Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Common name	Monaco
Native name	''Principatu de Múnegu'' (Monégasque) ''Principauté de Monaco'' (French)
Conventional long name	Principality of Monaco
Image coat	Coat of Arms of Monaco.svg
Map caption
National motto	''"Deo Juvante"''(Latin)"With God's Help"
National anthem	File:Monaco National Anthem.ogg''Hymne Monégasque''
Capital	Monaco
Largest settlement type	Most populated ''quartier''
Largest settlement	Monte Carlo
Official languages	French
Languages type	Common languages
Languages	Monégasque, Italian and English
Ethnicities	French 47%, Monegasque 16%, Italian 16%, other 21%
Government type	Constitutional monarchyPrincipality
Leader title1	Prince
Leader title2	Minister of State
Leader title3	President of the National Council
Leader name1	Albert II
Leader name2	Michel Roger
Leader name3	Stéphane Valeri
Area km2	1.98
Area sq mi	0.76
Area rank	234th
Area magnitude	1 E6
Percent water	0.0
Population estimate	35,986
Population estimate year	2011
Population estimate rank	211th
Population density km2	15,142
Population density sq mi	39,217
Population density rank	1st
Population census	35,352
Population census year	2008
Gdp ppp	$6.888 billion
Gdp ppp year	2011
Gdp ppp rank	n/a
Gdp ppp per capita	$186,175
Gdp ppp per capita rank	n/a
Gdp nominal	US$6.581 billion
Gdp nominal year	2011
Gdp nominal rank	n/a
Gdp nominal per capita	$151,630
Gdp nominal per capita rank	n/a
Hdi year	2010
Hdi	0.946 (1st)
Hdi category	very high
Sovereignty type	Independence
Established event1	House of Grimaldi
Established date1	1297
Established event2	Constitution
Established date2	1911
Currency	Euro
Currency code	EUR
Time zone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Time zone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
Demonym	Monégasque or Monegasque
Cctld	.mc
Calling code	+377
|drives on	right
Footnote1	Monaco is a city-state.
Footnote2	GDP per capita calculations include non-resident workers from France and Italy. }}

Monaco (), officially the Principality of Monaco (; Monégasque: ''Principatu de Múnegu''; ; ), is a sovereign city state on the Côte d'Azur (French Riviera). It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011. Monaco boasts the world's highest GDP nominal per capita at $151,630 and is the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco also has the world's highest life expectancy at almost 90 years, and the lowest unemployment rate. After a recent expansion of Port Hercule Monaco's total area is , with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.

Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state. The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco since 1297, and the state's sovereignty was officially recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monaco being independent and pursuing its own foreign policy course, its national defence is the responsibility of France.

Administrative divisions

Overview

Monaco is the second smallest country (by size) in the world; only the Vatican City is smaller. Monaco is also the world's second smallest monarchy, and is the most densely populated country in the world. The state consists of only one municipality (''commune''). There is no geographical distinction between the State and City of Monaco, although responsibilities of the government (state-level) and of the municipality (city-level) are different. According to the constitution of 1911, the principality was subdivided into three municipalities:

Monaco (Monaco-Ville), the old city on a rocky promontory extending into the Mediterranean, known as the Rock of Monaco, or simply Le Rocher (the Rock), where the palace is located;

Monte Carlo, the principal residential and resort area with the Monte Carlo Casino in the east and northeast;

La Condamine, the southwestern section including the port area, Port Hercule.

The municipalities were merged into one in 1917, after accusations that the government was acting according to the motto "divide and conquer," and they were accorded the status of wards (''quartiers'') thereafter.

Fontvieille was added as fourth ward, a newly constructed area reclaimed from the sea (in the 1970s) also a new district inside of Fontvieille is planned;

Moneghetti became the fifth ward, created from a part of La Condamine;

Larvotto became the sixth ward, created from a part of Monte Carlo;

La Rousse/Saint Roman (including Le Ténao) became the seventh ward, also created from a part of Monte Carlo.

Subsequently, three additional wards were created:

Saint Michel, from a part of Monte Carlo;

La Colle, from a part of La Condamine;

Les Révoires, from a part of La Condamine.

An additional ward was planned by new land reclamation, to be settled beginning in 2014; however, Prince Albert II announced in his 2009 New Year Speech that he had ended plans due to the current economic climate. However a new expansion of Fontvieille is expected to be complete by 2015.

Traditional quarters and modern geographic areas

The traditional four quarters of Monaco are: Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, Monte Carlo and Fontvieille. These quarters and Moneghetti are the five "modern geographic areas", defined by the Monaco Department of Tourism which is situated in Monaco-Ville.

Wards

Currently the principality is subdivided into ten wards (with their official numbers; Le Portier, the proposed ward, was anticipated as number 11):

Ward (country subdivision)City blockMonaco-VilleMonte CarloSaint Roman (community)LarvottoSaint Michel, MonacoLa CondamineLa Colle, MonacoLes Révoires (''Hector Otto-Honoré Labande'')MoneghettiFontvieille, MonacoLe Portier Monaco

No.	Ward ||	Area(km²)	Population(Censusof 2008)	Densitykm2	CityBlocks''(îlots)''||Remarks
colspan="7" style="text-align:center; background:#efefef;"	Former municipality of Monaco
05	|	0.19	1,034	5597	19	Old City with palace
colspan="7" style="text-align:center; background:#efefef;"	Former municipality of Monte Carlo
01	Monte Carlo/Spélugues (''Bd. Des Moulins-Av. de la Madone'')||	0.30	3,834	10779	20	the casino and resort area
02	La Rousse/Saint Roman (''Annonciade-Château Périgord'')||	0.13	3,223	30633	15	in the northeast, incl. Le Ténao
03	Larvotto/Bas Moulins (''Larvotto-Bd Psse Grace'')||	0.34	5,443	16570	15	eastern beach area
10	Saint Michel (''Psse Charlotte-Park Palace'')||	0.14	3,907	26768	24	central residential area
colspan="7" style="text-align:center; background:#efefef;"	Former municipality of La Condamine
04	|	0.27	3,947	16213	27	port area in the northwest
07	La Colle (''Plati-Pasteur-Bd Charles III'')||	0.11	2,829	15005	15	Cap-d'Ail>Cap d'Ail
08	|	0.08	2,545	33203	11	containing the Jardin Exotique de Monaco
09	Moneghetti/ Bd de Belgique (''Bd Rainier III-Bd de Belgique'') ||	0.10	3,003	28051	18
colspan="7" style="text-align:center; background:#efefef;"	New land reclaimed from the sea
06	Fontvieille ||	0.35	3,901	10156	9	started 1971
11	|	0.12(1)	–	-	-	plans put on hold by Prince Albert II in 2009
	|	2.05	35,352	16217	173

''Note: for statistical purposes, the wards of Monaco are further subdivided into 173 city blocks (îlots), which are comparable to the census blocks in the United States''.

