The House of Grimaldi
The royal Family
The Principality of Monaco has been ruled by the House of Grimaldi for over 700 years since Lanfranco Grimaldi conquered the territory in 1297. He was Italian by birth. Initially a merchant, he turned into a pirate.
At Lanfranco's death, his first cousin Rainier I followed. Rainier led legitimate trading activities and eventually became Grand Admiral of France in 1304, as he had earned the respect of the French monarch.
Honore II was the first Prince of Monaco. Monaco became Principality when he assumed the title of prince in 1612. The status of Monaco changed only between 1793 and 1815. In 1793, as a consequence of the French revolution, the Grimaldi family was exiled and the principality reverted to its ancient name of Fort d'Hercule. The Grimaldis returned only in 1815 and have been ruling the principality ever since.
Monaco royalty excelled by many illustrious names such as Antoine I, a grand patron of the arts; Charles III, who founded Monte-Carlo; Albert I, who is renowned as the father of oceanography and during the reign of whom the current constitution was promulgated (in 1911).
At Albert I's death, Prince Louis II, a general in the French army, succeeded to the throne. In May 1949, Louis was followed by his grandson, Rainier III, who is ruling the principality at the present moment.
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
In 1956 Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly, the American movie star. Before marrying the Prince, Grace Kelly had a short, successful and prolific movie career, winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role in The Country Girl in 1954. Being Princess Grace of Monaco, she had to abandon her acting career and got involved in her official duties. She became very popular and active in the Principality's life. She had an important contribution to the maintenance and development of Monaco's cultural and artistic life and was also involved in charity actions, improving the situation for the younger population of Monaco. She died in 1982 from injuries suffered in a car crash.
Of their marriage three children were born to continue the Monaco dynasty: Caroline (b. 1957), Albert (b. 1958) and Stephanie (b. 1965). Prince Albert of Monaco, being the only son, is the heir to the throne. Although not married and in case he will not marry and have children, the throne will still be kept in the family (changes in this respect were made to the constitution in 2002). His sister, Princess Caroline and further her children are to follow to the throne. The succession line goes on with Princess Stephanie of Monaco and her legitimate children.
After her mother's death, Caroline, the oldest Princess of Monaco, became unofficially the Principality's first lady. She successfully accomplished official duties assigned to her by her father, Prince Rainier, and continued projects of Princess Grace's, being involved in major events and actions that take place in the Principality.
The princesses' personal lives have retained press' attention for a long time, especially that of Stephanie de Monaco, who is known to have had quite a number of scandalous affairs. The eye of mass media is now directed to the increasingly popular Princess Charlotte of Monaco. She is the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco of her second marriage. Although unofficially a princess, as her mother tried to offer her a more normal life by not giving her the title of princess, Charlotte is in line to inheritance of the throne of Monaco.