Ghislaine Dommanget was born on 13 October 1900 as the daughter of Colonel Robert Joseph Dommanget and his wife, Marie Louise Meunier. Her first marriage was to Paul Diey in 1923. He died in 1931. She later married André Brulé, with whom she had one son. Their marriage ended in divorce. She became an actress.
On 24 July 1946, she became the first wife of Louis II, Prince of Monaco. She had been his mistress previously. He was 67 years old, and he had one acknowledged illegitimate daughter, Charlotte. She was the first Grimaldi bride without a dowry, and the wedding was snubbed. Ghislaine was disliked by most of the Grimaldis. Louis fell ill in April 1949, and he died on 9 May 1949. Ghislaine’s step-grandson became Prince Rainier III.
Louis had left half of his estate to Ghislaine, but this was contested by Rainier and his sister, Antoinette and the will was overturned. She received only her jewellery and gifts she had received. She also retained a suite of rooms at the Palace and received a small pension from the government.
She returned to live in Paris and only returned to Monaco for special occasions, such as the wedding of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly. She developed a close friendship with Grace, who tried to include Ghislaine. She returned to the stage several times and even performed in Monaco. She wrote her memoirs, which she dedicated to Grace.
In 1974, she attended the celebrations for Prince Rainier’s Silver Jubilee, and her last appearance was at the funeral of Princess Grace in 1982.
Ghislaine died on 30 April 1991, and she is buried in the Passy Cemetery in Paris.
I think Ghislaine got a rotten deal. If Louis wanted to leave everything to his wife, then it should have been left that way.