Monaco's succession issues

[Granada]

Yes, I said, Caroline and THEN her Family. I'm on record here. Meaning *if applicable*, then her eldest son Andrea, would be Heir.

So, again, in YOUR scenario, who would succeed if, as you say, "Jacques, Gabriella and Caroline were all to die at this moment".

Very simple question. In a thread named Monaco Succession Issues.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Yes, I said, Caroline and THEN her Family. I'm on record here. Meaning *if applicable*, then her eldest son Andrea, would be Heir.

Then I interpreted your original comment correctly.

So, again, in YOUR scenario, who would succeed if, as you say, "Jacques, Gabriella and Caroline were all to die at this moment".

Very simple question. In a thread named Monaco Succession Issues.

I remain confused by and cannot answer your "very simple question" because there is no "YOUR scenario" as your question says.

You stated your firm belief that it was "totally unambiguous" that Andrea, Charlotte and Pierre were still in line to the throne. I asked you for your source. (To be clear, I did not say you were unambiguously wrong.) That was all.

Again, here is my own simple question requesting a source, which you did not answer:

Could you please share the "cut and dried, totally unambiguous" evidence that Princess Caroline's married children asked and received consent under Article 24 of the House Law to conserve their succession rights after marriage?

However, I will amend my question, because I did make an assumption about your beliefs which may or may not be true. Here is my new simple question, to try to understand your argument:

Given that you believe Andrea is still "totally unambiguous[ly]" in line to the throne despite being married, do you believe that Andrea complied with Article 24, or do you believe that Article 24 does not affect Andrea's right to the throne? (Or some other explanation which I have overlooked.)

Edit: That should actually be article 3 of the 2002 house laws; see the clarification below.

 

[Granada]

Hate to break it to you, but "reading between the lines" here, whoever you are "hoping" would succeed, (THAT YOU WONT NAME) If Albert, the Twins, and Caroline were gone. Isn't happening. Under ANY circumstances. Caroline's son Andrea would.

And with that said, I'm done. I enjoy back and forth, but the preposterous daydreams here is beyond me right now.
Have a nice day.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Hate to break it to you, but "reading between the lines" here, whoever you are "hoping" would succeed, (THAT YOU WONT NAME) If Albert, the Twins, and Caroline were gone. Isn't happening. Under ANY circumstances. Caroline's son Andrea would.

And with that said, I'm done. I enjoy back and forth, but the preposterous daydreams here is beyond me right now.
Have a nice day.

You are not "reading between the lines" but (again) misrepresenting what I have said (or hope for). The only thing I have been hoping for in my discussion with you is that you would provide the source "(THAT YOU WONT NAME)" (to quote your latest post).

I do not enjoy pointing this out, but it is you who are making a claim for which you will not name your source and refusing to answer any questions about your beliefs about Monaco's succession. (I have answered yours as far as possible, and you know my sources.)

For those who have not read the preceding discussion, here is Article 24 of the House Law again.

Art. 24.

Sans préjudice des dispositions de l’article 21, le mariage d’un membre de la Famille Souveraine contracté sans l’autorisation du Prince Régnant emporte exclusion de l’ordre successoral, tant pour celui qui a contracté ce mariage que pour ses descendants.

Néanmoins, en cas de dissolution du mariage et en l’absence d’enfant issu de ce dernier, l’héritier qui l’a contracté recouvre sa place dans l’ordre successoral si aucune succession n’est intervenue à la date où la dissolution est devenue définitive.

L’autorisation prescrite en vertu du premier alinéa est délivrée par Décision Souveraine.


Translation:

Art. 24.

Without prejudice to the provisions of article 21, the marriage of a member of the Sovereign Family contracted without the authorization of the Reigning Prince excludes the one who contracted the marriage from the order of succession as well as his or her descendants.

However, in the case of dissolution of the marriage and in the absence of any child from it, the heir who contracted it recovers their place in the order of succession, if no succession has occurred before the date on which the dissolution became final.

The authorization according to the first paragraph is issued by Sovereign Decision.
​

In the interest of accuracy, I should clarify that the quoted version of the marriage law is the current version, which was promulgated by Prince Albert II by his Sovereign Ordinance of June 2, 2015. It therefore applied to the marriages of Pierre Casiraghi in July 2015, Charlotte Casiraghi in June 2019, and Louis Ducruet in July 2019.

