Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz

Marie Caroline Gibert de Lametz, (18 July 1793, Coulommiers – 25 November 1879, Monaco), was a French stage actress and later Princess Consort and regent de facto of Monaco, the spouse of Florestan I, Prince of Monaco. She was the daughter of Charles-Thomas Gibert (1765–18??) and his wife, Marie-Françoise Le Gras de Vaubercey (1766–1842), the stepdaughter of Antoine Rouyer de Lametz (1762–1836), the paternal granddaughter of Thomas Gibert and his wife, Françoise Moret, and the maternal granddaughter of François Louis Michel Le Gras de Vaubercey and his wife, Gabrielle Françoise des Courtils. She was originally a stage actress.

Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz and Prince Florestan of Monaco married in Commercy on 27 November 1816 and had two children: Prince Charles, born in 1818 later Prince Charles III, and Princess Florestine, born in 1833.

Florestan ascended to the throne in Monaco in 1841, but her spouse was never prepared to assume the role of prince — he had been an actor in the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique — and the real power during his reign lay in the hands of his wife. For some time, Maria Caroline was able to alleviate the difficult economic situation stemming from Monaco's new position as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia, rather than of France. The couple also attempted to meet local demands for greater democracy and offered two constitutions to the local population, but these were rejected, particularly by the people of Menton. Not capable of handling the difficult situation, the couple abdicated in 1856

Encouraged by the events of 1848, the towns of Menton and Roquebrune revolted soon after, and declared themselves independent. They had hoped to be annexed by Sardinia, but this did not occur, and the towns remained in a state of political limbo until they were finally ceded to France in 1861.

References

• The Peerage retrieved 26 February 2007

External links

• Princely House of Monaco