 His mother, Germaine Wiener de Croisset (born in Paris, October 26, 1913 and married in Paris, November 30, 1933), was a descendant of the Marquis de Sade, a daughter of the playwright Francis de Croisset, and a half-sister of the arts patron Marie-Laure de Noailles.One of de Montebello's great-great-great-grandfathers was Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello and Marshal of France.Both parents were involved in a project to develop a form of three-dimensional photography, and it was in search of venture capital for this enterprise that the family came to New York in 1951.