by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Count Pierre de Polignac; Credit – Wikipedia

Count Pierre de Polignac, after his marriage, Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois, was the husband of Princess Charlotte of Monaco, daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco. Pierre and Charlotte were the parents of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and the paternal grandparents of Albert II, the current Prince of Monaco. Count Pierre Marie Xavier Raphaël Antoine Melchior de Polignac was born on October 24, 1895 at the Château de Kerscamp in Hennebont, in the Britanny region of northwest France. He was the seventh of the eight children and the fourth of the five sons of Count Maxence de Polignac (1857 – 1936), from an old French noble family, and his Mexican-born wife Susana de la Torre y Mier (1858 – 1913). Pierre’s great-great-grandparents were Jules de Polignac, 1st Duke of Polignac and his wife Yolande de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (1749 – 1793), a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and the Governess to the Children of France from 1782 – 1789.

Pierre had seven siblings:

• Countess Joséphine de Polignac (1882 – 1976), married Amaury de Jacquelot, Count du Boisrouvray, had two children
• Countess Marie-Louise de Polignac (1884 – 1944), married Eon Charles Aimé Le Gouvello Du Timat, had seven children
• Count Xavier de Polignac (1886 – 1941), married María de la Torre y Formento, had one child
• Countess Anne de Polignac (1889 – 1970), became a nun, Sister Marie de St. Louis Bertrand
• Count Bertrand de Polignac (1893 – 1910), died in his teens
• Count Maxence de Polignac (1894 – 1963), married Laura de la Torre y Formento, had two children
• Count Raymonde de Polignac (1900 – ?)

Meanwhile, in Monaco, there was a succession issue. Albert I, Prince of Monaco had only one child, a son, Louis, Hereditary Prince of Monaco (the future Louis II, Prince of Monaco). However, as Louis was unmarried and without an heir, the Monegasque throne was likely to pass to his first cousin once removed Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 2nd Duke of Urach, a German nobleman who was the son of his father’s aunt Princess Florestine of Monaco. However, Louis did have an illegitimate daughter. Louis served for ten years in the French Foreign Legion. While serving in Algeria, Louis met Marie Juliette Louvet, a cabaret singer. The couple was deeply in love, but Louis’ father would not grant permission to marry. A daughter, Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet, was born in 1898.

To avoid having Prince Wilhelm of Urach become the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, Louis’ father, Albert I, Prince of Monaco arranged to have a law passed recognizing Charlotte as Louis’ heir and a member of the Princely Family of Monaco. However, this law was later ruled invalid under earlier statutes. In October 1918, another law was passed allowing for the adoption of an heir with succession rights. On May 16, 1919, Louis legally adopted his illegitimate daughter Charlotte, giving her the Grimaldi surname. Her grandfather Albert I, Prince of Monaco created her Her Serene Highness Princess Charlotte of Monaco and Duchess of Valentinois. Upon the death of her grandfather and the accession of her father to the throne of Monaco, Charlotte would become the Hereditary Princess of Monaco.

Princess Charlotte of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte’s grandfather Albert I, Prince of Monaco made a list of eligible young Frenchmen who could be prospective husbands for his granddaughter. One of the most promising was Count Pierre de Polignac, from one of the oldest French aristocratic families. Pierre was a frequent visitor to Monaco as the houseguest of the many rich and titled people who had homes in the principality. Charlotte had met Pierre and thought him handsome. However, according to the treaty with France and Monaco’s Bill of Accession, a female Grimaldi could inherit the throne only if her husband was also a Grimaldi. A prenuptial agreement was drawn up specifying Pierre’s name change, limiting his power if Charlotte became Sovereign Princess of Monaco, and guaranteeing him a large personal income for life.

