[Julia]

Hi sandee,

Sorry I am so long in replying.

Princesse Marie-Victoire (Lady Mary Victoria Douglas Hamilton), the daughter of the late 11th Duke of Hamilton and Princess Marie of Baden, was very wealthy. The Hamilton family had homes in Scotland, Paris and Baden. Princess Caroline, Prince Albert's grandmother, was anxious for her grandson to make such an illustrious alliance. By Albert marrying Mary Victoria he would become, by marriage, a cousin to Emperor Louis Napoleon. Despite the fact that Lady Mary Victoria was considered to be a very lovely young woman Albert found her to be rather "empty headed". Mary Victoria, while finding Albert to be handsome, did not particularily like him. However, they were forced into marriage. They were married September 21, 1869.

In January of 1870 Mary Victoria, no longer able to cope with morning sickness and the gloominess of the palace, decided to leave Monaco with her mother, the Dowager Duchess, for
Baden-Baden. It was there that Mary gave birth to her son Prince Louis-Honore-Charles-Antoine on July 12, 1870. She and Prince Albert were never reconciled.

Biographical information on Mary Victoria's father:

William Alexander Anthony Archibald, 11th Duke of Hamilton
British, 18 Feb 1811 - 15 July 1863

William Alexander Anthony Archibald Hamilton was the son of Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton and 7th Duke of Brandon, by his wife, Susan Euphemia Beckford. His succeeded his father as 11th Duke in 1852. William served as Lord Lieutenant for county Lanark. On 23 February 1843, he married Princess Mary of Baden [d. 1888], youngest daughter of Charles Louis Frederick, reigning Grand Duke of Baden, and the cousin (3rd) of the Emperor Napoleon III. They had two sons and a daughter; son William Alexander Louis Stephen succeeded his father as 12th Duke of Hamilton and 9th Duke of Brandon, upon the elder William's death in Paris in 1863.