Description

Honoré V (1778–1841) was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois. He was born Honoré Gabriel Grimaldi, the first son of Honoré IV of Monaco and Louise d'Aumont.

He enlisted in a French cavalry regiment when he was 20 years old and worked his way up through the ranks by his own merits until he became an officer on the staff of Marshal Grouchy. He was an exemplary soldier and was cited for his bravery many times. He was wounded in the arm at the great Napoleonic victory in the battle of Hohenlinden which prevented him from seeing action at Austerlitz.

In 1819, when his father passed away, Honoré-Gabriel became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco as Honoré V and inherited a Principality beset with problems. At once a member of the French Parliament and a Sovereign, he picked up on the project of his grandfather to diversify economic resources and encouraged the installation of factories. The Great Powers of Europe had taken Monaco out of the French sphere of influence and made the Principality a protectorate of Piedmont-Sardinia.

History has tended to record Prince Honoré V as a very unpopular and autocratic monarch, but, in reality he was quite progressive. He wished to help his people sincerely and had great sympathy for the poor. His reaction to seeing beggars on the streets was to form state-owned industries and put them to work. Some of the industries he set up included a lace factory and a hat factory. He also had them put to work on farm cooperatives as citrus orchards had long been a large part of the Monegasque economy.