Caroline, Princess of Hanover Caroline, Princess of Hanover Caroline, Princess of Hanover (Caroline Louise Marguerite Grimaldi; born 23 January 1957), is the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly. She is the elder sister of Prince Albert II and Princess Stéphanie. Until the births of her niece and nephew, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, in December 2014 she had been heir presumptive to the throne of Monaco since 2005, a position which she previously held from 1957 to 1958. Caroline is married to Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (born 1954), the heir to the former throne of
Monaco succession crisis of 1918 government for US$401 million alleging that France used a "sleight of hand" to deprive Duke Wilhelm II, his ancestor, of the Monacan throne when it passed the 1911 law permitting Charlotte to be considered a Grimaldi. Joseph Valynseele "Rainier III: est-il le souverain legitime de Monaco?" Recueil de l'Office Genealogique et Heraldique de Belgique, XIII (1964), pp. 191–223. Monaco succession crisis of 1918 The Monaco succession crisis of 1918 arose because France objected to the prospect of a German national inheriting the throne of the Principality of Monaco. Prince Albert I had only one legitimate child, the Hereditary Prince Louis,