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09.05.

1949: Death of Louis II, Prince of Monaco

1949: Death of Louis II, Prince of Monaco
Photo Credit To http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-HE1lR1mlb8/SweKbb6TOzI/AAAAAAAABXo/WNYWIGtOYVU/s1600/louis_2medcol.jpg

The rich Festetics family owned many castles in Hungary, and their castle near the town of Keszthely at Lake Balaton is known as one of the largest in Hungary.



Prince Louis II of Monaco, the predecessor of Prince Rainer III (husband of Grace Kelly and father of today’s Prince Albert of Monaco), died on this day in 1949. Louis II was Rainer`s grandfather, and the great-grandfather of Prince Albert.

Prince Louis II ruled Monaco from 1922 to 1949, i.e. almost for 27 years. His mother was a Scottish aristocrat, Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton and daughter of the 11th Duke of Hamilton. She left Louis’s father shortly after the child’s birth, and continued to live in Germany with their child. After the marriage had been officially annulled, she married the Hungarian aristocrat Count Tassilo Festetics de Tolna, who became the stepfather of Louis II.

The rich Festetics family owned many castles in Hungary, and their castle near the town of Keszthely at Lake Balaton is known as one of the largest castles in Hungary. Queen Victoria`s son, King Edward VII, also visited the mentioned castle. He was a friend of Tassilo Festetics, who received the title of prince in 1911.

Louis II of Monaco later inherited the throne of the independent state of Monaco from his father. He had a daughter, who was born in Algeria, and declared her his successor. Therefore, his cousin, Duke Wilhelm Karl of Urach, didn’t inherit the throne. Interestingly, this German aristocrat almost became the King of Finland in 1918.




After Louis`s death in 1949, he was succeeded by his grandson Rainier III, aged 25 at the time. Rainier III ruled for about 56 years, and was succeeded by his son Albert in 2005.

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