by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Born on November 10, 1697, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco, Louise-Hippolyte was the second but the eldest surviving of the six daughters of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco and Marie of Lorraine. Louise-Hippolyte’s paternal grandparents were Louis I, Prince of Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, who was from a French noble family. Her maternal grandparents were Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac and Catherine de Neufvill. Her maternal grandfather was a member of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, and held the rank of prince étranger at the French court.

Louise-Hippolyte as a child

Louise-Hippolyte had five sisters but only one survived to adulthood:

• Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco (1691 – 1696), died in chilhood
• Elisabetta Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Valentinois (1698 – 1702), died in childhood
• Margherita Camilla, Mademoiselle de Carlades (1700 – 1758), married Louis de Gand de Mérode de Montmorency, Prince of Isenghien (his third marriage), no children
• Maria Devota, Mademoiselle des Baux (1702 – 1703), died in childhood
• Maria Paolina Theresa Devota, Mademoiselle de Chabreuil (1708 – 1726), unmarried, died at age 18

The greatest concern of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the future of the House of Grimaldi. Because Antonio’s only legitimate children were all daughters, the heir to the throne was his only brother François Honoré Grimaldi, a Catholic priest with the title Monsieur l’Abbé de Monaco, later Archbishop of Besançon. In 1715, François Honoré renounced his claims to the throne of Monaco and Antonio’s elder surviving daughter Louise Hippolyte became his heir. Antonio decided, with the permission of King Louis XIV of France, that Louise Hippolyte’s husband would take the surname Grimaldi and jointly rule Monaco with her.

In 1641, during the reign of Honoré II, Monaco had become a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

The marriage of Louise-Hippolyte’s parents Antonio and Marie was not happy, and they butted heads over prospective husbands for their elder daughter. Marie, supported by her family, refused to consent to Antonio’s choice. This resulted in a conflict that lasted for two years and greatly angered King Louis XIV of France. Marie told Louise-Hippolyte to refuse her father’s choice which resulted in Antonio having Louise-Hippolyte confined in a convent for two years. When Antonio discovered that his marriage plans for his daughter were not favored at the French court, he was forced to release Louise-Hippolyte from her convent confinement and forgo his marriage plans. However, Marie had another trick up her sleeve. She arranged for the Duchess de Lude to suggest the wealthy Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon as a husband for Louise-Hippolyte, and Antonio agreed. When he later found out that Marie had manipulated his choice by having the Duchess de Lude suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon, the relationship between Marie and Antonio further worsened.

On October 20, 1715, 18-year-old Louise-Hippolyte married 26-year-old French noble Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon, the son of first cousins Jacques III Goyon de Matignon, Count of Thorigny (1644 – 1725) and Charlotte de Goyon de Matignon, Countess of Thorigny (1657 – 1721).

Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques had nine children but only four survived to adulthood:

• Antoine-Charles, Marquis des Baux and Count de Matignon, (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
• Charlotte Thérèse Nathalie (1719 – 1790), a nun at the Convent of the Visitation in Paris, France
• Honoré III, Prince of Monaco (1720 – 1795), married Maria Caterina Brignole, had two sons including Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco
• Charles, Count de Carladés and Count de Matignon (1722 – 1749), unmarried, died from smallpox at the age of 27
• Jacques (born and died 1723), died in infancy
• Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle des Baux (1724 – 1729), died in childhood
• François-Charles, Count of Thorigny (1726 – 1743), died in his teens
• Charles-Maurice, Count de Valentinois (1727 – 1798), married Marie Christine Chrétienne de Rouvrois, no children
• Marie Françoise Thérése, Mademoiselle d’Estouteville (1728 – 1743), died in her teens

Because of the poor relationship of her parents, Louise-Hippolyte and her husband Jacques decided to live in France. They spent their time between Jacques’ mansion in Paris, the Hôtel de Matignon, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France, and Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France where the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, was located. Highly unusual for the time, Jacques was faithful to his wife and the marriage was happy.

When Louise-Hippolyte’s mother Marie died in 1724, she left her possessions and a sizable monetary inheritance to her elder daughter Louise-Hippolyte. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, who was always in financial difficulties, contested his deceased wife’s will. Naturally, this caused a strained relationship between Antonio and his daughter and her husband. By 1730, the lawsuit still had not been settled and Antonio’s health was failing. Louise-Hippolyte and her second surviving son eight-year-old Charles, Count of Carlades traveled from France to visit Antonio. During a six-week visit, Antonio and Louise Hippolyte reconciled.

On February 20, 1731, at the age of 70, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco died. Louise-Hippolyte was now the Sovereign Princess of Monaco. She traveled alone from Paris to Monaco, arriving on April 4, 1731, where the people of Monaco received her enthusiastically. Louise-Hippolyte immediately took the oath of loyalty but there was no mention of her husband Jacques. According to the decision made years earlier by Louise-Hippolyte’s father, her husband would take the surname Grimaldi (which Jacques had done) and jointly rule Monaco with her as Jacques I, Prince of Monaco. However, Louise-Hippolyte decreed that she would be the sole ruler, all documents would be issued in her name only, and her husband and children would stay in France.

While historians have differing opinions about what caused Louise-Hippolyte’s behavior, it appears likely that she was not really happy with her marriage. Jacques and their children came to Monaco a few weeks after Louise-Hippolyte had taken the oath of loyalty but he stayed for a short time before returning to France alone. The rumors at the French court said that Jacques had wished to be named along with his wife in the official proclamation of accession, and when that was denied, the couple separated.

Louise-Hippolyte had a very short reign of ten months.  Several weeks before Christmas of 1731, a smallpox epidemic spread through the Mediterranean coastal areas. Louise-Hippolyte died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731, and was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Upon Louise-Hippolyte’s death, her husband Jacques, now the legal guardian of their eldest son Honoré, returned to Monaco with a plan. Jacques should rule as Prince of Monaco until Honoré reached his twenty-fifth birthday. At that time, Honoré would abdicate in favor of his father following the example of sons who gave up to their fathers land they had inherited through their mothers. Although the plan was initially accepted, it met with increasing opposition. It is possible that Louise-Hippolyte suspected her husband was power-hungry and that was why she denied him being named as her co-ruler.

Finally, in May 1732, Jacques handed over the rule of Monaco to his brother-in-law Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi, an illegitimate son of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. Jacques’ official abdication date was November 7, 1733, but he had long since returned to Paris with his son who was now technically Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi became Governor-General of Monaco, was the de facto ruler of Monaco from 1732 until he died in 1784, and ably served as regent for more than fifty years for his nephew Honoré III, even after Honoré returned to Monaco.

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Works Cited

• Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jacques I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Hippolyte,_Princess_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/antonio-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 24 February 2022].
• Sv.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise-Hippolyte av Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise-Hippolyte_av_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].