Monaco–United States relations the First World War. From 1956 until her death in 1982, the American-born Grace Kelly was married to Prince Rainier III. They made their first official visit to the United States in 1956. Until 2006 Monaco's only career Consul-General (Maguy Maccario Doyle in 2006) operated out of New York, but directed all the Honorary Consuls in placements worldwide. In December 2006, the United States and Monaco upgraded from consular to full diplomatic relations. Shortly thereafter, Craig Stapleton (ambassador to France) was accredited to Monaco, and ambassador Gilles Noghes became the first Monegasque ambassador to the United States. In 2009 Stapleton
History of Monaco escaped arrest and fled to Switzerland. In August 1944, the Germans executed René Borghini, Joseph-Henri Lajoux and Esther Poggio, who were Resistance leaders. Under Prince Louis' secret orders, the Monaco police, often at great risk to themselves, warned in advance those people whom the Gestapo planned to arrest. The country was liberated, as German troops retreated, on 3 September 1944. The current ruler, Prince Albert II, succeeded his father Prince Rainier III in 2005. Prince Rainier, in turn, had acceded to the throne following the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949. The revised Constitution of Monaco, proclaimed