Princess Antoinette of Monaco, who died in Monte Carlo on March 18 aged 90, was the eccentric older sister of Prince Rainier, and aunt to Prince Albert and the Princesses Caroline and Stephanie.
Princess Antoinette with Prince Rainier and Princess Grace in 1956 Photo: GETTY
At one stage Princess Antoinette had her eye set on the throne of Monaco for her son. When this idea came to nothing, she retreated from Monte Carlo to Eze — a village in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean — where she occupied herself with an animal sanctuary, consisting principally of dogs and cats.
The Princess was born in Paris on December 28 1920, the daughter of Prince Pierre of Monaco (formerly Comte Pierre de Polignac) and Princess Charlotte, and was baptised Antoinette Louise Alberte Suzanne. When Monaco had required an heir to prevent the principality being swallowed up by Italy, Prince Louis II, Antoinette’s grandfather, recalled that he had an illegitimate daughter — Charlotte — by Juliette Louvet, a washerwoman with whom he had had an affair while serving with a French regiment in Algiers.
In 1919 Charlotte was legitimised, becoming Hereditary Princess of Monaco. The following year she married Comte Pierre de Polignac, a problematic union that was not helped by his being homosexual.
Their unhappy marriage blighted the early lives of their children, Antoinette and Rainier, who became pawns in the bitter struggles between their parents. Pierre and Charlotte finally separated in 1930 and were divorced in 1933. Antoinette and Rainier, meanwhile, spent much of their childhood staying with their grandfather, who was never in Monaco for more than three months a year, preferring Paris, his shooting lodge in the Ardennes, or grouse shooting with his Hamilton cousins in Scotland.
Antoinette grew up as the unconventional member of the family. She was so petite that, as a child, she was known as “Tiny”. The tabloid press nicknamed her “Princess Tiny-pants”.
In the mid-1940s she embarked on a relationship with Alexandre-Athenase (Aleco) Noghès, a Monégasque-born lawyer and international tennis champion of Spanish descent. Three children were born out of wedlock: Elizabeth-Ann in 1947, Christian in 1949 and Christine in 1951 . Antoinette married Noghès in December 1951, but they divorced three years later .
Rainier had succeeded his grandfather in 1949, and in November 1951 he bestowed on his sister the title of Baroness de Massy; her son Christian, styling himself Baron de Massy, would go on to marry four times and to write a book about the House of Grimaldi.
In about 1950 Antoinette, as the elder child, began to investigate the possibility of her replacing Prince Rainier on the throne of Monaco, with a view to her son eventually succeeding. She was supported in this endeavour by Jean-Charles Rey, president of the Conseil Nationale of Monaco, whom she had taken as a lover.
At this time Rainier was enjoying a 10-year affair with the beautiful French actress Gisèle Pascal, whom he had met when studying at Montpelier University. They were living together in a villa at St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Antoinette, who was of a meddlesome disposition, circulated the rumour that Gisèle was infertile, hoping to secure the succession for her own son.
It began to be said that a doctor had examined the actress and confirmed the rumour — which was later dispelled when she had a child in her marriage to the actor Raymond Pellegrin. At any event, Gisèle and Rainier split up in 1953, and the succession was finally assured in 1956 when he married Grace Kelly and went on to have three children of his own.
It was often suggested in the media that the sisters-in-law Grace and Antoinette were not on good terms. This was not the case. Certainly Antoinette could be a fiery, difficult character who would row fiercely with her brother. But despite her earlier attempts to influence the princely succession, she was extremely fond of him. Grace, meanwhile, was determined to maintain family harmony, and made it her business to act as a calming influence.
In December 1961, in The Hague, Antoinette married her lover Jean-Charles Rey, but the marriage ended in divorce. She later married the well-known ballet dancer John Gilpin, whom she had first befriended when he was with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas in Monte Carlo in the late 1940s. In the meantime, Gilpin had been the long-time “beloved friend” of Anton Dolin, with whom he had worked at the Festival Ballet in London. Dolin had brought Antoinette to Gilpin’s first wedding, in August 1960, to the ballerina Sally Judd, a union which produced one child before ending in divorce in 1970.
Antoinette’s marriage to Gilpin took place in Monaco on July 28 1983. Only six weeks later, however, on September 5, he died of a heart attack, aged 53, while visiting his flat at Orme Court in London .
Like her brother, Princess Antoinette loved animals; and when she settled at the romantically named villa Le Bout de Monde at Eze in the early 1950s, she established an animal sanctuary there. Most of the inhabitants were dogs (boxers, collies, basset hounds, German shepherds) and cats, some of which were sent to her by Monaco’s Society for the Protection of Animals, of which she was president.
The Princess also maintained four large bird tables which attracted ring doves, starlings, blackbirds and robins, which would wait in the trees for feeding time. Staff were employed to care for the animals .
