Her Serene Highness Princess Ghislaine, Princess Dowager of Monaco, widow of Prince Louis II and step-grandmother of the reigning Prince Rainier III, has died at the age of 90. Born at Rheims on 13 October 1900, she died in Paris and by her own wish, was buried at Passy.
The Princess Dowager's husband, Prince Louis, was the only child of Albert I, Prince of Monaco, and his first wife, Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton, only daughter of the eleventh Duke of Hamilton.
Through his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis was related to the British aristocracy and through his maternal grandmother to the Royal Families of Belgium and Romania. He was born on 12 July 1870; his parents the victims of an arranged marriage, separated four months before his birth! Their marriage was both annulled and dissolved in 1880, when Louis was ten. Lady Mary married a Hungarian Prince the same year, lived happily with him and bore him more children.
Prince Louis's father, Prince Albert, married secondly, Alice, widow of the Duc de Richelieu, and an American by birth, in October 1889, seven weeks after his succession to the Principality. Unlike the second marriage of Lady Mary, this union was not a success and the couple were judicially separated in 1902 after less than 13 years of marriage.
Doubtless because of the irresponsible behaviour of his parents, Prince Louis, who served with distinction in the French Army showed no wish to marry--until the end of his life! On 30 September 1898, his mistress, Marie Juliette Louvet, a single woman who was nine years his senior, bore him an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, in Algeria.
On 16 May 1919, Prince Albert legitimized his granddaughter and created her Duchess de Valintinois. On 19 March 1920, the Duchess was married to Count Pierre de Polignac, who had been allowed to assume the name of Grimaldi and was created a Prince of Monaco on his marriage. On 28 December 1920, Princess Charlotte gabe birth to a daughter, Princess Antoinette.
Prince Albert died in June 1922, just seven weeks after the death of his divorced first wife, Princess Mary, and their only child, now nearly 52, succeeded to the Principality as Prince Louis II. On 31 May 1923, his daughter, Princess Charlotte, now heiress presumptive to the Monegasque throne, gave birth to a son, Prince Rainier.
As far as Prince Louis II was concerned, the succession was satisfactorily settled. Unfortunately the marriage of Princess Charlotte and Prince Pierre was breaking down and on 20 March 1930, the day after their tenth wedding anniversary, they were judicially separated in Paris. Six months later, Charlotte's mother, Marie Louise Louvet, died in Paris on 24 September 1930. Her daughter divorced Prince Pierre on 18 February 1933.
However, a divorced woman born out of wedlock was hardly a suitable heiress to a Roman Catholic Principality. Princess Charlotte recognised as much and on 30 May 1944 she resigned her succession rights to her son, whose 21st birthday and majority fell on the following day.
It was at this point that Prince Louis II married Ghislaine Marie Francoise Dommanget, the daughter of a French Colonel of Cavalry, Robert Joseph Dommanget, and his wife, Marie Louise Meunier.
The marriage took place at Monaco on 24 July 1946, twelve days after the bridegroom's 76th birthday, while the bride was within three months of her 46th.
After a conventional education, the new Princess had been a moderately successful actress. By a former lover, Andrew Brule, she had an illegitimate son and she had also been briefly to Paul Diey. It was declared that any children born to the Princely couple, including sons, would succeed after Prince Rainier. Predictably, there were no children. The marriage lasted less than three years, for Prince Louis II died on 9 May 1949.
After her husband's death, Princess Ghislaine, now 48, lived mostly in Paris. In accordance with the settlement of 1944, Prince Rainier succeeded to the Principality, assuming the title of Rainier III. On 31 May, he celebrated his 26th birthday.
Seven years later, on 19 April 1956, Prince Rainier III married Grace Kelly. A close friendship grew between the new Princess Grace and the Princess Dowager, as it was now proper to style Princess Ghislaine, which was probably based on their shared theatrical backgrounds.
The tragic death of Princess Grace on 14 September 1982, meant that Princess Ghislaine, no longer Princess Dowager, was once more officially the First Lady of Monaco, although in practice Princess Caroline took on many of her late mother's duties. Princess Ghislaine, now nearly 82, attended the Requiem mass for her step-granddaughter-in-law, where her elegance, grace and stately bearing, created a most favourable impression.
Princess Ghislaine was the last surviving Princess Consort of Monaco. With her death, Princess Caroline becomes unquestionably the First Lady of the Principality and will remain so unless or until her brother Prince Albert marries.
This article was taken from Royalty Magazine (July 1991). It was written by Bill Samuels.
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