Are there still royals in Monaco?
235952#1
Prince Albert II is one of the wealthiest royals in the world, with assets valued at more than $1 billion, which include land in Monaco and France. Although Prince Albert does not own the Prince's Palace of Monaco, he does own shares in the "Société des bains de mer de Monaco", which operates Monaco's casino and other entertainment properties in the principality.
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
161352#9
On 26 June 1922, Prince Albert I died in Paris. Louis Grimaldi ascended to the throne as Louis II, Prince of Monaco. While his reign never achieved the grandeur of his father, Louis II left an indelible imprint on the tiny principality. In 1924 the Monaco Football Club was formed and in 1929, the first Grand Prix of Monaco automobile race was held, won by Charles Grover (aka "Williams") driving a Bugatti painted in what would become the famous British racing green color. He collected artefacts belonging to Napoleon I which are now assembled and displayed in the Napoleon Museum attached to the Royal Palace in Monte Carlo.
Louis II, Prince of Monaco
235952#42
As Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert II is depicted on coins, including collectors' coins, with very rare exceptions. One of the most recent examples is the €5 silver Prince Albert II commemorative coin, the first commemorative coin with his effigy on it, minted in 2008. On the obverse, the prince is depicted in profile with his name on the top of the coin. On the reverse, the Grimaldi coat of arms appears; around it, the words "Principauté de Monaco" (Principality of Monaco) also appear along with the nominal monetary value of the coin.As the prince, his official shortened title is "His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco"; this does not include the many other styles claimed by the Grimaldi family.
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
37285605#7
Principal photography began in September 2012 in Paris and Menton, France. In October 2012, the production moved to Italy, first to Grimaldi, the village near Ventimiglia, which bears the name of the royal house of Monaco, then in Mortola, near Ventimiglia at Villa Hanbury. The production was granted permission to close Monaco's main square for 24 hours between October 29–30, 2012, and during this time the cast were seen filming outside and around the Monte Carlo Casino. In November 2012 and, again, in January 2013, the production was in Genoa, Italy, on the housed set in the Royal Palace in Via Balbi, where the Hall of Mirrors replicates the residence of the royal court of Monaco. Interiors were shot in Belgium (Belgian parliament in Brussels, the city of Ghent and television studios in Lint.)
Grace of Monaco (film)
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In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco specified that, should there be no heirs to carry on the Grimaldi dynasty, the principality would still remain an independent nation rather than revert to France. Monaco's military defence, however, is still the responsibility of France.
Monaco
966848#9
The coat of arms of the House of Grimaldi is simply described as "fusily argent and gules", i.e., a red and white diamond pattern, with no further modifiers.The Royal Family of Monaco is related by its ancestors with houses including: House of Baden, House of Lorraine, House of Wurtemberg, House of Hannover, Polignac, Ducal House of Hamilton, House of Urach, House of Métrode-Westerloo, House of Bavaria, House of Liechtenstein, of Hesse and an ancestor Guillermo Carlos Florestán Gero Crescencio who had been declared King of Lithuania with the name of Mindaugas II of Lithuania, although it was invalidated its appointment later, was the eldest son of William I of Urach (Head of a morganatic branch of the House of Württemberg) and his second wife, Florestina of Monaco, who was occasionally acting as Regent of Monaco (daughter of Florestan I of Monaco).
House of Grimaldi
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In 1701, Prince Antoine succeeded Louis I and inherited an almost bankrupt Monaco, though he did further embellish the Royal Room. On its ceiling, Gregorio de Ferrari and Alexandre Haffner depicted a figure of Fame surrounded by lunettes illustrating the four seasons.
Antoine's marriage to Marie of Lorraine was unhappy and yielded only two daughters. Monaco's constitution confined the throne to members of the Grimaldi family alone, and Antoine was thus keen for his daughter Princess Louise-Hippolyte ("Illustration 11") to wed a Grimaldi cousin. However, the state of the Grimaldi fortunes, and the lack of (the politically necessary) approval from King Louis XIV, dictated otherwise. Louise-Hippolyte was married to Jacques de Goyon Matignon, a wealthy aristocrat from Normandy. Louise-Hippolyte succeeded her father as sovereign of Monaco in 1731 but died just months later. The King of France, confirming Monaco's subservient state to France, ignored the protests of other branches of the Grimaldi family, overthrew the Monégasque constitution, and approved the succession of Jacques de Goyon Matignon as Prince Jacques I.
Prince's Palace of Monaco
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His cousin's descendants, the Grimaldi family, still rule Monaco today. Over one hundred years after the coup, the Grimaldis purchased Monaco from the crown of Aragon in 1419, and became the official and undisputed rulers of "the Rock of Monaco".
François Grimaldi
10105024#3
In 1662, she became Princess of Monaco. She visited Monaco in 1662, where she stayed for three years, after which she returned to the French court. The Prince and Princess of Monaco spent more time in Paris than they did in Monaco. The couple were well-established at the royal court of Louis XIV, where Catherine Charlotte held the position of lady-in-waiting to Princess Henrietta of England, sister-in-law and former lover of Louis XIV. Her aunt, Suzanne Charlotte de Gramont, marquise de Saint Chaumont, was also a member of Henrietta's household as the governess of her two daughters, Marie Louise and Anne Marie.
Catherine Charlotte de Gramont
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On the initiative of its President, Prince Albert II, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the WWF set up a partnership in January 2008 to take action with a view to saving the bluefin tuna from ecological extinction.
Since 2008, a large number of restaurant owners in the Principality of Monaco have responded to the appeal jointly launched by the Prince Albert II Foundation and the MC2D association to stop serving bluefin tuna, and thus raise awareness of the need to save this symbolic species of the Mediterranean, while there is still time. Consequently, a moratorium has been implemented in cooperation with food retailers and professionals and Monaco has become the first “bluefin tuna free” country. Since then, many other countries have followed suit.
Monaco’s government departments, supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, subsequently initiated a procedure to add the bluefin tuna to Appendix I of CITES (Convention on the international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora).
For many months, the listing, which would have resulted in the ban on international trade of this fish, has been the topic of debate in several countries.
On 3 March 2010 during the Doha Conference, the Obama administration announced that it was in favor of adding the bluefin tuna to appendix I of CITES. The European Union officially endorsed this decision on 10 March by announcing that it would vote in favor of this listing.
Despite such support, the Doha Conference rejected Monaco's proposal on 18 March. Japan, the main consumer of thunnus thynnus, in addition to the developing countries, was strongly opposed to the ban.
However, this is the first time that a debate on the preservation of an endangered species has made the headlines of the international press.
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
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A heliport, the Monaco Heliport, is the only aviation facility in the principality. It features shuttle service to and from the international airport at Nice, France. As of May 2005, all Royal Helicopter Service is provided by the James Drabble Aviation Services Committee. This deal sparked a great deal of controversy in the National Council of Monaco, as there was no precedent yet set. Helicopter charter services to French ski resorts are also available.
Transport in Monaco