Prince Rainier

[Quillan]

An interesting thing I read somewhere was that there must always be a male or else the principality returns to France and I note he has no grandsons by Prince Albert. There is always been something 'romantic' about Monaco and it would be a shame to see it go one day. Of course there is also the thing about the Grand Prix, would France (Le Mans) favour keeping it or would they use the Monaco track which is far more exciting.

 

Anyway sad to see the old guy go, I feel he was a good example as a head of state and should be an example to others.

[Coco]

Ah that explains something my husband said today.  He had heard that back in the 50s Monaco almost reverted to French rule - Rainier was single, with no children.  Now can someone explain this please.  They said on the news that the law was changed in 2002 to allow Albert, as a single man, with no children, to become ruler of Monaco on his father's death, which until then had not been possible.  They have also said that Rainier was the longest reigning monarch in the world, having been Prince of Monaco since 1950 or 51 I think.  He married Grace Kelly in 1956 and she was his first wife I believe.  Therefore, how come he was able as a single, childless man to ascend to the throne but they had to change the law for Albert.

Surely, if Albert doesn't have any kids, then one of Caroline's can continue the line?

Yes, I thought he was a lovely man too Chris - and yet, he's getting hardly any coverage compared to the other two this weekend - but then, that's no bad thing.  Keeps everything so much more dignified.

[Cat]

[quote]Ah that explains something my husband said today. He had heard that back in the 50s Monaco almost reverted to French rule - Rainier was single, with no children. Now can someone explain this please....[/quote]

According to the Telegraph, it is not Prince Albert's current childless position, but that he might never produce an hier that was the problem (see below)...

 

Under the terms of a treaty imposed by the French government in 1918, the 700-year-old Grimaldi dynasty would have died out and Monaco would have become French territory if Prince Albert came to the throne and died without an heir.

The change to the previous rule of primogeniture was slipped through the Monaco parliament ... It will allow one of Prince Rainier's daughters, Caroline and Stephanie, to inherit the throne from Albert, if he remains childless.

Under the old constitution, the succession was limited to a ruling monarch's children: so if Albert were to die before his father, the title would have passed to one of the princesses. But if Albert became sovereign and were to die without issue, his sisters and their children would not have been eligible to inherit.

The reason for this was that in 1918 France had become concerned about the principality's future because Louis, the 48-year-old heir to the throne, was a bachelor. The next male in line to succeed if Louis died without an heir was a German prince, the Duke of Urach.

At the end of the First World War Paris refused to countenance a German monarch in Monaco, so it imposed the constitutional provision that only the monarch's own children could inherit the throne. To avoid the demise of the dynasty then, Louis adopted the daughter born to his mistress 20 years earlier.

 

[letrangere]

Fully agree with Quillan about the "charm" of Monaco.  It's history is so interesting, it's a nice place, so clean, and you honestly can't help thinking about the romantic story of lovely Grace Kelly meeting her prince whilst there filming To Catch A Thief.  Yes, as much as I love France I think it would be a great shame if this tiny (and it is minute - what, couple of square kilometres? ) principality lost its independence.  But you know the constitution was changed in - 2000, 2002? - to ensure that females could inherit the throne?  So if Albert dies childless, next in line is Caroline and after that her drop dead gorgeous looking eldest son, Andreas.  And not that I often read them (ahem...) but the French gossip mags dream of Caroline's exquisitely beautiful daughter, Charlotte, marrying Prince William.  M

[letrangere]

Incidentally, can anyone remember who it was who once described Monaco (perhaps unfairly) as, "a sunny place for shady people"?  M

[Mistral]

I had thought that monaco was cotrolled by the sallic law, which would have meant that Caroline's kids couldn't inherit, but reading Téléstar (so it must be true...) it said that Rainier inherited through his mother who was the daugher of the previous prince and she renounced her inheritance just after the war.

[Miki]

[quote]Incidentally, can anyone remember who it was who once described Monaco (perhaps unfairly) as, "a sunny place for shady people"? M[/quote]

Could it have been Grahame Greene ? but OH believes it to be Somerset Maugham and she is correct I believe.

[letrangere]

Miki, ah, Somerset Maugham, yes more than likely.  I toyed with the idea of Noel Coward or even Evelyn Waugh.  Do wish Pucette was still amongst us for she's such a wizz at checking these things on the Net, she would have confimed who said it and when within minutes.  M

[derf]

Long carrying a reputation as a gamblers' paradise, it was described by the
writer Somerset Maugham as "a sunny place for shady people".