History

Monaco's name comes from the 6th century BC nearby Phocaean Greek colony. Referred to the Ligurians as ''Monoikos'', from the Greek "μόνοικος", "single house", from "μόνος" (''monos'') "alone, single" + "οἶκος" (''oikos'') "house", which bears the sense of a people either settled in a "single habitation" or of "living apart" from others. According to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos. Because the only temple of this area was the "House" of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos.

Following a land grant from Emperor Henry VI in 1191, Monaco was re-founded in 1215 as a colony of Genoa. Monaco was first ruled by a member of the House of Grimaldi in 1297, when Francesco Grimaldi ("''Il Malizia''", translated from Italian either as "The Malicious One" or "The Cunning One") and his men captured the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco while he was dressed as a Franciscan monk – a ''Monaco'' in Italian, although this is a coincidence as the area was already known by this name. Francesco, however, was chased off only a few years afterwards by the Genovese forces, and the struggle over "the Rock" continued for another century.

In 1419. the Grimaldis purchased Monaco from the crown of Aragon and became the official and undisputed rulers of "the Rock of Monaco", and it was in 1612 Honore II began to style himself "Prince" of Monaco. In the 1630s, Honore II sought French protection against the Spanish forces and was eventually, in 1642, received in the court of Louis XIII as "Duc et Pair Etranger". The princes of Manaco thus became a vassal of the French kings while at the same time remained a sovereign prince. As the successive princes and their families spent most of their lives in Paris, and through marriages with French nobilities, the House of Grimaldi, Italian in origin, became thoroughly French in character. The principality continued its existence as a protectrate of France until the Great Revolution.

In 1793, French Revolutionary forces captured Monaco and it remained under direct French control until 1814 when the Bourbons returned to the throne. The principality was re-established that year, only to be designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Monaco remained in this position until 1860 when, by the Treaty of Turin, the Sardinian forces pulled out of the principality and the surrounding county of Nice (as well as Savoy) was ceded to France. Monaco became a French protectrate once again. Prior to this time there was unrest in Menton and Roquebrune where the townspeople had been weary of heavy taxation by the Grimaldis, and declared independence hoping for annexation by Sardinia. France protested. The unrest continued until Charles III gave up his claim to the two mainland towns (some 95% of the principality) that the Grimaldis ruled for over 500 years. They were ceded to France in return for 4,100,000 francs. The transfer and Monaco's sovereignty was recognised by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. In 1869, the principality stopped collecting income tax from its residents; indulgence the Grimaldis could afford to entertain thanks solely to extraordinary success of the casino. This made Monaco not only the playground for the rich, but the place to live.

20th century

Until the Monegasque Revolution of 1910 forced the adoption of the 1911 constitution, the princes of Monaco were absolute rulers. The long over-due constitution, however, barely reduced the autocratic rule by the Grimaldis and Albert I soon suspended it. In July 1918, the Franco-Monegasque Treaty was signed providing for limited French protection over Monaco. The treaty, endorsed in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles, established that Monegasque international policy would be aligned with French political, military, and economic interests, and resolved the Monaco Succession Crisis.

In 1943, the Italian army invaded and occupied Monaco, setting up a Fascist administration. Shortly thereafter, following Mussolini's collapse in Italy, the Nazi German Wehrmacht occupied Monaco and began the deportation of the Jewish population. The prominent French Jew René Blum (Paris, 13 March 1878 – Auschwitz, 30 April 1943), who founded the Ballet de l'Opera in Monte Carlo, was arrested in his Paris home and held in the Drancy deportation camp outside Paris, France whence he was then shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed.

Rainier III, who ruled until 2005, acceded to the throne following the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949. On 19 April 1956, Prince Rainier married the American actress Grace Kelly; the event was widely televised and covered in the popular press, focusing the world's attention on the tiny principality.

A new constitution in 1962 abolished capital punishment, provided for women's suffrage, and established a Supreme Court of Monaco to guarantee fundamental liberties. In 1993, the Principality of Monaco became a member of the UN, with full voting rights. In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco specified that, should there be no heirs to carry on the Grimaldi dynasty, the principality would still remain an independent nation rather than revert to France. Monaco's military defence, however, is still the responsibility of France.

On 31 March 2005, Prince Rainier III, too ill to exercise his duties, relinquished them to his only son and heir, Prince Albert Alexandre Louis. Prince Rainier died on 6 April 2005, after a reign of 56 years, and his son, by Princess Grace, succeeded him as Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Following a period of official mourning, Prince Albert II formally assumed the princely crown on 12 July 2005, in a celebration that began with a solemn Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where his father had been buried three months earlier. His accession to the Monegasque throne was a two-step event, with a further ceremony, drawing heads of state for an elaborate ''levée'', held on 19 November 2005 at the historic Prince's Palace in Monaco-Ville.

Law and government

Monaco has been governed under a constitutional monarchy since 1911, with the Sovereign Prince of Monaco as monarch. The executive branch consists of a Minister of State (the head of government), who presides over a five-member Council of Government. Until 2002, the Minister of State was a French citizen appointed by the prince from among candidates proposed by the French government; since a constitutional amendment in 2002, the Minister of State can be French or Monegasque. However, Prince Albert II appointed, on 3 March 2010, the Frenchman Michel Roger as Minister of State.

Under the 1962 constitution, the prince shares his power with the unicameral National Council (parliament). The twenty-four members of this legislative body are elected from lists by universal suffrage for five-year terms. The principality's local affairs are directed by the Communal Council, which consists of fifteen elected members and is presided over by the mayor.

Economy

One of Monaco's main sources of income is tourism; each year many are attracted to its casino and pleasant climate. Monaco's own citizens are not allowed to gamble in the casino. In 2001, a major new construction project extended the pier used by cruise ships in the main harbour. The principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries, such as cosmetics and biothermics.

The state retains monopolies in numerous sectors, including tobacco and the postal service. The telephone network (Monaco Telecom) used to be fully owned by the state; it now owns only 45%, while the remaining 55% is owned by both Cable & Wireless Communications (49%) and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (6%). It is still, however, a monopoly. Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas.

Monaco is not a member of the European Union. However, it is very closely linked via a customs union with France, and as such, its currency is the same as that of France, the euro. Before 2002, Monaco minted its own coins, the Monegasque franc. Monaco has acquired the right to mint euro coins with Monegasque designs on its national side.

Gambling industry

The plan for casino gambling was mooted during the reign of Florestan I in 1846. Under Louis-Philippe's petite-bourgeois regime, however, a dignitary such as Prince of Monaco was not allowed to operate a gambling house. All this changed in the dissolute Second Empire under Napoleon III. The House of Grimaldi was in dire need to generate cash. Menton and Roquebrune, which had been main source of income for the Grimaldis for centuries, now accustomed to much improved standard of living and lenient taxation thanks to Sardinian intervention, clamoured for financial and political concession, even for separation. The Grimaldis hoped the newly legal industry would help alleviate the difficulties they faced, above all the crushing debt the family had incurred, but Monaco's first casino would not be ready to operate until after Charles III assumed the throne in 1856.

