Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau: from a pebble to the Rock
Having left Saint-Martin on 21 August, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau has since moved on to pastures new. The former chief of staff to the Prefect of the Northern Islands has swapped security and crisis management files for the corridors of the Prince’s Palace in Monaco, where she has been working since September as a special adviser in the secretariat of H.S.H. Princess Charlène. From the ‘Caillou’ to the ‘Rocher’, it’s quite a radical change of direction.
A graduate of the INSP, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau was appointed to her first post at the Prefecture of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin in late October 2024. She initially worked under the deputy prefect Vincent Berton, then under Cyrille Le Vély, the first fully-fledged prefect of the Northern Islands.
As chief of staff, she was responsible, in particular, for matters relating to security and public order, civil protection and crisis management. For nearly two years, the young sub-prefect was thus immersed in the inner workings of the State in the Northern Islands, defending the values of the Republic with great conviction. In her farewell speech, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau reflected on these two years, which had passed
‘extremely quickly’, and which were marked by several major developments: the creation of a fully-fledged prefecture, the establishment of the STIS SXM, the arrival of the RSMA, as well as crisis exercises, preparations for the hurricane and tourist seasons, official visits and numerous ceremonial engagements… a sort of preparation for her new post.
From republican values to princely values
At the age of 28, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau moved to Monaco, where she is now attached to the secretariat of H.S.H. Princess Charlène as a project manager. Her new duties within the Prince’s House centre on managing the Princess’s official engagements and activities.
The contrast is certainly striking: having ensured the security of two small Caribbean islands on behalf of the French Republic, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau is now continuing her career in the service of a principality covering just two square kilometres. From republican values to princely customs, from cyclone warnings to Monegasque protocol, and from a tiny islet to the Rock: whilst she has not entirely changed the scale of her work, she has undoubtedly changed her setting.
Her successor at the prefecture has not yet been officially appointed.
