The sovereign prince (french: prince de Monaco) is the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

and

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of the

Principality of Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria ...

. All reigning princes have taken the name of the

House of Grimaldi The House of Grimaldi ( , also , , ) is the current reigning house of the Principality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 by Grimaldo Canella in Genoa and became the ruling house of Monaco when Francesco Grimaldi captured Monaco in 1297 ...

, although some have belonged to other families (Goyon de Matignon or Polignac) in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...

. When

Prince Rainier III Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

died in 2005, he was Europe's longest reigning monarch. The Grimaldi family, which has ruled Monaco for eight centuries, is Europe's longest-ruling royal family. The presently reigning prince is Albert II, who ascended in April 2005.

Powers of the prince

Monaco, along with

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

and

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

, is one of only three states in Western Europe where the monarch still plays an active role in day-to-day politics. The Prince of Monaco exercises their authority in accordance with the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

and laws. They represent the principality in foreign relations and any revision, either total or partial, of the Constitution must be jointly agreed to by the monarch and the National Council. Legislative power is divided between the Prince who initiates the laws, and the National Council which votes on them. Executive power is retained by the monarch, who has veto power over all legislation proposed by the National Council. The minister of state and the Government Council are directly responsible to the Prince for the administration of the principality. Judiciary powers also belong to the monarch. The present Constitution states that the prince has full authority in the courts and tribunals which render justice in his or her name. Pursuant to Article 16 of the 1962 Constitution, the Prince confers

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

s and other distinctions (see

Awards and decorations of Monaco There are four orders of Monaco. These are: * Order of Saint-Charles (french: Ordre de Saint-Charles), founded on 15 March 1858 by Prince Charles III and modified on 23 December 1966 by Prince Rainier III; * Order of the Crown (''Ordre de la Cou ...

) as the ''

fons honorum The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons. Origin During the High Middle Ages ...

'' of the Principality of Monaco. In 2005, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that loyalty to the princely family is fierce; few residents of Monaco want to be quoted saying anything negative about the monarchy.

Compensation

The princely family receives annual allocation from the budget of Monaco, €43.5 million in 2015.

Titles and styles

The Prince is styled

His Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...

. Although used only formally, the Prince also bears several other hereditary titles, some of which are occasionally bestowed on his relatives or their spouses. Some of these titles have merged with the Crown of Monaco as a result of the Grimaldi family's acquisition of various

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

s; they no longer imply ownership or territorial authority, although the princes of Monaco have long been substantial owners of land and in France. Most were granted or recognised by the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

or the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

and could only pass through the male line; they therefore became extinct as French dignities on the death of Albert's great-grandfather Prince Louis II in 1949. Thereafter, some of these titles were implicitly re-created as distinctly Monegasque titles. The current prince's complete titles and styles are, in precedent order of rank: * Sovereign Prince of Monaco *

Duke of Valentinois Duke of Valentinois (french: Duc de Valentinois; it, Duca Valentino) is a title of nobility, originally in the French peerage. It is currently one of the many hereditary titles claimed by the Prince of Monaco despite its extinction in French law ...

Duke of Estouteville Duke of Estouteville (''duc d'Estouteville'') was a title in the French nobility that is claimed today by the Prince of Monaco. It was created in 1537 by King Francis I of France for Adrienne d'Estouteville (1512–1560) and her husband Francis de ...

* Duke of Mazarin *

Duke of Mayenne Duke of Mayenne (duc de Mayenne) is a title created for a cadet branch of the House of Guise. It subsequently passed by marriage to the Gonzaga in 1621. They sold it to Cardinal Mazarin in 1654; he bestowed it on his niece, Hortense Mancini in 1 ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Château-Porcien Château-Porcien () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes ...

* Marquis of Baux (Title now used by

Hereditary Prince Jacques Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (Jacques Honoré Rainier Grimaldi; born 10 December 2014), is the heir apparent to the Monegasque throne. He is the son of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, and twin brother of Princ ...

) * Marquis of Chilly-Mazarin * Marquis of

Guiscard Guiscard () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. See also *Communes of the Oise department The following is a list of the 679 communes of the Oise department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommu ...

* Marquis of

Bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Polignac (French title) * Count of Carladès * Count of Ferrette,

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...

, Thann and * Count of Torigni * Count of

Longjumeau Longjumeau () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Inhabitants of Longjumeau are known as ''Longjumellois'' (). History Longjumeau Party School In 1911, Lenin founded the Longjumeau ...

* Count of Clèdes * Baron of

Calvinet Calvinet () is a former commune in the Cantal department in south-central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Puycapel.

* Baron of Buis * Baron of La Luthumière * Baron of Hambye * Baron of

Altkirch Altkirch (, ; gsw, label= Alsatian, Àltkìrech) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The town is traditionally regarded as the capital of Sundgau. Etymology The name of the commune means ''old churc ...

* Baron of

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

* Baron of Massy * (Lord) of

Issenheim Issenheim (; german: Isenheim) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The Isenheim Altarpiece, currently on display at the Unterlinden Museum of Colmar, was completed in 1515 by Matthias Grünewald for a ...

* ''Seigneur'' of Saint-Rémy *

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

of Matignon All palace correspondence features capitalized pronouns when referring to the prince. The tradition of the monarchy of Monaco was that the flag flying from the staff on the tower above his office be hoisted when the prince was present in Monaco. The current prince flies the flag whether he is present or not, preferring to keep his location private. Monaco is officially protected by France, according to terms set forth in the Treaty of Versailles in 1918.

References

Monegasque titles Politics of Monaco Political organisations based in Monaco {{Monaco-poli-stub