The grantee of the princely concession (license) was unable to attract enough business to sustain the operation and, after relocating the casino several times, sold the concession to French casino magnates François and Louis Blanc for 1.7 million francs. The Blancs had already set up a highly successful casino(in fact the biggest in Europe)in Bad-Homburg in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Homburg, a small German principality comparable to Monaco, and quickly petitioned Charles III to rename a depressed seaside area known as "Les Spelegures (Den of Thieves)". "Monte Carlo (Mount Charles)." They then constructed their casino in the newly dubbed "Monte Carlo" and cleared out the area's less-than-savory elements to make the neighborhood surrounding the establishment more conducive to tourism.

The Blancs opened Le Grand Casino de Monte Carlo in 1858, and the casino benefited from the tourist traffic the newly built French railway system created. Due to the combination of the casino and the railroads, Monaco finally recovered from the previous half century of economic slump, and the principality's success attracted other businesses. In the years following the casino's opening Monaco founded its Oceanographic Museum and the Monte Carlo Opera House, 46 hotels sprang up and the number of jewellers operating in Monaco increased by nearly 500 percent. By 1869, the casino was making such a vast sum of money that the principality could afford not to collect tax from the Monegasques; a master stroke that was to attract affluent residents from all over Europe.

Today, Société des bains de mer de Monaco which owns Le Grand Casino still operates in the original building the Blancs constructed and has been joined by several other casinos, including Le Casino Café de Paris, the Monte Carlo Bay Casino, the Monte Carlo Sporting Club & Casino (Summer Casino) and the Sun Casino. The most recent addition to the list—the first casino to open in Monte Carlo in 75 years—is the Monte Carlo Bay Casino, which sits on 4 hectares of the Mediterranean Garden and, among other things, offers 145 slot machines, all equipped with "Ticket-In, Ticket-Out" (TITO); it is the first Mediterranean casino to utilize this technology.

Tax haven

Monaco levies no income tax on individuals. The absence of a personal income tax in the principality has attracted to it a considerable number of wealthy "tax refugee" residents from European countries who derive the majority of their income from activity outside Monaco; celebrities such as Formula One drivers attract most of the attention, but the vast majority of them are less well-known business people.. This applies to all residents of Monaco of any nationality except French citizens whose residency started after 1957. These French citizens still must pay French income tax.

In 1998, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a first report on the consequences of the tax havens' financial systems. Monaco did not appear in the list of these territories until 2004, when OECD became indignant regarding the Monegasque situation and denounced it in its last report, as well as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, underlining its lack of co-operation as regards financial information disclosure and availability.

In 2000, a report by the French parliamentarians, Arnaud Montebourg and Vincent Peillon, alleged that Monaco had lax policies with respect to money laundering, including within its famed casino, and that the government of Monaco had been placing political pressure on the judiciary, so that alleged crimes were not being properly investigated.

In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) stated: "The anti-money laundering system in Monaco is comprehensive. However, difficulties have been encountered with Monaco by countries in international investigations on serious crimes that appear to be linked also with tax matters. In addition, the FIU of Monaco (SICCFIN) suffers a great lack of adequate resources. The authorities of Monaco have stated that they will provide additional resources to SICCFIN." The Principality is no longer blamed in the 2005 FATF report, as well as all other territories. However, since 2003, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Monaco, along with 36 other territories, as a tax haven.

The Council of Europe also decided to issue reports naming tax havens. Twenty-two territories, including Monaco, were thus evaluated between 1998 and 2000 on a first round. Monaco is the only territory that refuses to perform the second round, initially forecast between 2001 and 2003, whereas the 21 other territories are implementing the third and last round, planned between 2005 and 2007.

However, Monaco has high social insurance taxes payable by both employer and employee. The employer's contribution is between 28%–40% (averaging 35%) of gross salary including benefits and the employee pays a further 10%–14% (averaging 13%).

Numismatics

In Monaco, the euro was introduced in 2002. The euro was preceded by the Monegasque franc. In preparation for this date, the minting of the new euro coins started as early as 2001. This is why the first euro coins from Monaco have the year 2001 on them, instead of 2002, like other countries of the Eurozone. Three different designs were selected for the Monegasque coins. In 2006, the design was changed after the death of ruling Prince Rainier to have the effigy of Prince Albert.

Monaco also has a rich and valuable collection of collectors' coins, with face value ranging from €5 to €100. These coins are a legacy of an old national practice of minting silver and gold commemorative coins. Unlike normal issues, these coins are not legal tender in all the Eurozone. For instance, a Monegasque commemorative coin cannot be used in any other country. The same practice concerning commemorative coins is exercised with all eurozone countries. Commemorative coins are legal tender only in their country of issue, unlike normal circulation coins, which are accepted in all euro-zone countries.

Geography

With a total area of , a land border of and a coast measuring the Principality of Monaco is the second-smallest independent state in the world, after the Vatican City. It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, east of Nice, and is surrounded on three sides by France and on the fourth by the sea into which its maritime claims extend to . Its highest point is above sea level, on the southern slopes of Mont Agel whose peak is in France. The country has no natural resources.

Climate

Monaco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), which is influenced by the oceanic climate and the humid subtropical climate.

As a result, it has warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Cool and rainy interludes can interrupt the dry summer season, the average length of which is also shorter. Summer afternoons are infrequently hot (indeed, temperatures > 30 °C /86 °F are rare) as the atmosphere is tempered by constant sea breezes. On the other hand, the nights are very mild, this being due to the fairly high temperature of the sea in summer. Generally, temperatures do not drop below 20 °C in this season. In winter, frosts and snowfalls are extremely rare, generally occurring once or twice every ten years.

Sport and entertainment

Formula One

Since 1955, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held annually in the streets of Monaco. It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. The erection of the ''Circuit de Monaco'' takes six weeks to complete, and the removal after the race another three weeks. The circuit has many elevation changes and tight corners, along with a tunnel. This together with being incredibly narrow and tight makes it perhaps the most demanding Formula One track. Only two drivers have ever crashed into the harbour, the most famous being Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, just four days before losing his life at Monza. The other was Paul Hawkins, during the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix.

Monte Carlo Rally

The Monte Carlo Rally has been held since 1911, having originally been held at the behest of Prince Albert I and is, like the principality's Grand Prix, organised by the ''Automobile Club de Monaco''. It has long been considered to be one of the toughest and most prestigious events in rallying and from 1973 to 2008 was the opening round of the World Rally Championship. From 2009 until 2011, the rally served as the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, having most recently been run on the 19th-22 January 2011 in celebration of the event's centenary.

2012 will mark the return of the Monte Carlo Rally to the WRC calendar with the event taking place from the 20th-22nd of January, 2012.

