Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918
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The Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918 came about as a result of the reigning Prince, Albert I (son of Charles III), lacking a grandson. Albert's only child Louis (the future Louis II) remained unmarried. His next of kin was Albert's first cousin Wilhelm, Duke of Urach (1864-1928), a German national born in Monaco and son of Albert's aunt Florestine. Given the normal laws of legitimacy, it seemed likely that Monaco would pass into German hands. However, France would not allow this, given its rivalry with the Germans in 1870-71 and then the First World War, and considering Louis' distinguished career in the French Army.
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[edit] Birth and recognition of Charlotte
Louis, while serving in the French army, befriended the laundress of his regiment, who asked him to look after her daughter, Marie Juliette Louvet. He looked after her so closely that the couple had a daughter, Charlotte Louvet. Louis recognised her as his child in 1900.
An ordinance of 15 May 1911 acknowledged her recognition as child of Louis, and admitted her into the Grimaldi family. However this was in violation of the statutes of 1882; the ordinance was therefore invalid, as the National Council of Monaco pointed out to the prince in 1918. As a consequence, an amendment of October 30, 1918 modified the Statutes to allow the Prince or, with the Prince's consent, the Hereditary Prince of Monaco, in the absence of legitimate issue of his own, to adopt a child in or outside of the family. The adopted child fully inherits all the rights, titles and prerogatives of the person who adopted him, including succession rights to the crown. The statutes also said that should the prince have legitimate issue after the adoption, the adopted child takes rank after the legitimate issue. Another ordinance of 31 October stated the conditions for an adoption.
[edit] French Treaty of 1918
While the adoption process was underway, and given the failure of the 1918 German attacks, France persuaded Prince Albert to sign a restrictive treaty in Paris on 17 July 1918. Article 2 stipulated that future princes of Monaco were subject to French approval, thereby limiting Monaco's sovereignty: "Measures concerning the international relations of the Principality shall always be the subject of prior consultations between the Government of the Principality and the French Government. The same shall apply to measures concerning directly or indirectly the exercise of a regency or succession to the throne, which shall, whether by marriage or adoption or otherwise, pass only to a person who is of French or Monégasque nationality and is approved by the French Government."[1]
[edit] Charlotte's adoption and status as heiress
Subsequently, Charlotte was adopted by Louis in Paris, at the Monegasque embassy, on 16 May 1919, in the presence of the French president, Albert I, Louis and the Mayor of Monaco. There is a doubt on the legality of the adoption. The Monegasque civil code (arts. 240 and 243) require that the adopting party be at least 50 and the adoptee 21. The 1918 ordinance changed the age limit to 18 (Charlotte was 20 at the time of adoption) but not the other age limit, while at the time Louis was 48.
Charlotte was titled Duchess of Valentinois by Albert I on May 20, 1919, and on 1 August, 1922 was designated Hereditary Princess of Monaco, after Louis II's accession on June 22. In 1920 she had married the Comte Pierre de Polignac (1895-1964, divorced 1933), a member of a junior branch of the Polignac family. An ordinance of March 18 had changed his name and arms to those of Grimaldi; on March 20, he was allowed to take the title of Duke of Valentinois. Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois and Pierre Grimaldi had a daughter Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy and a son Rainier (the future Rainier III).
Wilhelm von Urach renounced his claim in 1924 and passed it to his other French cousins, the Comtes de Chabrillan. He did not return the 3,000 books from the palace library in Monaco which can still be seen at his home, Lichtenstein Castle.[2]
[edit] Renunciation by Charlotte
By a declaration of May 30, 1944 in Paris, Charlotte ceded her rights to Rainier (with a reservation if he should predecease), and Rainier accepted in Paris on June 1. An ordinance of June 2, 1944 acknowledged and confirmed the Prince's assent to those declarations, and Rainier was made Hereditary Prince. When the Journal de Monaco published the ordinance on 22 June 1944, it added: "His Excellency the comte de Maleville, minister of Monaco in France, has been asked to inform the French government of this event, pursuant to the clauses of the treaty of 17 July 1918." The French government at the time was still the Vichy regime.
Louis II died on May 9, 1949. In the absence of any male heir to the Goyon-Matignon family, the titles of Valentinois and Estouteville became extinct in French and Salic law. The Principality of Monaco passed to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Before Rainier married Grace Kelly in April 1956, he notified the French government of his plans; the French ministry of Foreign affairs replied with a message of congratulations.
