Monaco is to buy and restore a historic house in Les Baux-de-Provence as a showcase for its Grimaldi Historic Sites, Prince Albert II has announced — a property he said would belong to the princes of Monaco and pass to Prince Jacques.
The Prince revealed the acquisition in his speech on the château esplanade, on the day his 11-year-old son, Prince Jacques, was symbolically handed the keys to the town and confirmed in his title of Marquis des Baux. “I am very happy to announce today the ongoing acquisition, from your commune, of a house in the village: the house known as the Connétable de Montmorency house, on the edge of the old ramparts,” he said.
The Connétable de Montmorency house
The property takes its name from Anne de Montmorency, the Constable of France and a leading figure at the 16th-century royal court, who reshaped the château and built elegant townhouses at Les Baux during the Renaissance. It stands on the edge of the village’s old ramparts. During the visit, Prince Albert II and Prince Jacques were photographed in front of the house and presented with an engraving of it.
A home — and a showcase
Prince Albert II framed the purchase as a legacy for his son and a new chapter for the Grimaldi Historic Sites network. “This house will be his — that of the princes of Monaco at Les Baux — but also a symbol and a showcase for the whole French network of Grimaldi Historic Sites,” he said, describing it as a “new relay” in an attachment he was passing to Prince Jacques. The house is to be restored under what he called an ambitious project over the coming months, and French media reported that it is intended to open as a museum dedicated to the Grimaldi Historic Sites. No purchase price was disclosed.
Centuries of ties
The acquisition deepens a bond dating to 1642, when, under the Treaty of Péronne, Louis XIII raised the seigneury of Les Baux to a marquisate and granted it to Hercule Grimaldi, son of the Monegasque sovereign. The title of Marquis des Baux has been borne by the heir to the throne ever since, and passed to Prince Jacques at his birth in 2014. One of France’s most visited villages, with around 1.5 million visitors a year, Les Baux was among the first communes to join the Grimaldi Historic Sites network.
Prince Albert II closed his address by pledging that the tie would endure. “We will always be — I assure you — Baussencs among the Baussencs,” he said, using the local name for the people of Les Baux.
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Main photo credit: Michaël Alesi/Palais princier