Football

Monaco hosts two major football teams in the principality; men's football club AS Monaco FC and women's football club OS Monaco. AS Monaco plays at the Stade Louis II and competes in the Ligue 2, the second division of French football. The club is historically one of the most successful clubs in France, however suffered relegation in the 2010–11 season. Because of the popular appeal of living in Monaco and the lack of income tax, many international stars have played for the club, such as Marcelo Gallardo, Jürgen Klinsmann, Oliver Bierhoff, George Weah, John Collins, Fernando Morientes, Thierry Henry, Fabien Barthez, Rafael Márquez, Javier Saviola, Akis Zikos, David Trezeguet, John Arne Riise, Patrice Evra, Shabani Nonda, Emmanuel Adebayor, Eiður Guðjohnsen, Jan Koller, Victor Ikpeba, Park Chu-Young and Mahamadou Diarra.

The club reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, led by the likes of Dado Pršo, Fernando Morientes, Akis Zikos, and Ludovic Giuly, losing 3–0 to Portuguese team F.C. Porto. The Stade Louis II also plays host to the annual UEFA Super Cup, which is played between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The women's team, OS Monaco, competes in the women's French football league system. The club currently plays in the local regional league deep down in the league system, however once played in the Division 1 Féminine in the 1994–95 season, but were quickly relegated. Current French women's international goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi had a short stint at the club before going to the Clairefontaine academy.

Rugby

Monaco's national rugby team, as of March 2010, is 90th in the International Rugby Board rankings.

Other sports

The Monte-Carlo Masters is currently held annually in neighbouring Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, as a professional tournament for men as part of tennis' ATP Masters Series. The tournament has been held since 1897. Golf's Monte Carlo Open was also held at the Monte Carlo Golf Club at Mont Agel in France between 1984 and 1992. Monaco has also competed in the Olympic Games, although, as of 2008, no athlete from Monaco has ever won an Olympic medal.

In 2009, the ''Tour de France'', the world's premier bicycle race, started from Monaco with a 15 km closed-circuit individual time trial starting and finishing there on the first day (4 July) and the 182 km second leg starting there on the following day and ending in Brignoles, France.

Monaco also stage part of the Global Champions Tour (International Show-jumping). Acknowledged as the most glamorous of the series, Monaco will be hosting the world's most celebrated riders, including Monaco's own Charlotte Casiraghi, in a setting facing out over the world's most beautiful yachts, and framed by the Port Hercule and Prince's palace. In 2009, the Monaco stage of the Global Champions tour took place between 25 – 27 June.

The Monaco Marathon is the only marathon in the world to pass through three separate countries, those of Monaco, France and Italy. The 2010 event took place on 21 March. Runners complete the race by returning to the Stade Louis II.

The Monaco Ironman 70.3 triathlon race is an annual event with over 1000 athletes competing and attracts top professional athletes from around the world. The race includes a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride and 21.1 km run.

Since 1993, the headquarters of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body of athletics, has been located in Monaco. An IAAF Diamond League meet is annually held at Stade Louis II.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Monaco has ten state-operated schools, including: seven nursery and primary schools; one secondary school, ''Collège Charles III''; one ''lycée'' that provides general and technological training, ''Lycée Albert 1er''; and one lycée that provides vocational and hotel training, ''Lycée technique et hôtelier de Monte-Carlo''. There are also two grant-aided denominational private schools, including ''Institution François d'Assise Nicolas Barré'' and ''Ecole des Sœurs Dominicaines'', and one international school, the International School of Monaco.

Colleges and universities

There is one university located in Monaco:

International University of Monaco

Demographics

Monaco's population is unusual in that the native Monegasques are a minority in their own country. The largest proportion of residents are French nationals (28%), followed by Monegasque (21.6%), Italians (19%), Anglos (7.5% UK & 1% USA), and Germans, Swiss, and Belgians (2.5% to 3% each); another 15% is labeled as "other" populations. A Monacoian is the term used to describe a person living in Monaco who is not a citizen of Monaco.

Language

The official language of Monaco is French. English is used by American and British residents. The traditional national language is Monégasque, now spoken by only a minority of residents. It resembles Ligurian, which is spoken in Genoa. In the old part of Monaco, street signs are printed in both French and Monégasque. Italian is also spoken by the principality's sizable community from Italy.

Religion

Christian

Roman Catholic

The official religion is Roman Catholicism, with freedom of other religions guaranteed by the constitution. There are five Roman Catholic parish churches in Monaco and one cathedral, which is the seat of the archbishop of Monaco. The diocese, which has existed since the mid-nineteenth century, was raised to an archbishopric in 1981 as the Archdiocese of Monaco. The patron saint is Saint Devota.

Anglican

There is one Anglican church (St. Paul's Church), located in the Avenue de Grande Bretagne in Monte Carlo. In 2007 this had a formal membership of 135 Anglicans resident in the principality, but was also serving a considerably larger number of Anglicans temporarily in the country, mostly as tourists. The church site also accommodates an English-language library of over 3,000 books. The church is part of the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe.

Jewish

The Association Culturelle Israélite de Monaco (founded 1948) is a converted house containing a synagogue, a community Hebrew school, and a kosher food shop, located in Monte Carlo. The community (approximately 1,500) mainly consists of retired Jews from Britain (40%) and North Africa. Two thirds of the Jewish population there are Sephardic, mainly from North Africa, while the other third is Ashkenazi.

Security

The wider defence of the nation is provided by France. Monaco has no navy or air force, but on both a per-capita and per-area basis, Monaco has the largest police force (515 police officers for 35,000 people) and police presence in the world. Its police includes a specialist unit which operates patrol and surveillance boats. There is also a small military consisting of a bodyguard unit for the Prince and his palace called the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince which numbers 116 officers and men and is equipped with modern weapons such as M16 rifles and 9 mm pistols, and a militarized (and armed) fire and civil defence Corps.

The Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince (Prince's Company of Carabiniers) is a military unit of the military force of Monaco. It was created by Prince Honoré IV in 1817 for the protection of the Principality and the Princely family. The company numbers exactly 116 officers and men; while the NCOs and soldiers are local, the officers have generally served in the French Army. Together with the local fire service (Sapeurs-Pompiers), the Carabiniers form Monaco's total public forces. In addition to their guard duties, the company patrols the Principality's beaches and coastal waters, as well as duties around the Palace in Monaco-Ville.

Flag

The flag of Monaco is one of the world's oldest national flag designs. The flag of Monaco is identical to the flag of Indonesia, except for the ratio of height to width.

Transport

Monaco is served by several train systems and the Monte Carlo International Heliport. The closest airport is Côte d'Azur Airport in Nice, France. Some airlines marketed Monaco via Nice Airport.

See also

Association des Guides et Scouts de Monaco

Foreign relations of Monaco

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	The Stig
portrayer
creator	Andy Wilman
introducer	Jeremy Clarkson
series	Top Gear
years	2002—present
first	20 October 2002
occupation	Test driver and trainer for celebrity guests }}

The Stig is a character in the British motoring television show ''Top Gear''. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy Clarkson and the show's producer Andy Wilman. "Stig" was a nickname for new boys at their old school, Repton. Although there is one "main" Stig, there are several "spin-off" Stigs, referred to by the presenters as "The Stig's cousin."

