Before Grace; The First American Princess of Monaco




Alice Heine, Princess of Monaco

Approximately six decades before a beautiful blond American actress by the name of Grace Kelly would captivate a Prince of Monaco (And most of the world), another blond American would become Princess of Monaco, marrying the great-grandfather of Prince Rainer, Grace's husband.

Alice Hein was born 10 February 1858 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father was a member of a prominent  European banking Jewish family. He had moved to New Orleans in 1843 and became a successful real estate developer. When the Civil War broke out, the Hein's relocated to Paris, and it was there at the age of 16 Alice made her debut. Considered beautiful by the standards of the day, and with a large dowry, there were no shortage of men vying for her hand in marriage. At the age of 17, after converting to Roman Catholicism, she married the much older 7th Duke of Richelieu. Her husband would die 5-years later, leaving her a very wealthy widow (Only 22!), with 2 small children. In 1889 she met and married the divorced Albert I, Prince of Monaco. She brought to the marriage a large dowry, thought to be about 6-million dollars, a huge fortune in those days. 

 By all accounts, Albert was not an easy man to live with, and Alice consoled herself by making Monaco a center for the arts (Ballet, Opera, Theater), and with an affaire with a composer, Isdore de Lara. When Albert learned of the affaire he slapped his wife in view of the audience at the Opera House! After that, the couple legally separated, but never divorced.
Alice would die at the age of 67 on 22 December 1925, four years before the birth of one Grace Kelly.

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