Prince Albert II reconnects with Grimaldi history in the Ardennes

Prince Albert II will be making an official visit to the Ardennes on 24 and 25 April to coincide with an exceptional exhibition, strengthening the centuries-old ties between the Principality and the French region.

Prince Albert II of Monaco is continuing on his “Tour de France” of places with historical links to the Grimaldi family. After visiting Chaumont-Porcien in 2018, he will be returning to the Ardennes for a two-day official visit, accompanied by the Princess of Hanover. The visit will take in the exhibition entitled “Comtes de Rethel, Ducs de Mazarin, Princes de Monaco. Une histoire ardennaise (Xe-XIXe siècles) ” at the Musée de l’Ardenne until 8 June.

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“I began my ‘tour de France’ of places with historical links to my Family and the Principality nearly fifteen years ago, in 2011 in Saint-Lô, Normandy,” Prince Albert II recalls in an interview with the Ardennes Département. “Since then, the paths of memory and the ‘community of destiny’ that links France and Monaco have taken me from Brittany to Alsace, Auvergne by way of Poitou and Catalonia.”

Marriage and heritage

The ties between Monaco and the Ardennes date back to the end of the 18th century. “It’s all about a marriage,” explains Prince Albert II. “In 1777, my ancestor, the future Prince Honoré IV, married Louise d’Aumont, heiress to the titles and lands of Cardinal Mazarin, the King’s chief minister from 1643 to 1661. In 1663, the Duchy of Rethel, which he had acquired from the Duke of Mantua in 1659, became the Duchy of Mazarin for the cardinal’s niece and nephew, Duc de La Meilleraye. By inheritance, this piece of Ardenne came to the Grimaldis at the end of the 18th century.”

The historical connection explains why the charter of the Counts of Rethel has been kept in Monaco’s Palace Archives since 1880, a fact that the people of the Ardennes are unaware of for the most part.

A multi-faceted visit

The official visit will include the exhibition at the Musée de l’Ardenne, a reception at the Hôtel du Département, and visits to historic sites with links to the Grimaldi family, such as La Cassine in Vendresse, Lametz and Rethel.

Prince Albert II explains his approach: “My intention is obviously not to bring back, out of nostalgia, an old political regime that is totally outdated for France, but to use history as ‘fertile soil’ to enable my country and myself to ‘grow’ special relations with a number of French communities.”

New cultural cooperation projects on the horizon

This visit could pave the way for further cultural cooperation. “I always take a sympathetic view of the projects I receive from these territories,” says the Sovereign Prince. “Of course, resources, like everywhere else, are not infinite, and we need to ensure our involvement is justified, but it’s always a pleasure to give a helping hand so that heritage improvement projects can come to fruition.”

Prince Albert II is no stranger to the French region: “The Ardennes are close to the Aisne, and therefore to Marchais. My ancestor Prince Charles III and his wife Antoinette de Mérode, who was Belgian by birth, acquired the estate in 1854. So I’m no stranger to northern and eastern France, and I like to recharge my batteries there.”

The exhibition, the fruit of three years of research, presents unique documents and works of art, most of which have never been shown to the public, in particular from Monaco’s Palace Archives and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.