The Stig is responsible for setting lap times for cars tested on the show, as well as instructing celebrity guests in the show's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car section. (see "Role" below) There have currently been 3 Stigs - The first Stig started on episode 1, but was killed off in the first episode of series 3. The second Stig appeared in the next episode, and lasted until series 15. The third Stig took over from December 2010.

The BBC has always refused to confirm officially the identity of the driver who plays the Stig. "Who is The Stig?" became a frequently asked question on the internet. The identity of the original 'Black' Stig, Perry McCarthy, was exposed by a Sunday newspaper after the first series of the show, in January 2003. McCarthy confirmed that he was 'The Stig' in the second edition of his autobiography, published following series two, and is now generally acknowledged as having been the first Stig, even by BBC media. The second Stig's identity was revealed, in his own autobiography, as Ben Collins, a professional racing driver who has participated in Formula Three, Indy Lights, sportscars, GT racing, stock cars & V8 Supercars.

Creation and name

The idea for the character was part of host Jeremy Clarkson's and producer Andy Wilman's concept for the relaunched ''Top Gear'' show, bringing a new format to the original version of Top Gear which ceased production in 2001. The relaunched show would introduce a live studio audience, the Stig, a racetrack, and madcap stunts. Clarkson is credited by the ''Sunday Times'' with having come up with the original idea for the Stig. Clarkson and Wilman wanted to have a professional racing driver as part of the show's cast, but ran into difficulty finding a driver sufficiently adept at speaking on-camera. Clarkson then asked Wilman why the driver needed to speak at all, and the decision was made that the Stig's role would be silent.

The name Stig derives from Wilman and Clarkson's time at the private Repton School, where new boys had always been called "Stig". According to McCarthy, speaking in 2006, the producers had wanted the anonymous driver to be called 'The Gimp', referring to the use of gimp suits in BDSM sexual role-playing. After McCarthy objected, the name Stig was settled upon. McCarthy had said of the idea at the time that "I don't want to be forever remembered as the Gimp".

Characteristics

Uniform

The Black Stig wore a black helmet and overalls. The White Stig (MkI) uniform consists of a white Alpinestars racing suit with small Grand Prix Racewear logo, a white Simpson Bandit and later, Diamondback race helmet, black on white Alpinestars Tech 1-ZX gloves, and white Alpinestars Tech 1-T racing shoes. His white helmet was originally a Simpson Speedway RX model, while his shoes also began as Alpinestars Tech 1-K kart items.. The New Stig's uniform is very similar to the previous Stig but has black epaulettes.

According to the ''Sunday Times'' writing in 2006, most of the crew did not know his identity, relaying how one camera assistant once observed him eating his lunch in the back of an ambulance to avoid being spotted. Again according to ''The Sunday Times'' writing in 2009, just a few BBC production staff and other journalists knew the Stig's real identity. The Stig has been depicted on the show as being stopped by police during the race from Caterham to Knockhill after he crossed the Forth Road Bridge and refused to lift his visor or give his name.

Anonymity and silence

In the very first episode when introducing the Black Stig, Clarkson noted that, "We don't know its name, we really don't know its name, nobody knows its name, and we don't wanna know, 'cause it's a racing driver". According to the ''Daily Mail'' writing in 2010, his face is never revealed on set, not even the celebrity guests training on the reasonably priced car are allowed to learn his identity. He stays suited and with his helmet on throughout the show, arriving early and leaving late, and having his own dressing room and eating privately. The studio audience has no access to him at any time.

Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is never shown talking on screen. Clarkson has joked that he is "not a very talkative chap" when keeping silent while on set, in order to hide his identity. In a rare spoken interview, the Stig has reportedly said when asked what his real name was, that he didn't remember because his memory had been erased when he got the job. The Stig's muteness is extended to appearances in other media, such as the 'Brain Stig' viral video released by the BBC on their YouTube channel, to promote the new Top Gear website in 2009, depicting a frustrated staff member holding a brainstorming session for show ideas.

Clarkson has written in his newspaper column that the Stig is not permitted to talk because "the opinions of all racing drivers are completely worthless", going on to explain that, because of their familiarity with cars equipped for track racing, they believe any and all road cars are rubbish, even a Lamborghini Gallardo or a Bugatti Veyron. He confirmed this by test driving for himself a BMW 3-series diesel road car converted to a race car, complete with slick tyres, race suspension and brakes, and concluding that driving it was "more exciting and more fun to drive than any supercar".

Driving ability

The show has often compared and contrasted the Stig's driving ability, particularly against Formula One drivers. When Jeremy Clarkson revealed that the Stig believed that the Suzuki Liana, the show's Reasonably Priced Car at the time, could do a time of 1:44, a former F1 driver, Nigel Mansell, appearing as a guest on the programme, duly obliged by posting a lap time of 1:44.6, while the Stig then posted a lap time of 1:44.4. Clarkson has often mentioned that F1 drivers seem to take a different racing line on the test track than the Stig, such as on Jenson Button's drive; however, during Rubens Barrichello's and Lewis Hamilton's visits to the show, Clarkson observed that they took the same line around the track as The Stig. Formula One driver Mark Webber's appearance on the show was marked at the conclusion of his lap with Clarkson presenting him with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt. The show made various references to the Stig apparently having developed a jealous rivalry with Rubens Barrichello, after he became the first person to beat his time posted in the "Reasonably Priced Car" by a tenth of a second, posting a lap time of 1:44.3. Sebastian Vettel currently holds the record for F1 drivers with a time of 1:44.0.

Other characteristics

The Stig has been described by Clarkson as having a very small brain, worthless opinions, and a disorder called "Mansell Syndrome".

The Stig's status and oddity has often been underlined with humorous introductions by the presenters before his appearances on the show. Initially, the Stig would be given simple humorous introductions on the show, such as "His Holiness, The Stig!" (introducing the Power Lap for the Bowler Wildcat.) Beginning in Series 6, these began to follow a format of "Some say that [facts]. All we know is, he's called the Stig.", where the facts give away some unusual trait or other detail about the Stig. These often detail his odd character traits, such as being afraid of bells or confused by stairs. His possibly machine like or at least non-human body is hinted at by revelations that his voice can only be heard by cats, or that he never blinks, naturally faces magnetic north, all his legs are hydraulic, he has two sets of knees, and heart ticks like a watch. He is even hinted at being a wild creature, spending his spare time catching fish with his tongue or foraging for wolves in the woods. Other odd details revealed in these introductions have included such facts as his face appears on high-value stamps in Sweden his left nipple is the shape of the Nürburgring, one of his eyes is a testicle, that he invented the curtain, that he daydreams of Rubens Barrichello being caught in a ham slicer, his salary is paid by the BBC in strong pornography, and that he developed the wonderful scent of Wednesday.

