Honoré III (Honoré Camille Léonor Grimaldi; 10 November 1720 – 21 March 1795) ruled as

Prince of Monaco The sovereign prince () is the monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All reigning princes and princesses have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi. When Prince Rainier III died in 2005, he was Europe's longest reigning mo ...

and was

Duke of Valentinois Duke of Valentinois (; ) is a title of nobility, originally in the French peerage. It is currently one of the many hereditary titles claimed by the Prince of Monaco despite its extinction in French law in 1949. Though it originally indicated admin ...

from 1733 to 1793. Honoré was the son of

Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco Louise Hippolyte (10 November 1697 – 29 December 1731) was List of rulers of Monaco, Princess of Monaco from 20 February 1731 until her death in December that same year. She was one of only two women to rule Monaco (along with Claudine, Lady o ...

, and her husband, Prince Jacques I.

Life

Honoré was born on 10 November 1720. On 20 May 1732, he moved to

Hôtel Matignon The Hôtel Matignon (, ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. The name Matignon is often used as a metonym for the governmental action of the French p ...

in Paris with his father and remained there, even after the proclamation in 1733 of him as Prince of Monaco after his father's abdication. Antoine Grimaldi, le Chevalier de Grimaldi, acted as regent for the prince between 1732 and 1784, when Honoré chose to reside in Paris or the Château des Matignon in Normandy. This situation remained the same for half a century until Antoine's death in 1784, when Honoré III was already 64 years old. Although he was open to the revolutionary ideas of the time, he was imprisoned on 20 September 1793. At his liberation a year later, he was ruined, and his property under seal.

Family

While in Paris, it was suggested that he marry

Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne (Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne; 15 August 1725 – 1793) was a French noblewoman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. She was the Princess of Guéméné by marriage. Biography Early life and fami ...

, but the marriage never materialised. In 1751, he married

Maria Caterina Brignole Maria Caterina Brignole (or Marie-Christine de Brignole; 7 October 1737 – 18 March 1813) was Princess of Monaco by marriage to Prince Honoré III. Maria Caterina separated from her husband in 1770. Honoré died in 1795, and in 1798, she ...

(d. 1813). The couple had two children; Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco and

Joseph Grimaldi Joseph Grimaldi (18 December 1778 – 31 May 1837)Moody, Jane"Grimaldi, Joseph" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 13 February 2012 was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most ...

(10 September 1763 – 28 June 1816) before legally separating in 1770, and Marie-Catherine married her long-time companion

Prince de Condé A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...

in 1798, after her husband's death.

Ancestry

References

External links

Official Website of the Princely Family of Monaco
, - 1720 births 1795 deaths 18th-century princes of Monaco 18th-century peers of France Honore Honore Dukes of Valentinois Honore Child monarchs from Europe Prisoners and detainees of France Sons of princes regnant {{Europe-royal-stub