Albert + Nicole Coste. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rainier married Grace Patricia Kelly on 18 Apr 1956. Grace (daughter of John Brenden Kelly, Sr. and Margaret Majer) was born on 12 Nov 1928 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States; died on 14 Sep 1982 in Cap d'Ail, French Riviera, France; was buried on 18 Sep 1982 in Monaco. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Elegantly beautiful, Kelly won a best actress Oscar in 1954 for The Country Girl (a drama i n which she starred opposite Bing Crosby). She is still better known for playing the gorgeous , reserved blonde in three Alfred Hitchcock films: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (195 4, with Jimmy Stewart) and To Catch a Thief (1955, with Cary Grant). While attending the Cann es film festival she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco; the two were married on 18 April 195 6 and Kelly abandoned her acting career to become Princess Grace. She was killed in a 1982 au to accident in Monaco, in which she apparently suffered a stroke and then crashed while drivi ng with her daughter Stephanie.

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Prince Pierre-Marie-Xavier-Antoine-Melchoir, Count of Polignac, born October 24 1895 in the C hateau de Kerscamp (Morbihan), named Grimaldi by Order in Council on March 18, 1920, decease d November 10, 1964.

Pierre de Polignac
Count Pierre Marie Xavier Raphael Antoine Melchior de Polignac, duc de Valentinois (24 Octobe r 1895 - 10 November 1964), was son of Maxence de Polignac (1857-1936) and his wife Suzanne d e la Torre y Mier (1858-1913), and married the hereditary Princess of Monaco.

Because a female Grimaldi could inherit only if her husband was also a Grimaldi, Pierre de Po lignac became Prince Pierre Grimaldi, Comte de Polignac on 18 March, 1920, the day before hi s religious marriage.

He married civilly 18 March 1920 in Monaco Princess Charlotte of Monaco, n©be Charlotte Louis e Juilette Louvet, daughter of Louis II of Monaco and Marie Juliette Louvet. They were judici ally separated on 20 March, 1930 at Paris, and divorced by ordinance of Prince Louis II on 1 8 February, 1933. Following the divorce, Charlotte took up residence at the Ch©Øteau de Marcha is with Ren©b Gigier, one of Frances most infamous jewel thieves.

The Count and his wife had two children, Princess Antoinette of Monaco (b. 1920) and Rainie r III of Monaco.

Pierre + Charlotte of Valentinois. Charlotte (daughter of Louis Honore Charles of Monaco, II and Juliette Marie Louvet) was born on 30 Sep 1898 in Constantine, Algeria, North Africa; died on 16 Nov 1977 in Paris, Seine, ÃŽle-de-France, France; was buried in Marchais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Princess Charlotte of Monaco

Charlotte Grimaldi (September 30, 1898 - November 15, 1977) was a Princess of Monaco.

Born Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet in Constantine, Algeria, she was the illegitimate daugh ter of Marie Juliette Louvet (1867 - 1930), and Prince Louis II of Monaco (1870 - 1949).

Charlotte's mother was married to, in 1885, Achille Delmaet, 1860-1914, a photographer. Late r divorced, they had two children: Georges, 1884-1955, and Marguerite, 1886-1894. At some poi nt, Louvet moved to Algeria, where she worked as a cabaret singer or a laundress (sources dif fer) and met the heir to the Monegasque throne. Though it is sometimes alleged that a marriag e between the two occurred, Charlotte, born in 1898, was declared an illegitimate child. Thou gh he took full responsibility for his daughter's upbringing, eventually Prince Louis left Ju liette to return to his duties in Monaco.

A political crisis loomed for the Prince because, without any other heir, the throne of Monac o would pass to the duke of Urach, a German prince, related through Prince Albert's aunt, Flo restine.

To ensure this did not happen, on November 15, 1911 a law was passed recognizing Charlotte a s Louis's daughter, and making her part of the sovereign family. This law was later held to b e invalid under the 1882 statutes. Thus another law was passed in 1918 modifying the statute s to allow the adoption of an heir, with succession rights. Charlotte was adopted by Louis i n 1919, and became Charlotte Louise Juliette Grimaldi, Hereditary Princess of Monaco, and Duc hess of Valentinois.

Rainier-Charlotte-Antoinette
A year after being recognized as princess, Charlotte's marriage was arranged to Count Pierr e de Polignac (1895 - 1964) of Guidel, Morbihan, Brittany, France who, by ordinance of Loui s II, took the Grimaldi name and received the title of Prince of Monaco. They would have tw o children:

John married Margaret Majer in 1924. Margaret was born about 1899 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; died on 6 Jan 1990. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]