Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy

Infobox Monegasque Royalty
name = Princess Antoinette
title = Baroness de Massy
full name = Antoinette Louise Alberte Suzanne


caption =
date of birth = birth date and age|1920|12|28
place of birth =
spouse = Alexandre-Athenase Noghès
Jean-Charles Rey
John Gilpin
issue = Elisabeth-Anne de Massy
Christian Louis de Massy
Christine Alix de Massy
princely house =House of Grimaldi
father = Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois
mother = Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois

Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy (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 Albert II, Prince of Monaco. Her parents were Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois and Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois.

Marriages

Princess Antoinette had a long-term liaison with Alexandre-Athenase Noghès, a Monegasque-born attorney and international tennis champion, in the mid 1940s. Three children were born from this union:
* Elisabeth-Anne (born 1947). Married twice with two children:
** Baron Jean-Léonard Taubert-Natta de Massy (b. 1974)
** Mélanie de Lusignan (b. 1985)
* Christian Louis (born 1949). Married three (possibly four) times with three children:
** Laetizia de Massy (b. 1971)
** Brice de Massy (b. 1988)
** Antoine de Massy (b. 1996)
* Christine Alix (1951 - 1989). Married twice with one child:
** Keith Sebastian Knecht (b. 1972)
#Princess Antoinette and Alexandre Noghès subsequently married in Genoa on 4 December 1951 (her first, his second) and divorced in 1954.
On 15 November 1951, Antoinette was created Baroness of Massy ("Baronne de Massy"). Her children (Elisabeth-Anne, Christian and Christine) were named Grimaldi at birth. They subsequently had their names changed to "de Massy." They [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/monaco.htm claim the title] of Baron/Baroness through their mother, but they are not entitled to it. [Christian de Massy, "Palace: My Life in the Royal Family of Monaco". London: Bodley Head, 1986]
#She married her second husband, Jean-Charles Rey (1914-1994), a writer, in 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.

Life account

Having divorced Noghès, she and her lover Jean-Charles Rey hatched a plan to 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. This 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 scuttled Antoinette's plans.

She was removed from the Palace by Grace. She maintained a somewhat distant relationship with the Princely Family for many years. The relationship improved with time.

Princess Antoinette is known to be somewhat eccentric, even having been described as "completely mad" by her servants. Having been banished from Monaco in the late 1950s, 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.

Ancestry

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1= 1.Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy
2= 2. Prince Pierre of Monaco, Count of Polignac
3= 3. Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois
4= 4. Count Maxence of Polignac
5= 5. Suzanne de la Torre y Mier
6= 6. Louis II, Prince of Monaco
7= 7. Marie Juliette Louvet
8= 8. Count Charles of Polignac
9= 9. Caroline Joséphine Le Normand de Morando
10= 10. Isidoro Fernando de la Torre y Gil
11= 11. Luisa de Mier y Celis
12= 12. Albert I, Prince of Monaco
13= 13. Mary Victoria Hamilton
14= 14. Jacques Henri Louvet
15= 15. Josephine Elmire Piedefer
16= 16. Camile Henri Melchior, Count of Polignac
17= 17. Marie Charlotte Le Vassor de la Touche
18= 18. Joseph Le Normand de Morando
19= 19. Anne Papin de Thevigné
20= 20. Francisco de la Torre
21= 21. Josefa Gil
22= 22. Gregorio de Mier
23= 23. Mariana de Celis
24= 24. Charles III, Prince of Monaco
25= 25. Antoinette de Mérode-Westerloo
26= 26. William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton
27= 27. Princess Marie Amélie of Baden
28= 28. Jacques Antoine Louvet
29= 29. Marie Catherine Jouanne
30= 30. Pierre Piedefer
31= 31. Marie Anne Brunel

References

* "Palace - My Life in the Royal Family of Monaco" by Baron Christian de Massy & Charles Higham (1986, Atheneum, ISBN 0-689-11636-5)