Monarchy of Monaco authority in the courts and tribunals which render justice in his or her name. Pursuant to Article 16 of the 1962 Constitution, the Sovereign Prince confers orders, titles and other distinctions (see Awards and decorations of Monaco) as the "fons honorum" of the Principality of Monaco. The Prince is styled "His Serene Highness". 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
Monaco succession crisis of 1918 to one form or another of proximity of blood, and the Grimaldis' hitherto exclusive control of Monaco's dynastic marital policy was what threatened to enthrone a German duke on France's border, even after the Empire's defeat in war. Just as the ruling families of Britain, Russia, Belgium, and the Netherlands had all become patrilineally German by the twentieth century due to the propensity of monarchical heiresses, seeking dynastically equal marriages, to choose husbands from among Germany's many minor princely families, Monaco was on the verge of the same fate. Although the Grimaldis did not require inter-marriage with royalty by law