Charles III (Charles Honoré Grimaldi; 8 December 1818 – 10 September 1889) was Prince of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and Duke of Valentinois from 20 June 1856 to his death. He was the founder of the famous

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

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 ...

, as his name in Monegasque and Italian was Carlo III. He was born in Paris, the only son of Florestan, Prince of Monaco, and Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz.

Marriage and reign

While he was Hereditary Prince, Charles was married on 28 September 1846 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 ...

to Countess Antoinette de Mérode-Westerloo. He succeeded his father Prince Florestan in 1856. During his reign, the towns of

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

and Roquebrune, constituting some 80 percent of Monegasque territory, were formally ceded to France, paving the way for formal French recognition of Monaco's independence. Rebellions in these towns, aided by the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, had exhausted Monaco's military resources for decades. The Principality was in dire need of cash flow, so Prince Charles and his mother, Princess Caroline, had the idea of erecting a casino. The Monte Carlo Casino was designed, according to the Prince's liking, in the German style and placed at the site of ''Les Spélugues''. Monte Carlo (in English, Mount Charles) itself takes its name from Charles, after all its founder. Charles established a society (business) to run the Casino; this society is today the Société des bains de mer de Monaco. Under Charles III, the Principality of Monaco increased its diplomatic activities; for example, in 1864, Charles III concluded a Treaty of Friendship with the Bey of Tunis, Muhammad III as-Sadiq, which also regulated trade and maritime issues.

Honours

is named after Charles III. It stands for the "Mount Charles" in Italian. The Order of Saint-Charles was instituted on 15 March 1858, during the reign of Prince Charles III. He received the following decorations and awards: * St Olavs Orden storkors stripe

Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, with Collar, ''27 March 1863'' ( Sweden-Norway) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, in Brilliants, ''16 February 1865'' (

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

)
Kongelig Dansk Hof-og Statskalendar (1880)
' (in Danish), "De Kongelig Danske Ridderordener", p. 8 * Grand Cross of the Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Ludwig, ''17 April 1865'' (

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

) * Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles III, ''17 February 1867'' (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle, ''7 July 1869'' (

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, ''1869'' (

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

) * Officer of the Legion d'Honneur, for his service in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

( French Empire) * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil division), ''30 August 1874'' (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) * Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, ''1882'' (

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) * Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the White Eagle (civil division), ''29 May 1883'' (

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

)Journal de Monaco
/ref> * Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ (

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

) * Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of the Tower and Sword (

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

)

Death

In his middle years his sight greatly weakened, and by the last decade of his life he had become almost totally blind. In fact, Dr. Thomas Henry Pickering wrote in 1882: "So far back as 1860, Prince Charles lost his eyesight...." He died at Château de Marchais on 10 September 1889. He was succeeded by his son Albert I of Monaco.

Coin

In 1966 Monaco released a 10 Francs silver coin in the memory of the 100th anniversary of Monte Carlo, portraying Prince Charles’ III on its obverse. On 1 June 2016, fifteen thousand 2 euro coins were issued by Monaco; commemorating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Monte Carlo by Charles III

In literature

Charles III is referenced, as Prince Charles Honoré, in a fictional entitled, ''The Fall of Prince Florestan of Monaco'', by the British politician Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke. This work was one of satire and parody on a number of political characters of the day. It centered around a Cambridge-educated, half-Württemberg nephew of Charles III who comes to the throne by way of Charles III and the next two heirs being wiped out of existence. The upstart "Florestan II", a radical republican, boldly attempts to democratize Monaco. He fails and then is forced to leave the country.

Ancestry

External links

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 03 Of Monaco, Prince 1818 births 1889 deaths 19th-century princes of Monaco House of Grimaldi Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate Monegasque princes Marquesses of Baux Grand Masters of the Order of Saint-Charles Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Officers of the Legion of Honour Monegasque people of Italian descent People of Ligurian descent Dukes of Valentinois Dukes of Mayenne