His introductions often jokingly refer to current events of the day, such as when Clarkson introduced Michael Schumacher as the Stig in 2009 by stating he "recently submitted a £20,000 expenses claim for some gravel for his moat," in reference to the MPs' expenses scandal, or when it was said "if you give him a really important job, he'll skive off and play croquet", referring to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in 2006. One introduction even made reference to the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana: "Some say that he's banned from the town of Chichester and that in a recent late-night deal, he bought a slightly dented white Fiat Uno from the Duke of Edinburgh."

For the trip to the Isle of Man road test, the Stig was depicted as a piece of cargo, being collected by Clarkson from the baggage conveyor at the airport. On the ''Top Gear'' 2005 DVD ''Revved Up'', the Stig is depicted as being stored in a cupboard when not in use. The Stig is also portrayed as having bizarre listening habits as heard on the car stereo as he performs Power Laps. Often a specific genre is chosen for one or more series. These have included power ballads, one-hit wonders, easy listening, country and western, Morse code, progressive rock, whale songs, baroque, advertising jingles, foreign language tapes, romantic novels, salesman techniques, the hits of Elton John, the speeches of Margaret Thatcher, self-help tapes, pipe band music, Chas & Dave, vuvuzelas, and, in episode 5 of series 15, the Bee Gees.

The Stig's odd persona was maintained in his appearance at the National Television Awards, when he silently accepted an award, and handed the host Griff Rhys Jones a letter from Clarkson, May and Hammond, instructing him to give the Stig the award in his left hand, as his right one is magnetic, and cautioning organisers that he wasn't to be seated near the cast of ''Coronation Street'', as "he's decided all northerners are edible".

Role

The Stig is credited alongside Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May as a presenter of ''Top Gear'' in the end credits. The Stig's primary roles on the show centre on the ''Top Gear'' test track at the show's base at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. His two main functions are to post lap times for various featured performance cars in the 'Power Laps' segment, and to train celebrity guests to set lap times on the test track in the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment.

The Stig's role as a test driver is described on the ''Top Gear'' website Power Laps board as follows:

When first introduced, the Stig was described as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. His stated mission was to "just go out there and drive fast". This was reflected by the original Stig Perry McCarthy who described in 2006 how a racing driver was intended to be used as part of the presenting team in order to produce definitive fastest lap times for tested cars.

Identity

Previous Stigs

Black Stig

name	The Stig (Black)
series	Top Gear
years	2002–2003
first	20 October 2002
last	26 October 2003
cause	Drove a car off the flight deck of HMS ''Invincible''
portrayer	Perry McCarthy }}

Racing driver Perry McCarthy was the original, Black Stig, appearing in 22 episodes of the programme in all.

McCarthy got the role of the Stig after a chance meeting with Jeremy Clarkson at the launch party for McCarthy's autobiography, ''Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!'', published on 4 July 2002. This led to an audition as a regular presenter, before the production team then decided the racing driver would be anonymous. (Although in 2008, McCarthy said that Clarkson mentioned the idea of a 'top secret' racing driver at their first meeting.)

After the first series ended, an article on 12 January 2003 in ''The Sunday Mirror'' named the Stig as Perry McCarthy. The newspaper quoted a show insider stating "Just a handful of the crew know that he is actually Perry". At the time, McCarthy simply stated "I do know who the Stig is but I cannot comment any further." After the second series ended, McCarthy published the second edition of his autobiography, confirming that he was The Stig. McCarthy was then "killed off" in the first episode of the third series, which aired on 26 October 2003.

The scene which saw Black Stig "killed off", nicknamed "Top Gun vs Top Gear", was an attempt to race to and then come to a halt on the long flight deck of HMS ''Invincible'', a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, on which British Aerospace Sea Harrier jump jets reach before take-off. He would be using the 'old Top Gear Jag', a white Jaguar XJS bought for a 'couple of hundred quid', stripped of its fittings and fitted with nitrous injection, to take it to , which had been featured in series 2, beating 'just about every supercar on the planet' in a drag race. Black Stig accelerated along the deck, and an on screen speedometer indicated , before a cutaway shot saw the car flying off the end of the runway ramp and into the sea. Clarkson then revealed in the last scene of the episode, that the shot of a glove floating on the sea was all that divers had found. According to McCarthy, "We tried to make it as much like a scene out of James Bond as possible".

The explanations for his exit vary. Speaking in 2008, McCarthy stated "My time at Top Gear ended nicely enough. I’d had a great time and felt it was time to call it a day. So we all shook hands and they threw me off an aircraft carrier." ''The Times'' claimed in 2009 that he fell out with producers. In August 2010, he described how he became tired of the job, which he claimed paid just £700 a week. He said part of his annoyance with the role had come from an attempt by a car owner to sue him for ruining his car, a rare Jaguar C-Type, winner of the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours, and the BBC stating they could not defend him due to his anonymity. He stated that the BBC eventually chose not to renew his contract, and wrote him out.

Speaking in 2009, McCarthy relayed how to keep his anonymity, when he drove to work as the Stig, he would don the Stig's helmet while going through the security gates at Dunsfold aerodrome, and then he would change into his racing overalls in a special room behind the gatehouse, before then driving into the studio areas. He would speak as little as possible in the backstage areas, and put on an accent, which some mistook as French. McCarthy also explained that hiding his identity while coaching the celebrities for ''Star in a Reasonably Priced Car'' proved difficult. He stated that he did reveal his true identity while coaching Ross Kemp and David Soul, as he had previously met them. For other drives, if celebrities asked if he was a particular person, he would just say "How did you know?", adding that more often than not, the suggestion was Michael Schumacher.

Having had background in top level motor racing before ''Top Gear'', and having originally intended to be a Formula One driver, albeit failing to qualify for any races in the 1992 Formula One season for the Moda Judd team, McCarthy stated in 2006 he did not regret leaving the supercars on ''Top Gear'', and instead harboured ambitions at re-entering racing in the Grand Prix Masters series. After ''Top Gear'' he went on to run an investment company, and earn £6,000 a time doing after dinner speaking.

However, according to the ''Sunday Times'' writing in 2009, McCarthy had revealed in his book that there had always been more than one Stig, and that 47 year-old Julian Bailey, a former Formula One driver for Tyrrell and Lotus, had acted as a stand in for McCarthy, as Black Stig. In a June 2009 interview with the ''Daily Mail'', Bailey, who was selling his home in Effingham, Surrey, said "I was one of the Stigs...which was pretty handy as filming was done just down the road...I have stopped now, but I am not supposed to talk about it."

The First White Stig

name	The First White Stig
portrayer	Ben Collins, occasionally others
series	Top Gear
years	2003—2010
first	2 November 2003
last	1 August 2010
cause	Fired for revealing identity }}

This Stig started in the episode after Black Stig was killed off, and lasted until August 2010, when he revealed himself as Ben Collins. This Stig's job was similar to the last Stig's although whilst Black Stig was primarily used for Power Lap times and ''Reasonably Priced Car'' training, the white Stig's role had been expanded, and he has been used beyond the ''Top Gear'' test track in other show challenges and road tests, such as producing timed runs in the Isle of Man road test, driving a Caterham Seven from Caterham to Knockhill, riding a London Bus, the DLR and the Tube across London, and jumping a snowmobile off a ski-jump in Lillehammer, Norway. He has also been used in various roles at the studio, such as playing a police pursuit driver in the White Van Man challenge.