For the marriage of Andrea Casiraghi in August 2013, it was actually the previous version of the marriage law that applied. This was promulgated by Prince Rainier III in his Sovereign Ordinance of May 29, 2002. It read:

Article 3 - Aucun Membre de la Famille Souveraine ne peut se marier sans l'autorisation du Prince régnant. Le mariage contracté sans cette autorisation emporte privation de tout droit à la Couronne, tant pour celui qui a contracté ce mariage que pour ses descendants.

Néanmoins, en cas de dissolution du mariage et en l'absence d'enfant issu de ce dernier, l'héritier qui l'aurait contracté recouvrera son droit à la Couronne si aucune succession n'est intervenue entre-temps.
​

Translation:

Article 3 - No member of the Sovereign Family can marry without the authorization of the reigning Prince. A marriage contracted without such authorization results in a loss of all rights to the Crown for the individual who contracted the marriage as well as for his descendants.

However, in the case of dissolution of the marriage and in the absence of any child from it, the heir who contracted it shall recover their right to the Crown if no succession took place in the meantime.​

 

[sophie25]

For what it's worth I took it for granted that after Caroline it was Andrea and his family then Pierre etc who were next in line to the throne. I had no idea there was any issue with this.

 

[Frelinghighness]

So Andrea never had permission to marry?

 

[Tatiana Maria]

So Andrea never had permission to marry?

I don't think we know with any certainty whether he was granted official permission to marry or not. The previous version of the marriage law (quoted above), which was in place when Andrea married, did not require the permission to be given in the form of a Sovereign Decision. So it seems possible that permission could have been given privately, without any public announcement.

Unlike some other monarchies, the Princely Palace of Monaco does not publish the line of succession to the throne on its website, and I have yet to find a trustworthy source.

I am aware of the English Wikipedia article that claims Andrea and his children to be in the line of succession. However, it does not cite any sources for this claim, and it does not mention the issue of whether Andrea's marriage received permission, so they seem to be guessing just like the rest of us.

Some have argued that Albert II must have granted permission because he allowed Andrea (and his siblings) to marry in the Palace, but being happy for the couples and hosting their weddings is not the same as giving legal permission for them to remain in the line of succession. There have been cases in other royal families (Netherlands, Denmark) of royals who married with the monarch's blessing (and in some cases even had grand royal weddings) but nevertheless were not granted legal permission to marry, simply because they were not considered important enough to stay in the line of succession.

For what it is worth, poster melina premiere (who is sadly now deceased) said she had read an interview with Prince Albert II in which he stated his nephews did not ask for his permission to marry, but she did not give his exact wording (and others have pointed out that he could theoretically have given permission without being asked).

 

[Granada]

sophie25, Exactly. There hasn't been since The Twins Birth. Prior to that it would be Caroline, then Andrea.

It is a moot point in any case now.

 

[kalnel]

Yes the only reason to bring up his age is to suggest there is a concern he will die before his kid comes of age. He could be 20 and die from an accident. The age is not a matter. We're not talking Margrethe, Harald and so on.


Do you need clarity on who is heir in Spain? Netherlands? Sweden etc.? If not then why Monaco. Because there is a clear legal sign of succession. There is no ambiguity to who comes after Jacques.

I have never even mentioned Alexandre. He isn't in the line of succession so therefore I never mentioned him. How is that bias?

The other countries have clear successions. Monaco does not, since the status of almost all the heirs except Jacques, Gabriella, and Caroline has not been clarified.

You certainly did mention him in your previous reply (post 667):

No need to search for a new heir.Not going to choose Albert's illegitamite son as a regent for his half-brother over one of Jacque's aunts or cousins who have grown up in the royal life.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

sophie25, Exactly. There hasn't been since The Twins Birth. Prior to that it would be Caroline, then Andrea.

Only if Andrea received permission to marry under the then Article 3 of the House Law. Otherwise, it would have been Caroline, then Pierre at the time of the twins' births in December 2014.

(I know that you strongly disagree and believe Andrea remains entitled to the throne whether he received permission or not. But as you have refused to explain why you believe the House Laws do not apply to him, I will continue to take what the House Laws say at face value.)

Edit: Corrected Charlotte to Pierre.

The other countries have clear successions. Monaco does not, since the status of almost all the heirs except Jacques, Gabriella, and Caroline has not been clarified.

