Honoré IV (Honoré Charles Anne Grimaldi; 17 May 1758 – 16 February 1819) was

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

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 1814 to 16 February 1819. Because of his illness, the state of affairs was managed by a regency of his brother

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 ...

and his son Prince Honoré V.

Life

Honoré IV was the son of

Prince Honoré III A prince is a 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, in some European states. The fe ...

and

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 ...

. During the French occupation of Monaco, Honoré IV was imprisoned for several years. After the fall of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1814, he regained control of the principalitythanks to a clause added by

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (; ; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838), 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French secularization, secularized clergyman, statesman, and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he b ...

at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

stating, "the Prince of Monaco should return to his estates"and passed on his titles to his eldest son, Prince Honoré V. Illnesses resulting from his imprisonment incapacitated Honoré IV in his later years, and following the re-establishment of the Principality in 1814, a

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

was established to rule in Honoré's name. This regency was directed, first, by his brother

, then from 1815 by his son, the Hereditary Prince Honoré, who succeeded him in 1819 as Sovereign Prince Honoré V.

Family

Honoré IV married Louise Félicité Victoire d'Aumont, Duchess of Aumont, Duchess Mazarin and of La Meilleraye on 15 July 1777 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. They divorced in 1798 and had two sons: # Honoré V, Prince of Monaco (1778–1841) # Florestan, Prince of Monaco (1785–1856)

Ancestry

References

External links

Official Website of the Princely Family of Monaco
, - , - , - 1758 births 1819 deaths 18th-century peers of France 19th-century princes of Monaco House of Grimaldi Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate Monegasque princes Monegasque people of Italian descent People of Ligurian descent Marquesses of Baux Dukes of Valentinois Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration {{Europe-royal-stub Dukes of Mayenne