Pierre de Polignac
Encyclopedia
Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois (Duc de Valentinois in French
; 24 October 1895 – 10 November 1964) was the father of Rainier III of Monaco
, and thus the paternal grandfather of Albert II of Monaco
. He was a promoter of art, music, and literature in Monaco and served as the head of the country's delegation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and to the International Olympic Committee.
, Morbihan
, France, as Count
Pierre Marie Xavier Raphael Antoine Melchior de Polignac, he was the fourth son and youngest child of Count Maxence Melchior Edouard Marie Louis de Polignac (Château de Kerscamp 13 December 1857 - Château de Kerscamp 28 November 1936) and his Mexican
wife (m. Paris
, 10 October 1881), Susana Mariana Estefania Francisca de Paula del Corazon de la Torre y Mier (Mexico
, 2 September 1858 - Talence
, France 15 August 1913). His mother, known as Suzanne, was a member of the Mexican nobility
.
His seven siblings were:
, Princess Charlotte of Monaco
(née Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet), the illegitimate but adopted daughter of Louis II of Monaco
and Marie Juliette Louvet
. Pierre de Polignac, member of a cadet branch
of one of France's most renowned ducal families (noble at least since the 12th century, duke in 1780, peer
in 1817) and a descendant of Marie Antoinette
's favourite, Yolande de Polatron, duchesse de Polignace), he changed his name and coat of arms
to those borne by the House of Grimaldi
by Monegasque ordinance issued on 18 March 1920, the day before his wedding. He had become a subject of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, also by Monegasque ordinance, on 29 February 1920. From the date of the religious wedding the court of Monaco referred to him, jure uxoris
, as Duke of Valentinois
. That title had been conferred upon his wife as heiress presumptive
on 20 May 1919. His surname and arms were altered by Monegasque ordinance shortly after he became a Monegasque citizen (to ensure that his dynastic issue would bear the surname of Grimaldi in compliance with Article I of Monaco's house law
), Pierre remained in succession to the French title Duke of Polignac
, as do his legitimate male-line
descendants.
In the mid 1920s, the couple unofficially separated, with Prince Pierre preferring to live in his Paris apartment and on an estate near the city. Prince Pierre and Princess Charlotte were judicially separated on 20 March 1930 at Paris, and in a case titled "Princesse héréditaire Grimaldi de Monaco c. Prince Pierre Grimaldi de Polignac", were divorced by ordinance of Prince Louis II on 18 February 1933. The divorce was confirmed by a Paris tribunal in December of that year. "The union ended ... under circumstances which prompted the temperamental father-in-law to vow he would call out the Monégasque army if the prince ever set foot in the principality again." The couple's marriage, arranged and unhappy, was complicated by Prince Pierre's homosexuality, according to his friend, British writer James Lees-Milne
, as well as Princess Charlotte's own affairs. The banishment from Monaco was lifted in April 1933, and Prince Pierre would receive an annuity of 500,000 francs a year.
He and his wife had two children:
magazine in 1947 described Prince Pierre as "a slender and graceful gallant who wears his coat cape-fashion across his shoulders. His manners are exquisite; his voice so cultivated as to be practically inaudible".
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
; 24 October 1895 – 10 November 1964) was the father of Rainier III of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...
, and thus the paternal grandfather of Albert II of Monaco
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly...
. He was a promoter of art, music, and literature in Monaco and served as the head of the country's delegation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and to the International Olympic Committee.
Birth and family
Born at the Château de Kerscamp, HennebontHennebont
Hennebont is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France.-Geography:Hennebont is situated about ten miles from the mouth of the River Blavet, which divides it into two parts: the Ville Close, the medieval walled town, and the 17th century Ville Neuve on...
, Morbihan
Morbihan
Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...
, France, as Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Pierre Marie Xavier Raphael Antoine Melchior de Polignac, he was the fourth son and youngest child of Count Maxence Melchior Edouard Marie Louis de Polignac (Château de Kerscamp 13 December 1857 - Château de Kerscamp 28 November 1936) and his Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
wife (m. Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 10 October 1881), Susana Mariana Estefania Francisca de Paula del Corazon de la Torre y Mier (Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, 2 September 1858 - Talence
Talence
Talence is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side...
, France 15 August 1913). His mother, known as Suzanne, was a member of the Mexican nobility
Mexican nobility
Mexican nobility refers to the titled nobles and untitled gentry families of Mexico. Most of the descendants of these families still live in Mexico today, but some can be found in Europe and other countries....
.
His seven siblings were:
- Joséphine de Polignac (1882–1976, married Amaury de Jacquelot, Comte du Boisrouvray, and cavalry officer.