It is at least clear (unless there is something I am missing) that Alexandra remains in the line of succession to the throne. As with the marriage of Caroline and Stefano Casiraghi, the marriage of Caroline and Ernst August von Hannover must also have received permission according to the House Laws, since Caroline was referred to as the Hereditary Princess in the first decade of her brother's reign (at least, I remember seeing a photograph of her in front of a sign referring to her as Hereditary Princess posted somewhere). So we may infer that Alexandra was born into the line of succession, and as Alexandra herself is unmarried, she could not have lost her position by marriage.

The version of the marriage law that was in force before 2002 (thus, the version applicable to Caroline's marriages) can be found at the below link (see Article 3 of the old house law). Note that under this version, marrying without permission had much harsher consequences than the 2002 or 2015 versions.

https://journaldemonaco.gouv.mc/Journaux/1882/Journal-1258

 

[Tatiana Maria]

When prince Jacques will be the prince sovereign, will princess Caroline, princess Stephanie and their children be out of the line of succession ? Like it was the case for princess Antoinette and her children?

Yes Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy was the older sister of Prince Rainier and along with her children were included in the line of succession to the Monegasque Throne until the death of her brother, Prince Rainier III.

Her children were excluded after Rainier's death. Now they are cousins (not nephews or nieces) of the ruling Prince.

I am fairly certain that Princess Antoinette's children, who were born before their parents' marriage, were never in line to the throne, even during the reign of Prince Rainier III.

It has been the law since 1986 that children born out of wedlock become legitimate upon their parents' later marriage, without exception:

Monegasque law does not make children of adulterous relationships ineligible to be legitimated.

Refer to the laws of legitimation here, particularly Article 226-9:

https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-civil/#wbwfCVEpb7chXLtLTS0ari

Article 226-9

La légitimation peut bénéficier à tous les enfants nés hors du mariage pourvu que, par reconnaissance volontaire ou par jugement, leur filiation ait été légalement établie à l'égard de leurs deux auteurs.

Article 226-9

Legitimation may be applied to all children born outside of marriage provided that, by voluntary recognition or by judgment, their filiation is legally established in regard to their two parents.​

This has been the law since 1986, so not a recent development. Can anyone explain why the myth that children of adulterous relationships cannot be legitimated by their parents' subsequent marriage is so widely accepted as fact?

However, Princess Antoinette had her children out of wedlock, and subsequently married their father, in an earlier time period when different laws were in place. At the time, children born from extramarital affairs were not necessarily made legitimate by their parents' marriage (it depended on various criteria).

The fact that Princess Antoinette's children never took their father's surname suggests that they were not legitimated, and therefore not in line to the throne.

In any case, under the House Laws, Princess Antoinette herself would have lost her rights to the throne if the marriage took place without the formal consent of her brother Prince Rainier III (see the previous post).

As always, please feel free to ask me to supply the sources for my post.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Bloomberg's respected news magazine Businessweek released an article yesterday, "The Monaco Royals Whose Deals Have Brought Peril to the Palace Doors." The article looks at an investigation into alleged corruption and conflicts of interest in Monaco, including whether the Palace gave preferential treatment to the Casiraghi brothers on lucrative contracts, including real-estate deals and a passenger helicopter franchise. (Both Albert and the Casiraghis denied any wrongdoing.)
[...]

The article is behind a paywall, but if you have a subscription to Bloomberg or Apple News+, you should be able to read it. Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

As an aside, the article contains this interesting bit on Sovereign Prince Rainier III:

[...] But in a twist of fate buried by time, and first reported recently by Le Monde, Albert’s reign was in doubt before it ever began.​

​

As is so often the case with powerful leaders and their offspring, Rainier had a complicated relationship with his son. [...]​

​

When he neared his 80s, after three packs of cigarettes a day and multiple heart surgeries, Rainier considered the future of Monaco. The constitution was clear: The ruler’s eldest male child born in wedlock was next in line to the throne. But Rainier met secretly with advisers and, according to a document reviewed by Businessweek, considered turning the country over to someone else. As one of the advisers wrote, the “longevity of the dynasty” was at stake.​

​

Whom did Rainier consider as a potential successor? His grandson Andrea Casiraghi.​

​

It may never be known why the late monarch changed his mind and chose his own son. It isn’t even clear whether Albert or the Casiraghis knew how close they were to a much different history. Albert discards the notion that his father favored Andrea as a “fable.”​

​

“During his reign, Prince Rainier tirelessly prepared me to succeed him,” Albert said in his statement. “I would add that our entire family is deeply united around My wife and Myself, as it was yesterday behind Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, and as it will be tomorrow around Prince Jacques,” Albert’s son.​

It would be interesting to know precisely what the "document" was and what it stated. Also interesting is that, regardless of how serious or unserious he may have been, Rainier III discussed the concept with advisers but, apparently, not with his own family. I also wonder why he thought of passing over not only Albert but Caroline.

