Monarchy of Monaco

The following is a list of rulers of Monaco. Most belong to the House of Grimaldi; exceptions, which consist primarily of the principality's administrators under periods of foreign occupation, are noted. Monaco, along with Liechtenstein and Vatican City, 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 his authority in accordance with the Constitution and laws. He represents 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, titles and other distinctions (see Awards and decorations of Monaco) as the fons honorum of the Principality of Monaco.

In 2005, The New York Times reported that loyalty to the princely family is fierce; few residents of Monaco want to be quoted saying anything negative about the monarchy.

## Rulers of Monaco

|width=150|Name|width=60px|Portrait|width=100|Reign start|width=100|Reign end|align="left"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||rowspan="2"|8 January 1297|rowspan="2"|10 April 1301|align="left" rowspan="2"|*François Grimaldi was the leader of a group of Genoese that seized the Rock of Monaco. *His cousin Rainier was the first Grimaldi ruler of the area now known as Monaco.||||
|bgcolor="#87C389" colspan="5"|Under Genoese control from 10 April 1301 to 12 September 1331|||||||||
|bgcolor="#A0A0A0" colspan="5"|**Lords of Monaco**|||||||||
||12 September 1331|rowspan="4"|15 August 1357|align="left"|*Son of Rainier I, he retook the Rock from the Genoese. *Won Menton (1346) and Roquebrune (1355). *After 29 June 1352 co-rulership with **Anthony I (?-1358), youngest brother of Rainier I **Rainier II (1350–1407), son of Charles I **Gabriel, son of Charles I|||||
||rowspan="3"|29 June 1352|align="left"|*Co-ruler||||||
||align="left"|*Son of Charles I *Co-ruler since 29 June 1352 *Yielded Monaco to the besieging Genoese for 20,000 fl. but retained Menton and Roquebrune.||||||||
||align="left"|*Co-ruler||||||||
|bgcolor="#87C389" colspan="5"|Under Genoese control from 15 August 1357 to January 1395|||||||||
||rowspan="2"|January 1395|rowspan="2"|19 December 1395|align="left"|*Son of Charles I *Ruled jointly with Jean I||||
||align="left"|*Son of Rainier II *Ruled jointly with Louis||||||||
|bgcolor="#87C389" colspan="5"|Under Genoese control from 19 December 1395 to 11 May 1397|||||||||
||11 May 1397|5 November 1402|align="left"|||||||
|bgcolor="#87C389" colspan="5"|Under Genoese control from 5 November 1402 to 5 June 1419|||||||||
||rowspan="3"|5 June 1419|8 May 1454|align="left" rowspan="3"|*Sons of Rainier II, Jean, Ambroise and Antoine, bought back Monaco from Genoa and ruled it jointly until 1427. After Antoine's death, Jean bought out his brothers in exchange for the rule over Menton and Roquebrune. *Monaco was occupied by the Duchy of Milan under the governorship of Genoese Biagio Assereto from 3 October to November 1436. *On 20 November 1441, Jean gained sovereignty for Monaco. *Jean's testament replaced the _Lex Salica_ with Male-preference primogeniture, thus allowing for female succession (then British system).|||||
||rowspan="2"|1427||||||||
|align="center"||||||||||
||8 May 1454|July 1457|align="left"|||||||
||July 1457|16 March 1458|align="left"|*Under the regency of her paternal grandmother Pomellina Fregoso *Abdicated in favour of her cousin Lamberto, whom she married in 1465.||||||
||16 March 1458|March 1494|align="left"|||||||
||March 1494|11 October 1505|align="left"|*Son of Lamberto and Claudine *Murdered by his brother, Lucien||||||
||11 October 1505|22 August 1523|align="left"|*Son of Lamberto and Claudine *Murdered his brother, Jean II *Murdered by his nephew, Bartholomew Doria of Dolceacqua||||||
