View source for Alice Heine

{{Short description|Princess of Monaco from 1889 to 1922}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort      = yes
| title        = Duchess of Richelieu
| birth_name   = Marie Alice Heine
| image        = Princess Alice of Monaco 15636v.jpg
| caption      = Princess Alice {{circa|1890}}
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1857|02|10|df=y}}
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1925|12|22|1857|02|10|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Paris]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
| birth_place  = [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, U.S.
| burial_place = [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
| father       = [[Michel Heine]]
| mother       = Marie Amélie Miltenberger
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Armand de Jumilhac, 7th Duke of Richelieu]]|1875|1880|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Albert I, Prince of Monaco]]|1889|1922|end=died}}
}}
| issue        = Armand de Jumilhac, 8th Duke of Richelieu<br/>Odile, Princess de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel
| succession   = [[Princess consort of Monaco]]
| reign        = 30 October 1889 – 26 June 1922
}}
'''Marie Alice Heine''' (10 February 1857 – 22 December 1925) was an American-born [[Princess consort of Monaco|Princess of Monaco]], by marriage to Prince [[Albert I, Prince of Monaco|Albert I of Monaco]]. [[Marcel Proust]] used her as a model for the Princesse de Luxembourg in his novel, ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]''. Her first husband was the [[Duke of Richelieu]], and one of the titles of her second husband was Duke of Mazarin; she was thus unique in bearing the titles of both [[Cardinal Richelieu]] and [[Cardinal Mazarin]].<ref>Xavier Maillart, "Princess Alice of Monaco’s family background in Alsace" (Laguna Niguel, 2008)</ref>

==Early life==
Marie Alice Heine was born at 910 Rue Royale, in the [[French Quarter]] of New Orleans, Louisiana. Her French father, [[Michel Heine]], was a scion of a prominent German-rooted Berlin and Paris banking Jewish family. His brother was [[Armand Heine]], and both were cousins of poet [[Heinrich Heine]] and of journalist and press publisher [[Gustav Heine von Geldern|Gustav Heine]], later Baron Heine von Geldern. Michel was born in [[Bordeaux]], France, and moved to New Orleans in 1843, and become a successful [[financier]] and [[real-estate developer]]. Heine's mother was Marie Amélie Céleste Miltenberger, daughter of Joseph Alphonse Miltenberger, an [[architect]] and cast-iron importer by trade of French Alsatian descent,<ref>Xavier Maillart, "The first experience (1858) and last encounter (1879) of the Prince Imperial with the African world" (French Presence in KwaZulu-Natal, Dundee, 2016)</ref> and his [[Creole peoples|Creole]] wife, Marie Céleste Dorfeville. Her family built three interconnected Miltenberger mansions on Rue Royale. She had two younger brothers, Paul Henri and Isaac Georges.

The [[American Civil War]] sent the family back to France, where the teenaged Alice's youth and beauty, and her family's wealth, made a great impression in Parisian society. A & M Heine, her father's firm, helped finance [[Franco-Prussian War|Napoleon III's war with Prussia]].

Michel and Amélie became regulars in the court of [[Napoleon III]], who, along with the [[Eugénie de Montijo|Empress Eugénie]], became godparents to the New Orleans-born Heine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/alice-heine |title=www.knowlouisiana.org |access-date=2018-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720135637/http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/alice-heine |archive-date=2018-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life ==
[[File:Eleanor Douglas Wise - Duchess Richilieu LCCN2014692699.tif|thumb|right|Photograph of her daughter-in-law, Elinor Douglas Wise]]
She married her first husband, [[Armand Chapelle de Jumilhac, 7th Duke of Richelieu|Marie Odet ''Armand'' Aimable Chapelle de Jumilhac]], Marquis of [[Jumilhac-le-Grand|Jumilhac]] then 7th [[Duke of Richelieu]] and [[Duke of Aiguillon]], in Paris on February 27, 1875. They had one son and one daughter:

* Marie Odet Jean ''Armand'' Chapelle de Jumilhac (1875–1952), who became the 8th and last Duke of Richelieu, as well as the Duke of Aiguillon and Marquis of Jumilhac, upon the death of his father in [[Athens]] on June 28, 1880. In 1913, he married Eleanor Douglas Wise (1890–1972) of [[Maryland]], United States, daughter of John Sergeant Wise. Without issue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.william1.co.uk/b35.htm|title=Brittany 35|website=www.william1.co.uk|access-date=Aug 16, 2020}}</ref>
* ''Odile'' Marie Auguste Septimanie Chapelle de Jumilhac (1879–1974), who in 1905 married Gabriel Marie François Hippolyte Ferri Eugène [[House of La Rochefoucauld|de La Rochefoucauld]] (1875–1942), becoming the Countess de La Rochefoucauld and later on June 22, 1909, Princess de La Rochefoucauld [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] (cousin of the [[Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel|Prince de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel]]). They had a daughter, Anne Alice Elisabeth Amélie de La Rochefoucauld (1906–1980), who married twice and had no issue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.appl-lachaise.net/appl/article.php3?id_article=2900|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015044700/http://www.appl-lachaise.net/appl/article.php3?id_article=2900|url-status=dead|title=[Association des Amis et Passionnés du Père-Lachaise]|archive-date=Oct 15, 2017|website=www.appl-lachaise.net|access-date=Aug 16, 2020}}</ref>
The Duke died, aged only 32, on 28 June 1880 while in [[Athens]], [[Greece]]. 

===Princess consort of Monaco===
Heine first met [[Albert I, Prince of Monaco|Albert, Hereditary Prince of Monaco]], in [[Madeira]] in 1879. At the time, Albert was still in an unhappy marriage with [[Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton]]. Albert's first marriage was eventually annulled by the Church on January 3, 1880, and he and Alice began a relationship soon thereafter. Alice married Albert on October 30, 1889, shortly after his accession.<ref name="64 parishes">{{Cite web|url=https://64parishes.org/entry/alice-heine|title=Alice Heine|website=64 Parishes}}</ref> According to Thomas Fouilleron, director of the Monaco Palace Archives, "Prince Albert I was deeply in love with her. It is one of the very first love marriages of the Principality".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alice Heine: life and myth of Monaco's first American princess|url=https://www.monaco-tribune.com/en/2021/01/alice-heine-life-and-myth-of-monacos-first-american-princess/|first=Francesca|last=German|date=22 January 2021|access-date=29 March 2023|website=Monaco Tribune|language=en-US}}</ref>

Albert was interested in [[oceanography]] and was often on sea expeditions. While he was away, Heine took a greater interest in the Monegasque opera season. She "set about bringing class and distinction to a country financed by the casino at [[Monte Carlo]]",<ref name="64 parishes"/> and devoted her energies to making Monaco one of Europe's great cultural centers with its opera, theatre and the ballet under the direction of the famed Russian impresario, [[Sergei Diaghilev]]. Her affair with singer-composer [[Isidore de Lara]] resulted in Prince Albert slapping her in view of an audience at the [[Opéra de Monte-Carlo]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Anne|last=Edwards|title=The Grimaldis of Monaco|publisher=[[William Morrow and Company|Morrow]]|date=1992|pages=168, 176}}</ref>

Alice and Prince Albert I separated judicially on May 30, 1902 (Monaco), and June 3, 1902 (France), but remained married. Upon the prince's death 20 years later, Alice became the Dowager Princess of Monaco. She did not remarry.

==Legacy==
Her former home in [[New Orleans]] is one of the most photographed buildings in the French Quarter. Today, The Royal Courtyard Bistro & Bar, Nola Rock Company and Frank Relle Photography all occupy this mansion.

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
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{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Monégasque consorts|Princess consort of Monaco]]|years=1889–1922}}
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{{Monegasque princely consorts}}
{{Heinrich Heine}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heine, Alice}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:People from New Orleans]]
[[Category:American people of French-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism]]
[[Category:House of Grimaldi]]
[[Category:Princesses of Monaco]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Monaco]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Monegasque Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Jewish royalty]]
[[Category:19th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]