Albert II, Prince of Monaco

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born March 14, 1958), styled HSH The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the current ruler of the Principality of Monaco.

Succession issues

Prince Albert has not married yet, and has only fathered an illegitimate child, whose existence has been known since 2005. His lack of legitimate children became a matter of public and political concern, due to the possibility that there might be no successors to the throne upon his death. On April 2, 2002, a legal solution was formulated: Monaco passed Princely Law 1.249 which provides that if a reigning prince dies without any surviving legitimate direct descendants, the throne would pass to his siblings and their descendants under the rule of male-preference primogeniture. Before this change, the crown of Monaco could only pass to a direct male descendant of the reigning prince, making Prince Albert's sisters ineligible to inherit the throne upon his death, if he remained childless. This change made the extinction of the Grimaldi dynasty less likely. (This issue did not arise in Prince Rainier's case, since he succeeded his maternal grandfather, not an uncle.)

Related Topics:
2005 - April 2 - 2002 - Primogeniture

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His elder sister HRH Caroline, Princess of Hanover, follows him as heiress presumptive in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne. Though she is only the heiress-presumptive and not heiress-apparent, in the Monegasque constitution, the title Hereditary Prince (or Princess) is not reserved for heirs-apparent. Thus, Caroline is Hereditary Princess of Monaco.

Related Topics:
Caroline, Princess of Hanover - Heiress presumptive - Line of succession to the Monegasque throne

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