||22 August 1523|7 October 1581|align="left"|*Son of Lucien *During his minority under the regency of **Augustine Grimaldi, bishop of Grasse, 22 August 1523 – 14 April 1532 **Nicholas Grimaldi, 14–23 April 1532 **Blanche Grimaldi, baronne de Tourette (co-regent), 14 April– 1 July 1532. **Étienne Grimaldi, 23 April 1532 – 16 December 1540||||||
||7 October 1581|17 May 1589|align="left"|*Son of Honoré I||||||
||17 May 1589|29 November 1604|align="left"|*Son of Honoré I *Murdered||||||
||29 November 1604|10 January 1662|align="left"|*Son of Ercole *Until 1616 under the regency of Prince Francis Landi of Valdetare *Starting in 1612, Honoré II was the first Monegasque ruler to adopt the personal style of Prince, to which the Grimaldi rulers of Monaco were already entitled to through their possession in Italy. Monaco was recognized as a sovereign principality by Philip IV of Spain in 1633 and by Louis XIII of France in the Treaty of Péronne of 1641.||||||
|bgcolor="#A0A0A0" colspan="5"|**Sovereign Princes of Monaco**|||||||||
||10 January 1662|2 January 1701|align="left"|*Grandson of Honoré II||||||
||2 January 1701|20 February 1731|align="left"|*Son of Louis I||||||
||21 February 1731|29 December 1731|align="left"|*Daughter of Antonio I||||||
||29 December 1731|7 November 1733|align="left"|*Husband of Louise Hippolyte *Left the country on 20 May 1732, with his brother-in-law, Antoine Grimaldi acting as regent. *Abdicated on 7 November 1733.||||||
||7 November 1733|19 January 1793|align="left"|*Son of Jacques I and Louise Hippolyte *Until 28 November 1784 under the regency of his uncle, Antoine Grimaldi||||||
|colspan="5" bgcolor="#87C389"|**French occupation** (19 January 1793 – 17 May 1814)|||||||||
|**National Convention**||19 January 1793|24 February 1793|align="left"|President: Joseph Barriera|||||
|**Annexed by France**||24 February 1793|17 May 1814|align="left"|Governed by: *Armand Louis de Gontaut, French military commandant 24 February 1793 – 1 March 1793 *Henri Grégoire, French commissioner after 1 March 1793 *Grégoire Marie Jagot, French commissioner|||||
|colspan="5" bgcolor="#87C389"|**Allied occupation** (17 May – 17 June 1814)|||||||||
||30 May 1814|16 February 1819|align="left"|*Son of Honoré III *Titular prince since 21 March 1795 *Under the regency of **Joseph Grimaldi, his brother, 17–23 June 1814 **the _State Council_, 23 June 1814 – 4 March 1819 **Honoré Grimaldi, his son, 3 March 1815 – 16 February 1819||||||
||16 February 1819|2 October 1841|align="left"|*Son of Honoré IV *Regent for his father since 3 March 1815||||||
||2 October 1841|20 June 1856|align="left"|*Son of Honoré IV||||||
||20 June 1856|10 September 1889|align="left"|*Son of Florestan||||||
||10 September 1889|26 June 1922|align="left"|*Son of Charles III||||||
||26 June 1922|9 May 1949|align="left"|*Son of Albert I||||||
||9 May 1949|6 April 2005|align="left"|*Grandson of Louis II *From 31 March to 6 April 2005 under the regency of his son, Albert||||||
||6 April 2005|Incumbent|align="left"|*Son of Rainier III *Regent for his father from 31 March to 6 April 2005||||||

## Infobox (monarchy)

- **royal title**: Sovereign Prince
- **realm**: Monaco
- **coatofarms**: Great coat of arms of the house of Grimaldi.svg
- **type**: other4
- **coatofarms article**: Coat of arms of Monaco
- **image**: Albert II February 2015 (cropped).jpg
- **incumbent**: Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Albert II
- **incumbentsince**: 6 April 2005
- **his/her**: His
- **heir apparent**: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Jacques
- **first monarch**: Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Honoré II (as prince; previous rulers were called lords until 1612)
- **date**: 29 November 1604
- **residence**: Prince's Palace of Monaco, Prince's Palace
- **website**: [http://www.palais.mc/en/index.html Monarchy of Monaco]