Caroline, Princess of Hanover

Princess Caroline is heiress presumptive to the crown of Monaco because her brother Prince Albert II has no legitimate children. If Albert leaves no legitimate dynastic issue and should she outlive Albert, Caroline will one day become the second Sovereign Princess in Monaco's history. Her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother Louise-Hippolyte Grimaldi held that position for a few months in 1731, with a regent as at the time women could not occupy the throne.

There is precedent for a Monégasque prince to adopt his own illegitimate child and thereby place that child at the head of the line of succession to the Monegasque throne, as was done for Caroline's grandmother, Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois. However, due to changes to the constitution of Monaco in 2002, this is no longer an option. Although Albert has publicly acknowledged two children born out of wedlock, Alexandre Coste and Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, unless Albert were to legitimize Alexandre by marrying his mother, Caroline cannot constitutionally be displaced in the succession order by either child.

Albert's lack of legitimate children prompted Prince Rainier to change the constitution so as to ensure there would be a successor to the throne, which strengthened the places of Caroline and her descendants in the line of succession. Read Less