Pierre and Charlotte on their wedding day; Credit – Mad for Monaco

On March 18, 1920, Pierre became Pierre Grimaldi, Count of Polignac. The next day Pierre and Charlotte were married at the Cathedral of Monaco and Pierre became His Serene Highness Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois, taking the male version of Charlotte’s title Duchess of Valentinois. Nine months later, on December 28, 1920, in Paris, France, Charlotte gave birth to Princess Antoinette of Monaco. Pierre and Charlotte had fulfilled their duty. Monaco had an heir even if Charlotte and Pierre never had a son. On June 26, 1922, Charlotte’s grandfather Prince Louis II died, her father succeeded to the throne as Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlotte became the Hereditary Princess of Monaco. The next year, on May 31, 1923, Charlotte gave birth to the future Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.

Prince Pierre, Prince Rainier, Princess Charlotte, Princess Antoinette, and Louis II, Prince of Monaco on January 1, 1924

Pierre and Charlotte’s children:

• Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy (1920 – 2011), married (1)  Alexandre-Athenase Noghès, had three children who were born before marriage but were later legitimized, divorces  (2) Dr. Jean-Charles Rey, no children, divorced  (2) John Gilpin who died six weeks after the marriage
• Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1923 – 2005), married Grace Kelly, had one son and two daughters

Once Pierre had produced a male heir, he was no longer necessary. His father-in-law Prince Louis II disliked him and Charlotte had become unhappy shortly after the marriage. In the mid-1920s, the couple unofficially separated. Pierre and Charlotte were legally separated by a French court on March 20, 1930. On February 18, 1933, they were divorced by the ordinance of Prince Louis II, and the divorce was confirmed by a French tribunal in December 1933. Pierre received an annual annuity of 500,000 francs. After the divorce, Pierre was styled His Serene Highness Prince Pierre of Monaco, losing the right to use the male counterpart of Charlotte’s title Duchess of Valentinois. The marriage was legally over but there was never an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church. Having been born illegitimate, and now divorced, Charlotte knew that she would never be fully accepted by the very Catholic Monaco, and so she renounced her succession rights to the Monegasque throne in May 1944 in favor of her son Rainier. Five years later, Charlotte’s father died, and Rainier became Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Prince Pierre, circa 1960

During the reign of his son Prince Rainier III, Pierre lived in a villa near the Prince’s Palace in Monaco. In 1951, Pierre founded the Le Prix littéraire Prince Pierre de Monaco, an award to honor French-language writers with an exemplary body of work, and served as its president from 1951 until his death in 1964. In 1966, Pierre’s son Prince Rainier III expanded the original organization into The Prince Pierre Foundation in memory of his father who was a great patron of the arts. The foundation awards annual prizes in literature, music, and contemporary art. Pierre’s granddaughter The Princess of Hanover (Princess Caroline of Monaco) serves as the President. In 1957, Prince Pierre became President of the Monaco National Commission of UNESCO and the Monaco Olympic Committee. The Princess Caroline Ludothèque, a library, still in existence, offering children direct access to books, toys, and games, was founded by Prince Pierre in 1960, and named after his granddaughter Princess Caroline.

Chapelle de la Paix (Chapel of Peace) in Monaco. photo: www.structurae.info

On November 10, 1964, Prince Pierre, aged 69, died of cancer at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, France. He was buried at the Chapelle de la Paix in Monaco where his former wife Princess Charlotte, his daughter Princess Antoinette and her deceased children have also been buried.

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Works Cited

• Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Pierre,_Duke_of_Valentinois> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
• Fondationprincepierre.mc. 2022. Prince Pierre | Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.fondationprincepierre.mc/en/prince-pierre-40> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Pierre de Polignac — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Polignac> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
• Mehl, Scott, 2013. Princess Charlotte of Monaco, Duchess of Valentinois. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/september-30-1898-birth-of-princess-charlotte-of-monaco-duchess-of-valentinois/> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
• Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1964. Prince Pierre, 69, of Monaco Is Dead. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/11/11/97432520.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0> [Accessed 7 May 2022].