As the years went by, so the number of animals multiplied, and in recent years visitors sometimes found it hard to get near the Princess. Some of her servants declared her to be “completely mad”, but the Princess merely said: “Every day spent with [my animals] gives me great happiness. They all give me unbelievable joy.”
Prince Rainier died in 2005, to be succeeded by his son Prince Albert. Under the rules of the Monégasque succession, amended in 2002, Antoinette and her family lost their positions in line to the throne.
Until 2007 — after which she suffered from declining health — she continued to attend the annual Red Cross Gala in Monte Carlo, taking a more prominent role after the death of Princess Grace, and often entering on the arm of Prince Albert.
She was able to celebrate her 90th birthday on the Feast of the Epiphany in January this year at a lunch given at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo by the Union des Femmes Monégasques.
On her death, Prince Albert declared two weeks of mourning in Monaco. The funeral, held on March 24, was attended by Prince Albert; his fiancée, Charlene Wittstock; Princesses Caroline and Stephanie; and by many other members of the Monégasque Royal Family.
She is survived by her son and elder daughter; her younger daughter died in 1989.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/8409783/Princess-Antoinette-of-Monaco.html
Rainier had succeeded his grandfather in 1949, and in November 1951 he bestowed on his sister the title of Baroness de Massy; her son Christian, styling himself Baron de Massy, would go on to marry four times and to write a book about the House of Grimaldi.
In about 1950 Antoinette, as the elder child, began to investigate the possibility of her replacing Prince Rainier on the throne of Monaco, with a view to her son eventually succeeding. She was supported in this endeavour by Jean-Charles Rey, president of the Conseil Nationale of Monaco, whom she had taken as a lover.
At this time Rainier was enjoying a 10-year affair with the beautiful French actress Gisèle Pascal, whom he had met when studying at Montpelier University. They were living together in a villa at St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Antoinette, who was of a meddlesome disposition, circulated the rumour that Gisèle was infertile, hoping to secure the succession for her own son.
It began to be said that a doctor had examined the actress and confirmed the rumour — which was later dispelled when she had a child in her marriage to the actor Raymond Pellegrin. At any event, Gisèle and Rainier split up in 1953, and the succession was finally assured in 1956 when he married Grace Kelly and went on to have three children of his own.
It was often suggested in the media that the sisters-in-law Grace and Antoinette were not on good terms. This was not the case. Certainly Antoinette could be a fiery, difficult character who would row fiercely with her brother. But despite her earlier attempts to influence the princely succession, she was extremely fond of him. Grace, meanwhile, was determined to maintain family harmony, and made it her business to act as a calming influence.
In December 1961, in The Hague, Antoinette married her lover Jean-Charles Rey, but the marriage ended in divorce. She later married the well-known ballet dancer John Gilpin, whom she had first befriended when he was with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas in Monte Carlo in the late 1940s. In the meantime, Gilpin had been the long-time “beloved friend” of Anton Dolin, with whom he had worked at the Festival Ballet in London. Dolin had brought Antoinette to Gilpin’s first wedding, in August 1960, to the ballerina Sally Judd, a union which produced one child before ending in divorce in 1970.
Antoinette’s marriage to Gilpin took place in Monaco on July 28 1983. Only six weeks later, however, on September 5, he died of a heart attack, aged 53, while visiting his flat at Orme Court in London .
Like her brother, Princess Antoinette loved animals; and when she settled at the romantically named villa Le Bout de Monde at Eze in the early 1950s, she established an animal sanctuary there. Most of the inhabitants were dogs (boxers, collies, basset hounds, German shepherds) and cats, some of which were sent to her by Monaco’s Society for the Protection of Animals, of which she was president.
The Princess also maintained four large bird tables which attracted ring doves, starlings, blackbirds and robins, which would wait in the trees for feeding time. Staff were employed to care for the animals .
As the years went by, so the number of animals multiplied, and in recent years visitors sometimes found it hard to get near the Princess. Some of her servants declared her to be “completely mad”, but the Princess merely said: “Every day spent with [my animals] gives me great happiness. They all give me unbelievable joy.”
Prince Rainier died in 2005, to be succeeded by his son Prince Albert. Under the rules of the Monégasque succession, amended in 2002, Antoinette and her family lost their positions in line to the throne.
Until 2007 — after which she suffered from declining health — she continued to attend the annual Red Cross Gala in Monte Carlo, taking a more prominent role after the death of Princess Grace, and often entering on the arm of Prince Albert.
She was able to celebrate her 90th birthday on the Feast of the Epiphany in January this year at a lunch given at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo by the Union des Femmes Monégasques.
On her death, Prince Albert declared two weeks of mourning in Monaco. The funeral, held on March 24, was attended by Prince Albert; his fiancée, Charlene Wittstock; Princesses Caroline and Stephanie; and by many other members of the Monégasque Royal Family.
She is survived by her son and elder daughter; her younger daughter died in 1989.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/8409783/Princess-Antoinette-of-Monaco.html
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