Since Clarkson's 2010 DVD ''The Italian Job'', This Stig is now known as "Sacked Stig".

Speculation over the White Stig's identity

There had been much speculation over the identity of this Stig since 2005, from various sources, claiming that a number of drivers, including Collins, Damon Hill, Julian Bailey, Russ Swift, Darren Turner and Tim Schrick, as well as former Top Gear Presenter, now Fifth Gear presenter Tiff Needell were the Stig. There had also been speculation of multiple drivers being the Stig. Many people had also claimed to be the Stig themselves, including Jay Kay and Damon Hill.

When Richard Hammond crashed a rocket-powered car, the accident report into the crash described Ben Collins as someone ''who worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant''.

Original Stig Perry McCarthy stated in November 2006 that he knew who the White Stig was, and hinted at the multiple driver theory.

Many racing drivers, and principals, including Andrew Kirkaldy, Susie Stoddart and Stewart Roden claimed to know who it was, saying that "In the racing world, a lot of the team managers (and racing drivers) know who is under the helmet, but it's top secret", with Kirkaldy claiming ''He's reasonably quiet and modest and doesn't ever talk about it. I only found out by chance and he's certainly never admitted it."

After observing the Stig's charity drive around the Silverstone Circuit just before the July 2008 British Grand Prix, former Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso remarked, "Whoever’s in that car is a seriously good driver... I’ve no idea who he is, but he’s definitely ex-F1".

During 2009, the rumours of the Stig's identity increased rapidly, with various newspapers claiming during January that it was indeed Collins. These include a builder who claimed to have seen his white helmet and uniform on display in his house while doing some work for him, and an art gallery owner and his son claiming that in 2008 a man had enquired about the creation of 450 signed and limited edition prints of the Stig. He first claimed to be a BBC executive, but then revealed himself to be the Stig after they agreed to do the job and signed a confidentiality agreement to keep it secret.

Furthermore, the tabloid ''News of the World'' obtained information stating he was on a salary of around £150,000 a year, by combining his ''Top Gear'' job with some stunt and test driving. He was in his 30s, married, living in a £300,000 home and drove a car worth £15,000. It quoted the BBC source stating "This is the best-kept secret in motor racing and we want to keep it that way. No one will ever officially confirm his identity." This contradicts with many newspapers beliefs (and that of car magazines, such as Peter Lawton, consumer editor of ''What Car?'' magazine) that this had been an "open secret within the motoring world for some years" which the media had previously kept secret in order to "uphold the spirit of the programme".

A BBC source said "The simple fact of the matter is that there are currently four Stigs who drive on the test track" for reasons of practicality. The report claimed that in addition to the rumoured Ben Collins,and MIRA Ice Racing Champion Mike Wilson, Julian Bailey was also currently working as the Stig, with more drivers also used when their schedules clashed. Supporting this, it relayed the source's explanation that if you look at the show the height of the Stig varies.

Whilst these rumours were ongoing, the ''Top Gear'' website blog facetiously revealed that the Stig was a Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Tom McKillop attempting to recover crippling losses, as well as the newly elected US President Barack Obama, who only ran for election to fill in the time between series, and Graham Hill, who they claim faked his own death in a plane crash in 1975 to take the role.

In his newspaper column in ''The Sun'' on 24 January 2009, Clarkson joked that the Stig was in fact the BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell, declaring he would now have to be killed by being dropped from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane, and the ''Telegraph'' will have to now find another big secret to expose, such as the size of the TARDIS, or the identity of Father Christmas.

The ''Daily Mail'' claimed it had tracked down "another former Stig" who anonymously told them the names of a total of eight drivers who had "recently stood in as the test-driving mystery man." In addition to the previously mentioned Ben Collins and Julian Bailey, and the man named "Will", the paper named the Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen, the former GT world champion Chris Goodwin, stunt drivers Terry Grant and Russ Swift, and the Swedish snow mobile racing champion Dan Lang. It claimed Kovalainen raced a Formula One car around the test track in 2004, and Lang was the driver in the snowmobile ski jump stunt. The BBC refused to comment on the story.

In September 2009, British racing driver Justin Bell, best friend of the original Stig Perry McCarthy, has said he knew who the Stig was, but would not reveal his name. He also stated that he didn't understand why he did it, stating "You can't talk about it and nobody knows who you are. There's nothing good about it ... unless you go to a convention of other people in white helmets and white suits". Bell spoke out after being hired for the job of driving instructor on ''The Jay Leno Show'''s Green Car Challenge segment, similar to the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, causing him to be dubbed 'America's Stig'.

In September 2010, it was claimed that 26-year-old racing driver Phil Keen had stood in for the White Stig, both behind the wheel, and in appearances, when Collins was unavailable, including at the 2009 ''Top Gear Live'' event in Germany.

Michael Schumacher 'revealed'

On 20 June 2009, Jeremy Clarkson revealed in his ''Sun'' newspaper column that the Stig would finally show the world his face, in the series thirteen opening episode to be broadcast the next day. Clarkson said that The Stig wished to unmask himself to quash speculation over his identity, stating "He's been fed up with newspapers speculating that he's a photocopier salesman from Bolton, or lives in a pebble-dashed house in Bristol".

The show first depicted the Stig driving a Ferrari FXX round the test track in a time of 1:10.7 seconds. Afterwards, after walking into the studio and sitting on the green couch, with the audience shouting "Off! Off! Off! Off!", the Stig took his helmet off to reveal he was the former Formula One multiple World Champion Michael Schumacher. In the following interview, Schumacher then played up to some of the supposed defining character traits of the Stig, such as the claim he only knows two facts about ducks (both being wrong), and that he is illegal in only nine (and not seventeen) US states.

The BBC would initially not confirm or deny it was a just a stunt, but a spokesman was quoted as saying "You have to bear in mind that Top Gear is an entertainment programme. We never reveal who or what The Stig is,". The next day however, ''The Telegraph'' wrote: "A spokesman for Top Gear confirmed Schumacher had been The Stig during the Ferrari circuit, driving his own car ... But the spokesman added that the identity of the driver at other times would remain "a mystery".

Ben Collins' autobiography

On 19 August 2010 it was reported that there was a legal dispute progressing between publishers representing the Stig and the BBC over plans to release an autobiography revealing his identity. It stated that the dispute surrounded the Stig's dissatisfaction at being unable to exploit his fame, and earning an estimated £5,000 and £10,000 per show, compared to six and seven figure earnings by the other ''Top Gear'' presenters. It described the situation as incredibly tense, with Clarkson said to be deeply upset, and with show insiders fearing that the Stig could either quit the show, or be fired, with the dispute needing to be settled way before the sixteenth series. A BBC spokesman confirmed to the paper that "The BBC is in a legal dispute over the publication of a book relating to ''Top Gear'' as this breaches agreed contractual and confidentiality obligations relating to the show."

