In Depth

The Shaky House of Grimaldi

Monaco, according to Somerset Maugham, is 149 sunny hectares (370 acres) peopled with shady characters. According to a 1918 treaty, Monaco must maintain an ongoing stream of male heirs to retain its independence from France. The tax-free principality is the oddest fiscal and social anomaly in Europe, a blend of Las Vegas hype and aristocratic glitter whose luster has been sorely tarnished since the demise of Princess Grace ("a snow-covered volcano," said Alfred Hitchcock).

The marriage of the world's most eligible bachelor and the Hollywood golden goddess dominated headlines in April 1956. However, like Grace and Rainier themselves, the marriage did not age gracefully. Rainier's snide public assessments of his celebrity wife's accomplishments showed an unpleasant rivalry. In turn, Grace, beneath her cool veneer, was a lonely and frustrated woman who sought solace in a string of affairs.

The children of this ill-fated union have rebelled against the strictures imposed on them by their less-than-noble parents. More at home in the watering holes of big-city Paris than in the claustrophobic and judgmental homeland, they take turns being the one most likely to shock the multinational residents of their tax-free domain.

The most obviously disaffected is Stephanie, whose tantrums as a 13-year-old were duly noted by scads of journalists and whose sexual insouciance contributed, according to local wits, to the ill health of her late father. Her affairs have included the sons of both Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, also children of second-generation fame. For a time, she moved to Los Angeles, where she tried to build a show-business career. Promising beginnings in Stephanie's fertile roster of career options were stymied by maneuvering from the Grimaldi fortress. Her ambitions have mostly collapsed, as have her attempts to become a model or pop singer. In 1995, Stephanie married a former palace guard, Alain Ducruet, by whom she bore two children; however, a year later she divorced him because he had been caught cavorting naked with Miss Bare Breasts of Belgium. In 1998, Stephanie continued to make headlines by staying mum about her new baby's dad -- Camille Marie Kelly was Stephanie's third child born out of wedlock. One palace guard summed up Stephanie's affairs and babies: "In these times, it's not a question of morals. A princess can do what she likes." "From Tiaras to Trailer Parks" blare the headlines in the world press today.

Everyone in his prospective kingdom constantly urges Albert, now the ruler, to take a bride and produce a male heir. He has publicly denied rumors of homosexuality and has cavorted with an assortment of famous faces, from Brooke Shields to Donna Rice to Claudia Schiffer. As a local commentator has said, "It's one thing for him to marry a bimbo; it's another to marry someone like his mother." At the moment (subject to change at any minute), Albert continues to play the field, finding no replacement to fill the shoes of Princess Grace.

In the summer of 2005, Prince Albert shocked his subjects when he acknowledged that he had fathered a child with an African-born Air France flight attendant. Little Alexandre, Albert's son with Nicole Coste, will never be eligible for the throne, however. The constitution of Monaco excludes illegitimate children from the line of succession. In another surprise on the night before assuming the throne, Albert also admitted that there may be others with paternity claims. He offered no further details.

Caroline, mother of three, has done her royal part. She would if she could, according to observers, force a power struggle with Albert for the right of succession. Her first husband, the much older businessman/boulevardier Philippe Junot, was the sort of man every mother hopes her daughter will not marry -- which is probably why Caroline did. After she announced that she was divorcing womanizing Junot, the Vatican was called in to annul the marriage (which it finally did in 1992). Within a year of her mother's death, Caroline met and fell deeply in love with 27-year-old Stefano Casiraghi, son of an Italian industrialist. She was 4 months pregnant when they married in 1984, and she and Stefano had two more children (who remained "illegitimate" until 3 years after their father's death). In 1989, Stefano died in a speedboating accident and Caroline went into severe mourning, chopping off her hair and withdrawing from her duties. Eventually, she and her children moved to France and she returned to her position as "First Lady of Monaco." On January 23, 1999, her 42nd birthday, Caroline took a new husband, Prince Ernst of Hanover, who had been married to her best friend. Oddly, by marrying Ernst, she fulfilled the wishes of her late mother, who always wanted her to marry him. The couple will not be poor: Ernst is reportedly worth $800 million.

On May 31, 1997, Prince Rainier and his family marked the 700th anniversary of Grimaldi rule -- 6,600 Monégasques showed up for an open-air ceremony at place du Palais. With all their troubles and scandals, the clan has come a long way since January 8, 1297, when a political refugee from Genoa, Francesco Grimaldi, accompanied by some cronies in monks' clothing, persuaded the defenders of the local castle to give him shelter. Once he and his men penetrated the defenses, they ripped off their hoods and took the castle by force. The Principality of Monaco was born, and it's been in Grimaldi hands ever since.

After suffering from health problems with his heart and kidneys, Prince Rainier III died in 2005 at the age of 81. He had been Europe's longest-reigning monarch, having assumed the throne on May 9, 1949. Upon his death, the throne was assumed by Prince Albert, a shy, passionate sportsman often seen as a reluctant heir. Albert turned 49 on March 14, 2007. Should Albert die or fail to rule, Princess Caroline would assume the throne, according to a revised constitution in 2002 that sought to ensure the Grimaldi dynasty.

One Monégasque summed up the Grimaldi situation well: "I go to church every morning to pray for the prince and his family. I pray God will keep them safe and sane. Because that is my security. Without the Grimaldis, we would be merely hors d'oeuvres for France."