For reference, the late prince was born in 1923, thus he would have been "nearing his 80s" in the early 2000s, when Andrea would have been in his late teens.

 

[sunflowers]

In the some interview Albert stated it was ‘nonsense’ that Rainer wanted to pass the throne to Andrea and bypass his own son.

 

[kath2833]

I was reading about the family history yesterday & came across something interesting I found out. When Rainier passed & Albert took the throne, the de Massy family lost their places in line for the throne. So does that mean when Albert passes & Jacques takes the throne, Caroline, Stephanie & their descendants will lose their places while only Jacques, Gabriella & their legitimate descendants will be eligible for the throne?

 

[Tatiana Maria]

I was reading about the family history yesterday & came across something interesting I found out. When Rainier passed & Albert took the throne, the de Massy family lost their places in line for the throne. So does that mean when Albert passes & Jacques takes the throne, Caroline, Stephanie & their descendants will lose their places while only Jacques, Gabriella & their legitimate descendants will be eligible for the throne?

Yes, Albert II’s siblings and their descendants will cease to be in line to the throne when the throne passes to Jacques.

The line of succession to the throne, and the procedure to choose the next monarch when there is no one in line to the throne, are established by Article 10 of the Constitution of Monaco.

Constitution of the Principality / Institutions / Government & Institutions / Portail du Gouvernement - Monaco

L'action du Gouvernement Princier de Monaco, les Institutions, les actualités, l’administration, le journal officiel, l'histoire, les photos et vidéos…

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La Constitution de la Principauté / Les Institutions / Gouvernement et Institutions / Portail du Gouvernement - Monaco

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Art.10. (amended by Law n°1.249 of April 2nd, 2002) - The succession to the Throne, opened by death or abdication takes place by the direct and legitimate issue of the reigning prince, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship.

In the absence of direct legitimate issue, the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince and their direct legitimate descendants, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship.

If the heir, who would have acceded by virtue of the preceding paragraphs is deceased or renounced the Throne before the succession became open, the succession passes to His own direct legitimate descendants by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship.

If the application of the preceding paragraphs does not fill the vacancy of the Throne, the succession passes to a collateral heir appointed by the Crown Concil upon same advice of the Regency Council. The powers of the prince are temporarily held by the Regency Council. The Throne can only pass to a person holding Monegasque citizenship on the day the succession opens.

The procedures of application of this article are set, as needed, by the House Laws of the Sovereign Family promulgated by Sovereign ordinance.​

By the way, I notice that although the Constitution specifies “legitimate issue of the reigning prince” and “legitimate descendants [of his brothers and sisters]”, it does not employ the word “legitimate” when it says “the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince”.

I’m sure that was an unintentional omission. But if the future Sovereign Prince Jacques II does not have legitimate descendants of his own, his older illegitimate but legally recognized half-brother Alexandre Grimaldi could argue that he, Alexandre, should succeed Jacques as Sovereign Prince because the Constitution says “In the absence of direct legitimate issue, the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince” and it does not specify that the brothers and sisters must also be legitimate.

 

[Prinsara]

But if the future Sovereign Prince Jacques II does not have legitimate descendants of his own, his older illegitimate but legally recognized half-brother Alexandre Grimaldi could argue that he, Alexandre, should succeed Jacques as Sovereign Prince because the Constitution says “In the absence of direct legitimate issue, the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince” and it does not specify that the brothers and sisters must also be legitimate.

Wouldn’t Gabriella (and presumably descendants) precede him in this scenario by virtue of being direct legitimate issue of the prior Prince?

 

[Somebody]

Wouldn’t Gabriella (and presumably descendants) precede him in this scenario by virtue of being direct legitimate issue of the prior Prince?

