Did Prince Rainier change something about the line of succession?
LaRae
Can someone please make clear for me the law of inheritance and if albert and charlene would not have children the throne goes to prs carolina? And this law about that monaco goes to france if there are no heirs of male sex still exists?I am grateful in advance.
Monaco will no longer go to France if there is no heir. It will become a democracy.
Under the old succession laws, Monaco operated under male-preference primogeniture, but limited the descendants of the current sovereign (provided they were either legitimate or adopted). If the sovereign had no descendants then Monaco would become a protectorate of France.
In 2002 Prince Rainier changed the succession rules to address the fact that Albert had no legitimate children, and to prevent someone from adopting a non-blood relation who could then inherit. The rules now continue to adhere to male-preference primogeniture - sons inherit over daughters - but the succession has been altered so that the descendants of the sovereign, the sovereign's siblings, and the descendants of the sovereign's siblings are in the succession. Thus, if Albert were to die without legitimate children Caroline would inherit. However, if Albert weren't be succeeded by his child then Caroline and Stephanie and their descendants are removed from the succession.
The succession was also changed so that adopted children can no longer inherit, but children who have been legitimatized (but we're born out of wedlock) can inherit. The reason why adopted children could inherit was because Rainier's grandfather, Louis II, had no legitimate children and thus adopted his illegitimate daughter, Rainier's mother, so she could inherit. Rainier's changes to the succession adhered to this idea of illegitimate children having the opportunity to inherit, while preventing the succession from leaving the House of Grimaldi.
If there no one in the succession - the sovereign dies without legitimate descendants, siblings, or siblings' legitimate descendants, then a regency is formed and the Crown Council elects a new monarch from the House of Grimaldi, looking at more distant descendants.
Now Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine of Denmark are not alone as they will soon have Monegasque counterparts. And of course, Sasha and Raphael will most probably not be alone in their play that much as they will have a few little friends now (if Tatiana's pregnancy rumours turn out to be true, they will have three playmates). 
