“Well, it’s male-preferred primogeniture, so the males are theoretically before the females at the same tier. However, it has happened. Princess Charlotte was elected as the ruler in that same succession crisis.”
“Oh, Princess Charlotte. I like it.”
Augustine said, “The rule is, and here’s an important part: if Monagasquay doesn’t have a rightful, anointed sovereign, we cease to exist as a nation and get absorbed back into France. We don’t want that.”
“Oh, dear.” Dree was getting emotionally involved in the trials and tribulations of a fictional country.
“It’s a big deal in Monagasquay. There are tax reasons. So, in a bid to save Monagasquay from being absorbed back into France, the dying presumptive heir to the aged sovereign prince adopted Charlotte, even though she was his illegitimate daughter.”
Dree stopped him. “I’m confused.”
“Oh, yes. Everyone was, but we managed to slip through loopholes to avoid both the German duke and getting overrun by France again. Every time that’s happened, they stripped the palace of all the silver and taxed our citizens. Anyway, my older brother, Prince Pierre of Monagasquay, is the presumptive heir, and I’m the proverbial spare.”
And she understood. “Oh, my God. You’re Prince Harry.”
“He and I have chosen different paths in life, but I’ll allow it.”
She squinted at him, but she was impressed that he was carrying the joke so far. “So, if you’re nottheprince and the prince is decided by election, then why are youaprince?”
“The offspring or heirs of a sovereign prince areentitledto use prince and princess as courtesytitles.”
“Oh, wow.Entitledis a real thing.” Dree said.
“It is, and several of my relatives act like it, too.”
“Are there princesses now?” Dree asked. Hey, if he was going to tell her fairy tales, she was going to milk this for all it was worth.
“I have some aunts who are princesses. It’s complicated, though. The Council of Nobles doesn’t have to choose the next presumptive heir as the new sovereign prince, but they always have.”
“Oh,tradition.Do I need to start singingFiddler on the Roof?”
“No, but that’s exactly it. Because there was that whole German duke problem, they could,in theory,choose anyone who has a direct lineage back to Princess Charlotte.”
“And you do.”
“Obviously, as I’m the number-two, but lots of people do.”
“So, it’s a crapshoot,” Dree said.
“Yes, and no. Mostly no, although the reference to shooting craps is oddly relevant.”
“Because of the casino.”
“Right,” Augustine said. “The succession is supposed to be male-preferred primogeniture, as I mentioned. The throne went from my grandfather, Prince Rainier III, to his oldest son, who is my uncle Rainier IV, the current prince. However, Rainier IV has no children, so he’s a dead end. The succession would then be to Rainier III’s second son, my father, but he’s dead.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Dree said before she remembered Augustine was telling her fairy tales.
He waved it off. “I only met him a few times. So, my dead father, then Pierre and myself. Because we’re the direct line, we get to use the courtesy titles. If something happens to us or we aren’t offered it, then succession goes to my cousins Alexandre and Christine because their father is also dead. They aren’t considered direct succession, so they don’t get courtesy titles. Xan holds a French title as a duke of a duchy. However, that’s deposed because the French nobles all met Madame Guillotine. That’s when the title passed to a Monegasque nobleman, one of our ancestors, but Christine is considered merely a lady.”
“Oh, how sad for them.”
“Oh, yes, and we remind them of that whenever they’re being assholes, too. Then, if they weren’t offered it or refused it, the crown would go to my uncle Prince Jules Grimaldi and his children, who are Maria-Therese and her sisters. If none of them were elected, then it would go to Prince Albert and his young twins, and then Princess Caroline and her children Andrea and Charlotte Casiraghi, in that order, even though Caroline is older than Albert.”
He pronounced Andrea funny, likeAhn-DRAY-uhinstead ofANN-dree-uhlike she did. She said, “Wow, you’ve put a lot of thought into this story.”
“It’s a subject of great interest at home.”
“Tell me more about the princesses,” Dree giggled. “Are they beautiful and good?”