It doesn't state that succession passes to legitimate descendance of the previous prince but to the 'brothers and sisters' of the reigning prince - and that would be in the order of 'brothers from older to younger', followed by 'sisters from older to younger', so if (big if) legitimacy is not considered relevant in the case of succession by siblings of the reigning prince, the order would be: Alexandre, Jazmin, Gabriella. That's clearly not the intended meaning but taking the Constitution at face value, you might argue this case.

 

[Prinsara]

That's clearly not the intended meaning but taking the Constitution at face value, you might argue this case.

But if Jacques becomes Prince of Monaco a week from today, the heir until he has legitimate issue or never does is Gabriella, not Alexandre or Jazmin Grace.

I can see the argument for Alexandre, but I’m pretty sure the lawyer for Gabriella would argue strenuously the other way.

Also, it’s not quite like Albert to be unclear about this.

 

[Toledo]

As I understood this years ago, neither Jazmin nor Alexandre are choices due to illegitimacy status. Albert recognized them as his children but that won't change the order it's the senior male twin, followed by his sister.
And if neither was able to make it I'm sure the government in Monaco would go for Caroline and her family as the new rulers over Jazmin or Alexandre's claims.

Monaco is a country run as a business and in no way I can imagine, in the absence of Albert and/or his legitimate descendants, they would allow Jazmin nor Alexandre to be in charge of the business of running Monaco. They might inherit money from Albert, but Caroline and her family are a force neither the illegitimate children and their ambitious mothers can't match.

 

[Somebody]

But if Jacques becomes Prince of Monaco a week from today, the heir until he has legitimate issue or never does is Gabriella, not Alexandre or Jazmin Grace.

I can see the argument for Alexandre, but I’m pretty sure the lawyer for Gabriella would argue strenuously the other way.

Also, it’s not quite like Albert to be unclear about this.

As I said before, I am sure Albert's assumption is that Gabriella is next after Jacques; and that is indeed true right now according to the Constitution based on "The succession to the Throne, opened by death or abdication takes place by the direct and legitimate issue of the reigning prince, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship."

Albert has two direct and legitimate heirs: Gabriella and Jacques; because priority is given to males over females, Jacques is number 1 in line to the throne and Gabriella number 2 (so, if Jacques would pass away before Albert, Gabriella would become number 1).

However, TM's argument was that Alexandre could make a case based on the constitution. If Jacques becomes the heir before he has children, there are no 'direct and legitimate issue of the reigning prince', so the part mentioned above becomes obsolete. The relevant bit will be instead: "In the absence of direct legitimate issue, the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince and their direct legitimate descendants, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship."

And Jacques has three brothers and sisters: Jazmin, Alexandre and Gabriella. Given that the 'legitimacy' requirement is only applied to the descendants of his siblings, Alexandre could argue that because priority is to be given to males, he suddenly, is next in line to the throne before his sisters Jazmin and Gabriella.

Again, this outcome is clearly not what was intended but we've seen in Belgium with the case of Delphine that the courts might just apply what is written - even if that goes against the desires and original intentions of the royal family.

 

[Biri]

If Jacques' first child is a girl - is it possible that salic law will be abolished?

 

[Elly C]

If Jacques' first child is a girl - is it possible that salic law will be abolished?

I sincerely hope so, but I think this would have to be settled before he is of age. I haven’t read anything that suggests this is imminently under consideration.

 

[Linda_26]

If Jacques' first child is a girl - is it possible that salic law will be abolished?

There's no salic law in Monaco. If it was the case, women wouldn't be in line to throne at all.

 

[Toledo]

If Alexandre presses on the issue more, I'll be concerned for the twins if Albert was gone. I assume a regency would be in place with Caroline as the head making decisions because I don't see Charlene as an active participant in this nation-business environment.

Re Jazmin imposing her senior sibling status in court or the papers, from the start when her mother was the one making headlines her situation is more of a Hallmark romantic royal affair movie. Completely out of touch with the reality Monaco is a business nation that requires a business person to run it, it's not Tibet searching for the Dalai Lama at the other end of the world.

The idea all of the sudden Jazmin has a Cinderella storyline and, in the absence of Albert, the government of Monaco comes to the USA and offers her both the glass slipper and the keys to the palace and banks sounds more movie of the week on a holiday than a reality.