- Marie Louise de Polignac (1884–1944, married General Eon Le Gouvello du Timat)
- Raymonde de Polignac (born 1885)
- Count Xavier de Polignac (1886–1961, married 1, Maria de la Torre y Formento, his first cousin; and 2, May Goowen)
- Anne de Polignac (1889–1970, became Sister Marie de St. Louis Bertrand of the Convent of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in New York City)
- Count Maxence de Polignac (1892–1963, married Laura de la Torre y Formento, his first cousin) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723692,00.html
- Count Bertrand de Polignac (1893–1910)
Marriage
He married civilly on 19 March and religiously on 20 March 1920 in MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Princess Charlotte of Monaco
Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois
Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois , was the daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and the mother of Prince Rainier III...
(née Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet), the illegitimate but adopted daughter of Louis II of Monaco
Louis II, Prince of Monaco
Louis II was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 27 June 1922 until 9 May 1949.-Early years:Born Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi in Baden-Baden, Germany, he was the only child of Prince Albert I of Monaco , and Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton...
and Marie Juliette Louvet
Marie Juliette Louvet
Marie Juliette Louvet was the mistress of the then unmarried Prince Louis II of Monaco and was the mother of his only child, Princess Charlotte of Monaco....
. Pierre de Polignac, member of a cadet branch
Cadet branch
Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...
of one of France's most renowned ducal families (noble at least since the 12th century, duke in 1780, peer
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
in 1817) and a descendant of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
's favourite, Yolande de Polatron, duchesse de Polignace), he changed his name and coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
to those borne by the House of Grimaldi
House of Grimaldi
The House of Grimaldi is associated with the history of the Republic of Genoa and of the Principality of Monaco.-History:The Grimaldi family descends from Grimaldo, a Genoese statesman at the time of the early Crusades. He might have been a son of Otto Canella, a consul of the Republic of Genoa in...
by Monegasque ordinance issued on 18 March 1920, the day before his wedding. He had become a subject of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, also by Monegasque ordinance, on 29 February 1920. From the date of the religious wedding the court of Monaco referred to him, jure uxoris
Jure uxoris
Jure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband....
, as Duke of Valentinois
Duke of Valentinois
Duke 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...
. That title had been conferred upon his wife as heiress presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
on 20 May 1919. His surname and arms were altered by Monegasque ordinance shortly after he became a Monegasque citizen (to ensure that his dynastic issue would bear the surname of Grimaldi in compliance with Article I of Monaco's house law
House law
House law or House laws are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles...
), Pierre remained in succession to the French title Duke of Polignac
Polignac
Polignac is the name of several communes in France:* Polignac, Charente-Maritime* Polignac, Haute-Loire, in the Haute-Loire département, dominated by the fortress Château de Polignac with its square donjon tower, 32 m tall...
, as do his legitimate male-line
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
descendants.
In the mid 1920s, the couple unofficially separated, with Prince Pierre preferring to live in his Paris apartment and on an estate near the city. Prince Pierre and Princess Charlotte were judicially separated on 20 March 1930 at Paris, and in a case titled "Princesse héréditaire Grimaldi de Monaco c. Prince Pierre Grimaldi de Polignac", were divorced by ordinance of Prince Louis II on 18 February 1933. The divorce was confirmed by a Paris tribunal in December of that year. "The union ended ... under circumstances which prompted the temperamental father-in-law to vow he would call out the Monégasque army if the prince ever set foot in the principality again." The couple's marriage, arranged and unhappy, was complicated by Prince Pierre's homosexuality, according to his friend, British writer James Lees-Milne
James Lees-Milne
James Lees-Milne was an English writer and expert on country houses. He was an architectural historian, novelist, and a biographer. He is also remembered as a diarist.-Biography:...
, as well as Princess Charlotte's own affairs. The banishment from Monaco was lifted in April 1933, and Prince Pierre would receive an annuity of 500,000 francs a year.
He and his wife had two children:
- Princess Antoinette of MonacoPrincess Antoinette, Baroness of MassyPrincess Antoinette of Monaco, Countess of Polignac, Baroness of Massy was a non-dynastic member of the princely family of Monaco and the elder sister of Prince Rainier III and aunt of Albert II, Prince of Monaco...
(1920–2011) - Rainier III of MonacoRainier III, Prince of MonacoRainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...
(1923–2005)
Death
Prince Pierre of Monaco died on 10 November 1964, of cancer, at the American Hospital in Neuilly, Paris, France.Description
LifeLife (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine in 1947 described Prince Pierre as "a slender and graceful gallant who wears his coat cape-fashion across his shoulders. His manners are exquisite; his voice so cultivated as to be practically inaudible".