Monaco

1940 · ref. 152528 — 1940. Rare photograph of Princess Antoinette of Monaco in court dress wearing a tiara and a sash with orders. Octavo black and white photograph dated the 14th of March 1940. Boldly inscribed in French by Princess Antoinette across the lower portion of the image presented to a countess with all her sympathy and signed “Antoinette de Monaco." With the photographer’s credit of Gilette Tournay of Monaco in pencil to the lower left. In near fine condition. The piece measures 7.75 inches by 10 inches. Princess Antoinette of Monaco Baroness of Massy was the elder sister of Prince Rainier III and a member of the princely family of Monaco for nine decades. Born in Paris in 1920 to Princess Charlotte Duchess of Valentinois and Count Pierre de Polignac and a granddaughter of the reigning Prince Louis II she grew up between Paris and the Monegasque court and was a familiar figure in the social life of the principality. The present portrait was inscribed in March of 1940 in the last months before the war reached the Riviera and Monaco found itself first under Italian and then under German occupation. In later life Princess Antoinette was known above all for her devotion to animals keeping a large household of dogs and cats at her home along the coast and lending her name to the cause of animal welfare in Monaco. She was the aunt of Prince Albert II Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie and died in 2011 at the age of ninety at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre. unknown