FAMOUS MONEGASQUES
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE , Duchess Valentinois , an unexpected heiress and saviour of the Grimaldi family
By Julia Belyakova
It was one hundred years ago , on August 1 , 1922 , that Charlotte , Duchess of Valentinois , became the Hereditary Princess of Monaco by decree of Prince Louis II . The illegitimate daughter of Prince Louis , Charlotte was born in distant Algeria to a woman of far from noble origin . Her destiny was to help the ancient clan of her father retain the right to rule the country .
COMPLEXITIES OF LIFE OF CHARLOTTE ’ S PARENTS
Charlotte Louise Juliette of Monaco was born in 1898 in the city of Constantine , Algeria where her father , Louis Grimaldi , served in the French Army , and her mother , Marie Juliette Louvet , worked as a laundress and a seamstress . We don ’ t know exactly where Charlotte ' s parents met . Perhaps this happened in Paris , when Marie Juliette performed in a cabaret , and later they went to Constantine together .
© Archives du palais de Monaco – IAM
Once back from Algeria , Prince Louis moved his beloved Marie Juliette and their daughter to the beautiful Art Nouveau " Villa Charlotte ", in the French commune of Luzarches , north of Paris . At the age of 30 , he officially wanted to marry Marie Juliette . But his father , Prince Albert I , was completely opposed to it . Marie Juliette Louvet was three years older , already divorced from the photographer Achille Delmaet and a mother of two other children of her own . She was a former hostess and singer in a Montmartre cabaret . So , she did not look anything like a perfect wife for the future Prince …
Some archives and records of the Princely Palace suggest that Louis was furious and pledged never to marry at all . Others claim that he secretly married Marie in 1897 against his father ' s will , although no relevant documents support it .
A portrait of Princess Charlotte in a dress with a flower strap and a set of pearls .
On May 15 , 1911 , Prince Albert I signed a decree recognizing Charlotte as a member of the princely dynasty . Charlotte became Mademoiselle de Valentinois . Ma-
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