Princess
Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy (Antoinette Louise Alberte Suzanne Grimaldi; 28
December 1920 – 18 March 2011), was a member of the princely family of Monaco
and the elder sister of Prince Rainier III and
aunt of Albert II, Prince of
Monaco. Her parents were Count Pierre de Polignac and Princess
Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois. She was born in Paris of French and Monegasque ancestry. Princess Antoinette had a long-term
liaison with Alexandre-Athenase Noghès,
a Monegasque-born attorney and international tennis champion, in the mid-1940s. The couple had three
children born out-of-wedlock who
were legitimated by their
parents' eventual marriage and, henceforth, included in the line of
succession to the Monegasque Throne until the death of
Antoinette's brother, Prince Rainier III,
in 2005; Elizabeth Ann de Massy (1947-2020), Christian Louis de Massy (born
1949), and Christine Alix de Massy (1951-1989).[ Having divorced
Noghès, she and her lover Jean-Charles Rey hatched a plan to depose her
brother Rainier III, Prince of
Monaco, and declare herself regent on the basis of having a son who
would one day inherit the throne. This led to the breakup of the relationship.
Rainier's marriage to Grace Kelly in
1956 and the arrival of his heirs, Princess Caroline in
1957 and Prince Albert in
1958, effectively scuttled Antoinette's plans. She was removed from the Palace
by her sister-in-law, Princess Grace, and thereafter was estranged from the
princely family for many years.
She was known to be somewhat eccentric and was described as
"completely mad" by her servants. Having been banished from
Monaco in the late 1950s, she lived down the coast from Monaco at Èze,
with a large collection of dogs and cats. She was the president of Monaco's
Society for the Protection of Animals and Refuge and a patron of the UK-based Battersea Dogs and
Cats Home.
Upon the accession of Albert II in 2005, Antoinette and her descendants
lost their place in the line of
succession to the Monegasque throne, which is limited to the current
sovereign's descendants, siblings, and siblings' descendants.
The Princess Antoinette Park in
Monaco's La Condamine district
was named in her honour. On 18 March 2011 Princess Antoinette died at The Princess Grace
Hospital Centre, aged 90.[2] Her funeral took place on 24 March 2011. She is
buried in the Chapel of Peace in Monaco beside her parents, her daughters
Elizabeth-Ann and Christine-Alix, her last husband John Brian Gilpin and
her nephew, Stefano Casiraghi.