Titles and Styles
The Prince is styled His Serene Highness, (Son Altesse Serenissime). 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 fiefs; they no longer imply ownership or territorial authority, although the Princes of Monaco have long been substantial owners of land and chateaux in France. Most were granted or recognised by the Kingdom of France and could only pass through the male line; they therefore became extinct as French dignities on the death of Albert's grandfather Prince Louis II in 1949. Thereafter some of these titles were implicitly re-created as Monegasque titles. The father of Prince Rainier III was Pierre Grimaldi, Duke of Valentinois, né Count Pierre de Polignac, whose legitimate male-line descendants (including Rainier III et al) remain, remotely but legally, in the line of succession for the French dukedom of Polignac).
The current Prince's complete titles and styles are:
- Sovereign Prince of Monaco
- Duke of Valentinois
- Duke of Estouteville
- Duke of Mazarin
- Duke of Mayenne
- Prince of Château-Porcien
- Marquis of Baux
- Marquis of Chilly-Mazarin
- Marquis of Guiscard
- Marquis of Bailli
- Count of Polignac (French title)
- Count of Carladès
- Count of Ferrette, Belfort, Thann and Rosemont
- Count of Torigni
- Count of Longjumeau
- Count of Clèdes
- Baron of Calvinet
- Baron of Buis
- Baron of La Luthumière
- Baron of Hambye
- Baron of Altkirch
- Baron of Saint-Lô
- Baron of Massy
- Seigneur of Issenheim
- Seigneur of Saint-Rémy
- Sire of Matignon
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Famous quotes containing the words titles and, titles and/or styles:
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy?
Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)