I've never seen news on Albert making terrible business decisions since he took over. Plus Caroline has been both his support system and first lady of Monaco since Grace passed away. Had he shown any plans to involve Jazmin and or Alexandre in the government affairs he would have done so already. Instead we see the ones he gets involved to help in the Monaco activities are his extended family of nieces and nephews from Stephania and Caroline's.

And all I see so far is Jazmin making a life of her own in the USA with her father's last name imposed by her mother on the birth certificate, and Alexandre enjoying the life of fashion, access to money and never ending parties. Neither is a head of government material in my opinion.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

It doesn't state that succession passes to legitimate descendance of the previous prince but to the 'brothers and sisters' of the reigning prince - and that would be in the order of 'brothers from older to younger', followed by 'sisters from older to younger', so if (big if) legitimacy is not considered relevant in the case of succession by siblings of the reigning prince, the order would be: Alexandre, Jazmin, Gabriella. That's clearly not the intended meaning but taking the Constitution at face value, you might argue this case.

As I said before, I am sure Albert's assumption is that Gabriella is next after Jacques; and that is indeed true right now according to the Constitution based on "The succession to the Throne, opened by death or abdication takes place by the direct and legitimate issue of the reigning prince, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship."

Albert has two direct and legitimate heirs: Gabriella and Jacques; because priority is given to males over females, Jacques is number 1 in line to the throne and Gabriella number 2 (so, if Jacques would pass away before Albert, Gabriella would become number 1).

However, TM's argument was that Alexandre could make a case based on the constitution. If Jacques becomes the heir before he has children, there are no 'direct and legitimate issue of the reigning prince', so the part mentioned above becomes obsolete. The relevant bit will be instead: "In the absence of direct legitimate issue, the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince and their direct legitimate descendants, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship."

And Jacques has three brothers and sisters: Jazmin, Alexandre and Gabriella. Given that the 'legitimacy' requirement is only applied to the descendants of his siblings, Alexandre could argue that because priority is to be given to males, he suddenly, is next in line to the throne before his sisters Jazmin and Gabriella.

Again, this outcome is clearly not what was intended but we've seen in Belgium with the case of Delphine that the courts might just apply what is written - even if that goes against the desires and original intentions of the royal family.

Thank you, @Somebody, for understanding exactly what I meant and explaining it for other readers. I greatly appreciate it.

And indeed you also read my mind: The Delphine case is a real-world example of a judge not caring about the legislator’s intentions, and applying the law in a way the monarch never wanted.

Nor is Delphine the only royal relative in Europe who has sued in the courts to attain privileges that the monarch or government did not want to grant them. Recently Laurent and Harry have done likewise, and I am sure there will be more such lawsuits in the future.

It would be naive of other democratic monarchies to see Delphine's court victory and think “this could never happen to us.”

Monaco is a country run as a business and in no way I can imagine, in the absence of Albert and/or his legitimate descendants, they would allow Jazmin nor Alexandre to be in charge of the business of running Monaco. They might inherit money from Albert, but Caroline and her family are a force neither the illegitimate children and their ambitious mothers can't match.

I've never seen news on Albert making terrible business decisions since he took over. Plus Caroline has been both his support system and first lady of Monaco since Grace passed away. Had he shown any plans to involve Jazmin and or Alexandre in the government affairs he would have done so already. Instead we see the ones he gets involved to help in the Monaco activities are his extended family of nieces and nephews from Stephania and Caroline's.

Nobody is saying that Albert, Caroline, Monaco’s government, or Monaco’s business community want Alexandre to be in line to the throne.

The unfortunate fact is that the writers of the Constitution made a mistake and wrote “brothers and sisters of the reigning prince” instead of “legitimate brothers and sisters of the reigning prince”. So, when Jacques II is the reigning prince (and childless), Alexandre (as a brother of the reigning prince) will have a case if he wants to file a lawsuit.

 

[Toledo]

...The unfortunate fact is that the writers of the Constitution made a mistake and wrote “brothers and sisters of the reigning prince” instead of “legitimate brothers and sisters of the reigning prince”. So, when Jacques II is the reigning prince (and childless), Alexandre (as a brother of the reigning prince) will have a case if he wants to file a lawsuit.

You got a good point that Albert will need to solve in his lifetime to avoid any drama for his two heirs and for Charlene. A lawsuit from Alexandre's pretentions will make Monaco get on the news, and not in a good way, for years. But, it will also made a great TV drama adaptation or series, like Dynasty, Monaco with Nicole Coste played by Angela Basset!

