 princess charlotte, duchess of valentinois (charlotte louise juliette grimaldi de monaco; 30 september 1898 â 15 november 1977), was the daughter of louis ii, prince of monaco, and the mother of rainier iii, prince of monaco. from 1922 until 1944, she was the hereditary princess of monaco, heir presumptive to the throne. ==birth and adoption== born charlotte louise juliette de monaco in constantine, french algeria, she was the illegitimate daughter of marie juliette louvet, a cabaret singer, and prince louis ii. on the death of prince louis ii, theretofore without a legitimate heir, the throne of monaco was due to pass to wilhelm, the german 2nd duke of urach, louis ii's cousin, a son of princess florestine of monaco; to forestall this event, on 15 may 1911 a law was passed recognizing charlotte as louis's daughter, and making her a member of the sovereign family. though it was later held to be invalid under the 1882 statutes, an ordinance of 30 october 1918 allowed her to be adopted. louis legitimated and adopted charlotte in paris on 16 may 1919, bestowing on her the surname grimaldi and granted her the title duchess of valentinois for life; she was thus his heir presumptive as hereditary princess from 1922 until 30 may 1944 (see below). ==legality of adoption== a shadow of doubt exists over the legality of this adoption. the monegasque civil code (articles 240 and 243) required that the adopting party to be at least fifty and the adoptee twenty-one. the 1918 ordinance changed the age limit to eighteen (charlotte was twenty at the time) but not the other age limit and louis was only 48. ==marriage== in monaco civilly on 18 march and religiously on 19 march 1920, louis arranged charlotte's marriage to count pierre de polignac of guidel, morbihan, brittany, france who, by the prince's ordinance, took the surname grimaldi and became a prince of monaco. the couple had two children: * princess antoinette louise alberte suzanne (28 december 1920 &nd
1898_births 1977_deaths Dames_of_the_Order_of_Queen_Maria_Luisa Dukes_of_Valentinois Grand_Crosses_of_the_Order_of_Saint-Charles Grand_Officiers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur Hereditary_Princesses_of_Monaco House_of_Grimaldi Monegasque_people_of_English_descent Monegasque_people_of_German_descent Monegasque_people_of_Italian_descent Monegasque_people_of_Scottish_descent Monegasque_princesses People_from_Constantine,_Algeria People_of_Ligurian_descent People_of_Lorrainian_descent Polignac_family Recipients_of_the_Pro_Ecclesia_et_Pontifice