanish and that evening threw a lavish banquet for the Spanish troops and their officers. The soldiers were given generous quantities of liquor to take the fight out of them and then, at a given moment, a canon shot signaled an attack as the Monegasque sprang on the Spanish and French troops came rushing out of their hiding places to overwhelm them and force their surrender. With only 5 killed and 10 wounded the Spanish gave up and Monaco had officially changed camps. Prince Honore II published an official document to the great powers of Europe explaining why he had done what he did and he also returned his Order of the Golden Fleece. As expected the Spanish confiscated all of the Prince’s property in Spain and rescinded all of his privileges and honors but the French would make good the loss.

Part of that compensation was when Louis XIII made Honore II the Duke of Valentinois, Count of Carladez, Baron of Buis and Calvinet as well as the lands and title of St Remy. The monarchs of France and Monaco became so close that in due time King Louis XIV would stand as godfather to Honore II’s grandson who was also named Louis. One of his last tasks was a diplomatic balancing act with the exiled British House of Stuart. The French were natural allies of the Jacobites and Charlotte de Gramont, wife of Honore’s heir Louis of Monaco, was a close friend of the widowed Queen Henrietta Maria. James, Duke of York (later King James II), wanted to assemble a fleet in Monaco for the invasion of England and restoration of the monarchy. The powerful Cardinal Mazarin, however, was anxious to make peace with the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell and enlist his help against the Spanish. So, he instructed Honore II to give every courtesy to the Duke of York but not to allow any hostile force to embark from Monaco. Honore did his job well and, though the Stuarts were disappointed, everything worked out to Mazarin’s satisfaction. Prince Honore II died on January 10, 1662 a very popular and successful monarch. He had removed them from being under the heavy hand of Spain and kept the country independent while allied to the powerful French. His cultural achievements and the prestige he gained led him to be known as the “Louis XIV of Monaco”.

H.S.H. Prince Antoine I

Prince Antoine I was the son of Louis I and came to the throne at the age of 40 upon the death of his father in 1701. On June 13, 1688 he had married Marie of Lorraine, daughter of the Comte de Armagnac at Versailles in a marriage that had been arranged by King Louis XIV himself. It would prove to be less than a joyous union and Prince Antoine became so frustrated with her that it was a relief to him when she abandoned him in all but name. She rarely set foot in Monaco but in those days the Reigning Prince himself was often absent as well and Antoine was no different. Like many before him and many who would follow after him on the throne of Monaco. During the War of the Grand Alliance (King William’s War in America) he fought in the German campaign of 1688 with the French army and participated in the great sieges of Mons and Namur. It was only shortly after succeeded to the Monegasque throne that Prince Antoine I was swept up with most of the rest of Europe in the War of the Spanish Succession which his father had hoped but failed to avoid diplomatically.

The Principality of Monaco itself was to become involved eventually when Savoy joined the alliance against France and thus threatened Nice and Monaco in 1705. It was a critical time for Monaco as she was threatened from the sea by the British Royal Navy and from the mountains by Savoyard troops. Prince Antoine wished to rush French troops to La Turbie (the sight of a great victory by Emperor Augustus in Roman times) which was a very strategic position and guarded by a respectable fortress. It was also contested by both Monaco and Savoy. However, the French commander on the Italian front, Marshal de La Feuillade, Duc de Roannais, refused to divert forces to defend La Turbie and instead ordered the fortress destroyed so as to deny it to the enemy. It should be kept in mind that La Feuillade owed his rank solely to family connections, was very young, inexperienced, arrogant and would ultimately prove quite inadequate to the task. Nonetheless, he was in command and his orders were carried out though he even managed to botch the demolition work and only half of the main tower was destroyed in the explosion.

Meanwhile, Prince Antoine worked feverishly to fortify Monaco and it is to his credit that he was able to scrape together the money, men and equipment to strengthen the defenses of his small country. His fortifications can still be seen in Monaco today in the old part of town and visitors can see the plaque marking “Fort Antonius”. Certainly Prince Antoine never would have imagined that the bastions he built would one day be firing canon salutes to American actress coming to marry the Prince of Monaco. Prince Antoine also looked to mother nature to help defend Monaco and some remnants are still around today. In the absence of modern obstructions like barbed wire, Prince Antoine had plants such as aloe, agave and prickly pear cactus planted along the walls to bedevil attacking troops. All of this required no small amount of sacrifice on the part of Prince Antoine since the high living of Louis I had left him with very little money. To build all of these new battlements in Monaco he melted down his own silver and sold the family jewels. However, he was not just concerned with military defense but also the welfare of his people and oversaw the construction of huge underground bunkers for the public in the event of enemy shelling and dug cisterns to hold an ample supply of water in the event of a siege. These improvements continued until 1713 (only a year before the war ended).