(..)

 

[Tatiana Maria]

If Alexandre presses on the issue more, I'll be concerned for the twins if Albert was gone. I assume a regency would be in place with Caroline as the head making decisions because I don't see Charlene as an active participant in this nation-business environment.

Albert II has arranged that if he dies or abdicates while Jacques is under 18, the regency will be conducted by a regency council composed of palace and government officials (and no family members). See this post:

Continued from my previous post:


Prince Albert II amended the House Law's statutes on regency by a Sovereign Ordinance of July 29, 2022. Read it here:

Ordonnance Souveraine n° 9.389 du 29 juillet 2022 modifiant l'Ordonnance Souveraine n° 5.344 du 2 juin 2015, modifiée. / Journal 8603 / Année 2022 / Journaux / Accueil - Journal de Monaco

Under the new regency rules, if Prince Albert II died and Jacques succeeded as Reigning Prince while still a minor (Article 4), the regency would be exercised by a Regency Council. This Regency Council would be comprised of the President of the Crown Council, the Secretary of State, the President of the Council of State, and four persons nominated by Sovereign Decision, that is, by Prince Albert II (Article 11).

If Prince Albert II became impeded from exercising his powers (such as by severe illness) and Hereditary Prince Jacques were still a minor (Articles 7-8), the regency would also be exercised by the Regency Council. However, in this scenario, the Regency Council would - in addition to the aforementioned seven people - also include and be presided over by Princess Charlene, as long as she was not legally or factually separated from Prince Albert II (Article 10).

In any event, no more than two persons without Monegasque citizenship may serve on the Regency Council (Article 11).


Concerning the four seats on the Regency Council to be filled by Sovereign Decision, Prince Albert II already made his four nominations to the Regency Council in a separate ordinance on January 26, 2022. None of his nominees are family members.

In addition to these modifications to the laws of regency, the same Sovereign Ordinance of July 29, 2022 promulgated a Code of Procedure for the Regency Council. The Code of Procedure is extremely detailed; for example, it even regulates the dates and times that must be recorded in each memorandum of a council meeting.



I referred to these changes as surprising because they went against not only Monegasque tradition, but the current norms of other monarchies in Europe. Throughout the centuries of Grimaldi rule over Monaco, regencies have always (to the best of my knowledge) been exercised by relatives of the monarch. And while some other monarchies in Europe allow the government or parliament to appoint anyone as a regent, royal or not, no other monarchy in Europe has a regency law which automatically bypasses family members in favor of bureaucrats.

From now on, if Prince Albert II dies while Hereditary Prince Jacques is under 18, Monaco will be governed by a council made up of government and court officials, while the prince's mother and aunt(s) will be sidelined from any ruling role. That would be a novel situation.

Prince Albert II's new rule that if the Reigning Prince(ss) and their spouse are legally or factually separated, the spouse loses the right to serve on the Regency Council for their spouse if and when their spouse is impeded, is also unusual. Other European monarchies may demote a consort upon divorce, or more rarely upon legal separation, but under the new Monaco rule, even a de facto separation without any legal separation will affect the spouse's rights.


A question for the Monegasque princely family experts here: Prince Albert signed these amendments, as said, on July 29, 2022. Did anything happen in the period leading up to that date which might have prompted these reforms?

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If Jacques' first child is a girl - is it possible that salic law will be abolished?

There's no salic law in Monaco. If it was the case, women wouldn't be in line to throne at all.

That’s right.
To answer the question about a firstborn daughter, the preference for sons/brothers over daughters/sisters is written into the Constitution. As stipulated in Chapter XI of the Constitution, revising the Constitution would require the agreement of both the Prince and the National Council (legislature).

Since Albert II did not propose to revise the constitution to allow Gabriella (the older twin) to succeed ahead of Jacques, we can safely assume he wants preference for males to continue.

Jacques may or may not feel differently when he is the reigning prince.

 

[Somebody]

2021-2022 was the period that Charlene stayed for an extended period of time in South Africa, so you could say that at that time the two of them were factually separated - which might have prompted that particular phrase.

 

[Blog Real]

Yes, if Albert dies while the children are minors, perhaps Charlene would remain as regent until Jacques turns 18.
At least, that's what I believe.

 

[Somebody]

That’s unlikely given that Albert gave very explicit instructions regarding a regency council; see TM’s posts above.