Antoinette Ghislaine de Merode (28 September 1828 – 10 February 1864) was the Princess of
Monaco by marriage to
Charles III, Prince of Monaco.
Life
She was born in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
as the daughter of Count Werner de
Merode (1797-1840) and his spouse, Countess Victoire de
Spangen d'Uyternesse (1797–1845). She was the sister of
Louise de Mérode and maternal aunt of
Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, for three years Queen of Spain.
On her eighteenth birthday on 28 September 1846 in Brussels, she married
Charles III, Prince of Monaco. It was a double wedding with her older sister,
Louise.
Thanks to her generous dowry, Prince Charles III was able to finance the embellishment of
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
in order to attract wealthy tourists to the principality.
The couple was given an official welcome in Monaco after the wedding, but preferred to live in France, where Antoinette acquired for herself the
Château de Marchais, where the couple preferred to live rather than in Monaco. On 13 November 1848, she gave birth in Paris to
Albert I, Prince of Monaco. The marriage was described as a happy one, and Charles referred to her as an angel. Known by the title Duchess de Valentinois in Paris, she became a popular member of the high society life of
Second French Empire.
She often attended the French Imperial court, where she was introduced to the
Empress Eugenie by Princess
Maria Caroline, her mother-in-law. She was present at French court during the state visit of
Queen Victoria of Great Britain in 1855, during which she and her mother-in-law reportedly decided to arrange a marriage between her son Albert and a member of the British royal house, plans which eventually lead to the marriage between Albert and
Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton.
From 1856 until her death in 1864, she was the Princess
consort of Monaco. During the reign of her spouse, she reportedly worked hard to support her husband, who progressed further in to blindness, and her aging mother-in-law, who also supported her son as his political adviser. In 1862, she was diagnosed with cancer, and was advised by the doctors not to leave her home in Marchais in France.
[Anne Edwards, ''The Grimaldis of Monaco'', 1992]
Antoinette de Merode died on 10 February 1864 in Paris (aged 35) and was interred in the
Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate, Monaco.
Ancestry
Arms and emblems
References
* Georges Martin, ''Histoire et généalogie de la maison de Mérode'', Lyon, 1999.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merode-Westerloo, Antoinette De
1828 births
1864 deaths
Nobility from Brussels
Ant
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
Hereditary princesses of Monaco
House of Grimaldi
Princesses of Monaco
Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate
Mothers of Monegasque monarchs
