Honoré III ruled as
Prince of MonacoThe Reigning Prince or Princess of Monaco is the sovereign monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All Princes or Princesses thus far have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi, but have belonged to various other houses in male line...
and was
Duke of ValentinoisDuke of Valentinois , formerly Count of Valentinois, is a title of nobility, originally in the French peerage. It is currently one of the many hereditary titles claimed by the Prince of Monaco despite its extinction in French law in 1949...
for almost sixty years from 1733 to 1793. Honoré was the son of
Jacques I, Prince of MonacoJacques Goyon de Matignon was count of Thorigny, Prince of Monaco as Jacques I and the fourth Duke of Valentinois from 1731 until 1733.-Biography:...
and his wife, Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco.
Biography
20 May 1732, he moved to
Hôtel MatignonThe Hôtel Matignon is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the VIIe arrondissement of Paris, France.The address of Hotel Matignon is 57 rue de Varenne, Paris, France.-History:...
in Paris with his father and remained there, even after the proclamation in 1733 of him as Prince of Monaco. Antoine Grimaldi, le
Chevalier de GrimaldiAntoine Grimaldi, le Chevalier [de] Grimaldi, was the de facto ruler of Monaco between 1732 and 1784...
, acted as regent for the prince between 1732 and 1784, when Honoré chose to reside in Paris. This situation remained the same for half a century until Antoine's death in 1784, when Honoré III was already 64 years old. Although he was open to the revolutionary ideas of the time, he was imprisoned on 20 September 1793. At his liberation a year later, he was ruined, and his property under seal.
Family
While in Paris, it was suggested that he marry
Marie Louise de La Tour d'AuvergneMarie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French noblewoman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne...
, only daughter of
Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'AuvergneCharles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French nobleman and member of the powerful House of La Tour d'Auvergne.-Biography:...
and his wife
Maria Karolina SobieskaMaria Karolina Sobieska was a Polish noble lady, daughter of Jakub Ludwik Sobieski. Known as Marie Charlotte or just Charlotte, she was the Princess of Turenne and later Duchess of Bouillon by marriage...
, grand daughter of
John III SobieskiJohn III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
and an older sister of Maria Clementina Sobieski. The marriage never materialised and as such, in 1751, he married Maria Caterina Brignole (d. 1813).
The couple had two children;
Honoré IV, Prince of MonacoHonoré IV was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 12 March 1795 to 16 February 1819. He was the son of Prince Honoré III by his wife, Maria Caterina Brignole, a Genoese noblewoman...
and Joseph Grimaldi (10 September 1763 – 28 June 1816) before divorcing in 1770, and Marie-Catherine married the
Prince de CondéLouis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...
in 1798.
Ancestry