Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy
Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy (Antoinette Louise Alberte Suzanne de
Grimaldi), born
28 December 1920, is a member of the princely family of
Monaco and the elder sister of the late Prince
Rainier III and aunt of current Prince
Albert II of Monaco. Her parents were
Count Pierre de Polignac and
Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois.
Princess Antoinette entered a liasion with
Alexandre-Athenase Noghès, a Monegasque-born international
tennis champion, in the mid 1940's. Three children were born from this union:
#
Elisabeth-Anne (born
1947). She has married twice and has two children.#
Christian Louis, (born
1949). He has married thrice and has three children.#
Christine Alix (
1951–
1989). Married twice, she had only one son.
Princess Antoinette and Alexandre Noghès subsequently married in
Genoa on
4 December 1951 and divorced in
1954.
On
15 November 1951, Antoinette was created Baroness of Massy (
Baronne de Massy) and her children, who had been named Grimaldi at birth, had their names changed to
de Massy.
She married her second husband,
Jean-Charles Rey (1914-1994), a writer, on
1961 and they divorced in
1973.
Her third and last husband was
John Gilpin (1930-1983), a renowned
British ballet dancer, whom she married on
28 July 1983. He died suddenly six weeks later.
Having divorced
Noghès, she and her lover
Jean-Charles Rey hatched a plan that would ultimately 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. She circulated rumours that Rainier's fiancee, actress
Gisèle Pascal, was infertile which 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 scuppered Antoinette's plans.
She was removed from the palace by Grace and maintained a somewhat distant relationship with the Princely Family for many years. The relations improved with time.
Princess Antoinette is known to be somewhat eccentric, even having been described as "completely mad" by her servants and, having been banished from Monaco in the late fifties, she lives down the coast from Monaco at
Èze, with a large collection of dogs and cats.-Princess Antoinette and her descendants lost their place in the
line of succession to the Monegasque Throne, which they acquired in
2002 with the reform of the succession rules, with the death of Rainier III.