By 1713 negotiations for ending the war were already underway and Prince Antoine and all of Monaco was in danger of being sold out by their protecting power; France. During the haggling over the Treaty of Utrecht the Duke of Savoy demanded that the Principality be turned over to him but King Louis XIV protested that he could not simply hand over Monaco as it was an independent country and not his to give or take. However, Monaco did not survive completely unscathed. The continued independence of Monaco and the protectorate with France was maintained but the outlying towns of Menton and Roquebrune were forced to recognize Savoy as their overlord. This would contribute to the longstanding ambiguity over the status of Menton and Roquebrune for some time to come. Prince Antoine was deeply distressed by this but there was very little he could do about it and was at least grateful that Monaco itself remained as it had been. With the crisis of the war over Prince Antoine could turn his attention to problems closer to home, specifically his lack of a male heir.

The marriage with Marie of Lorraine had produced six children but of these only two daughters survived; Princess Louise Hippolyte and Princess Margaretha. With no son attention quickly focused on Princess Louise Hippolyte as the future heir to the throne and even at the age of 15 the matter of her marriage became of the utmost importance to the principality. The only other candidate was Prince Antoine’s brother who was perfectly willing to assume the throne but who could have only been a temporary solution at best as he was a priest. Prince Antoine wished for the name of the Grimaldi family to survive and so for that reason favored his eldest daughter marrying someone who was not so high up the social ladder that he would protest against changing his name and becoming a Grimaldi. There were many schemes and intrigues surrounding the potential marriage of Louise Hippolyte before she was finally engaged to Jacques de Goyon Mantignon, Comte de Thorigny. He was a descendant of the famous Marshal Jacques de Mantignon who had refused to follow his orders to participate in the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. However, the intrigues surrounding Louise-Hippolyte were to continue even after her marriage.

Prince Antoine also had at least three illegitimate children, one of whom was to become very important for Monaco later which was Antoine Grimaldi, named for his father, but who is better known to history as the Chevalier de Grimaldi who would, in the future, rule Monaco quite capably as Governor-General and regent of Monaco. Prince Antoine had a great deal of problems when it came to his private life as a husband and father but no one could doubt his skill and bravery as a soldier or his abilities as a statesman. In Monaco he was very popular as the people recognized his work to protect them and make their lives better. He was a patron of the arts, supported numerous painters and was passionate about music. Under his rule many great artists, musicians and the like came to Monaco which even then began to have a reputation amongst the states of Europe as a place of refinement and high culture. He died on February 20, 1731 and the tumultuous reign of Princess Louise-Hippolyte began.

MM Video: Stephanie Smiles

MM Video: Charlotte Casiraghi

H.S.H. Prince Honore IV

Prince Honore IV was born on May 17, 1758 to Prince Honore III and Princess Maria-Caterina de Brignole-Sale. He suffered probably more than any other of his family from the consequences of the French Revolution. He had the misfortune to be in Paris when the Reign of Terror erupted and he was quickly arrested and thrown into prison. His ex-wife, the Duchess Mazarin, was also arrested by with the help of their family doctor managed to escape with their son Prince Florestan and successfully save themselves. For 15 months he wasted away in confinement, growing weaker and in poorer health. On March 21, 1795 his father died and he became Prince Honore IV of Monaco though at the time the monarchy had been abolished and Monaco annexed to the French Republic as Fort Hercules. Even after his release from prison it took seven years of negotiating before the French regime restored some fraction of their income to Honore IV and his brother Prince Joseph.

However, the future looked brighter for the Grimaldis when the radical elements of the revolution were succeeded by the Consulate and finally the first French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prince Joseph was to go on to a relatively high placed and distinguished career in the French Imperial forces and Honore IV could have likely enjoyed similar treatment. Unfortunately, his long confinement had left him so sick and frail that he had to restrict himself to the least amount of activity possible. His son, Prince Honore-Gabriel (born in 1778), was able to join his uncle in the imperial service joining a cavalry regiment at the age of 20 and rising through the ranks to become an officer on the staff of Marshal Grouchy and went on to win many laurels in the French Imperial Army.

When the Napoleonic Wars finally ended Monaco was restored by the Congress of Vienna thanks to Prince Talleyrand. However, as Honore IV was still too ill to assume the government of his principality he appointed his brother Prince Joseph as regent on his behalf. Troubles arose though when Joseph stayed in Paris and left Monaco to be administered by a governor. Prince Honore-Gabriel also protested at his uncle being given the position rather than himself. To avoid further trouble Prince Joseph resigned the post and Honore IV appointed Honore-Gabriel regent. He ruled Monaco for the rest of his life while the nominal Sovereign Prince Honore IV remained in Paris where he died on February 16, 1819.

MM Video: Stephanie

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