Then, the ''Sunday Times'' claimed to have unearthed more evidence that showed Collins was the Stig, namely financial documents for his company Collins Autosport dating back to the White Stig's entry to the show. They stated the documents reported in December 2003 an increase in profits, put down to "driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme", just a month after the White Stig's first appearance. When contacted over the story, Collins merely stated "I can't speak to you. I'm going into a tunnel". Responding to the report, the BBC stated that it was "no surprise that Ben Collins's company listed Top Gear amongst its work as the driver had appeared numerous times on the programme and he often supplied other drivers for both the programme and Top Gear Live".

The BBC sued the publisher for an attempt to profit from the unauthorised use of the Top Gear brand, maintaining that revealing the identity would spoil viewers' enjoyment of the show. The publisher responded, stating "We are disappointed that the BBC has chosen to spend licence fee payers' money to suppress this book and will vigorously defend the perfectly legitimate right of this individual to tell his story".

The ''Top Gear'' executive producer Andy Wilman wrote on a ''Top Gear'' blog on 27 August, attacking the publisher for trying to cash in on the programme, describing them as a "bunch of chancers", describing the action as an issue of trust, and justifying the use of license fee to fight the case based on the brand's value to the programme and the viewers, clarifying that half of the case costs were being met by BBC Worldwide, their commercial arm.

On 29 August 2010, the ''Daily Mirror'' claimed the BBC had already sacked Collins from the Stig role, citing the Stig's appearance at the ''Top Gear Live'' August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring in Germany, at the same time as Collins was photographed at his West Country home. When asked about the ongoing High Court action, Collins stated "I am not allowed to talk about it." Despite objections from the publisher, the legal case hearings began in private on 31 August.

Outcome

After a day and a half of hearings, the case concluded, with the judge finding against the BBC, refusing to grant an injunction blocking the publication. The proposed book was reportedly called ''The Man in the White Suit'', and was indeed about Ben Collins, but still clarifying that it "won't confirm or deny that Ben Collins either was or remains The Stig". Collins was in court to hear the final judgement. HarperCollins confirmed that the reasons for declining the injunction were to be given by the judge later, in a private judgement.

Both Collins and HarperCollins refused to confirm his status as the Stig to reporters waiting outside the court after the case, but the publisher maintained surprise at the BBC's decision to fight the case, stating the information in dispute had always been in the public domain. Following the court ruling, Collins' autobiography, ''The Man in the White Suit'', was due to be published on 16 September 2010. As of 2 September 2010, the web site of the Gordon Poole Agency, the talent agency representing Ben Collins, referred to Collins as ''Top Gear's The Stig.''

In the immediate reaction, ''The Telegraph'' asserted that the judgement meant that the Stig had now been conclusively outed as Ben Collins, bringing an end to seven years of speculation and theories as to who wore the white overalls. It also conceded that, " with the corporation yet to officially acknowledge the fact, Collins' future in the role is less certain". The BBC News website published a profile of Collins' career on the same day, but merely stated that he will "publish an autobiography in which he claims to be The Stig".

Aftermath

Following the BBC's failure to obtain an injunction against the autobiography, James May jokingly stated "Obviously I'm now going to have to take some legal action of my own, because I have been the Stig for the past seven years, and I don't know who this bloke is, who's mincing around in the High Court pretending it's him." May kept up the pretence in a column in ''The Telegraph'', expounding on his double life as Captain Slow and the Stig, and how his replacement was named Collins - the Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins.

A couple of names were then considered to be the next Stig, if there was to be one, most notably Heikki Kovalainen and Anthony Davidson as the favourites, as well as former White Stig stand-in, racing driver Phil Keen. The odds on a female Stig were also cut, after Clarkson suggested the character will be replaced.

''The Telegraph'' claimed that Collins had been axed by ''Top Gear'', citing BBC sources who said that as a result of the court case, Collins' contract with the BBC, having already expired in the previous month, would not now be renewed by the BBC. It claimed that a television talent management agency was now planning to use Collins in a new show in competition with ''Top Gear''. It also claimed the BBC had spent up to £100,000 in their bid to have the court impose a temporary injunction banning Collins' book.

Speaking to a radio station the same day, James May explained that in the new series of the show, for which filming was to start the following week, he will be dealt with in a similar way to how the Black Stig was killed off and replaced, having "had to be dealt with by Andy [Wilman, the show producer]". Possible ideas included "driving to The Stig's house and nailing his head to the table", in addition to reclaiming the overalls, shoes and gloves, which were "not his", claiming Wilman was furious at Collins for writing his autobiography.

On 4 September, ''The Sun'' quoted a BBC spokeswoman as saying "No decision has yet been made as to whether The Stig will be killed off.

Under the heading 'Driver Wanted', Jeremy wrote in his column in ''The Sun'' that "''Top Gear'', the motoring show on BBC2, is looking for a driver with a high level of racing experience to be The Stig. The successful applicant need not speak English, or indeed any language at all, but he or she must hate Boy Scouts, be able to punch a horse to the ground, have eyes that blink sideways and, most important of all, understand that no one, under any circumstances, should ever rat on their friends." The newspaper claimed only three people other than the presenters Clarkson, Hammond and May, had known the Stig's identity for certain, before the High Court judgement.

In an interview on 7 September 2010, Jeremy Clarkson said, 'put it this way, he's history as far as we are concerned. He's sacked.'

On 5 November 2010, the Top Gear website released a video clip about its "Stig Farm", the end of which introduced a new Stig for ''Top Gear Live''. He sports a white helmet and overalls, with black highlights on the shoes, sleeves and shoulders. The video also featured a satire of Collins' autobiography, in which one example of a Stig tries to write a book on a computer, before proceeding to correct one of its numerous mistakes with Tippex.

In the USA road trip (aired 21 December 2010), the presenters branded the Stig a traitor, with James May declaring his true name to be Judas Iscariot. In a later challenge in which the presenters had to take part in a mock drive-by shooting, the targets used were cardboard cut-outs of the Stig—which, on his turn, Hammond turned around to take the specific opportunity to "shoot [the Stig] in the ''back''!"

During Collins' appearance with the military amputees rally team broadcast in July 2011, Collins was introduced and acknowledged by ''Top Gear''-presenter Richard Hammond as "ex-Stig … Ben Collins".

The Second White Stig (Current Stig)

name	The Second White Stig
series	Top Gear
years	2010—
first	26 December 2010
latest	23 January 2011 }}

After the identity of the previous Stig was revealed, the producers of Top Gear were unsure about whether to have a new Stig. Pictures emerged, however, of a 'Stig Farm', in which the producers and presenters supposedly went to pick the new Stig. At the end of the Middle East Special, James, Jeremy and Richard went to the manger in Bethlehem and the baby turned out to be a baby Stig. In the first episode of series 16, Jeremy and James explained that Stigs grow very quickly and within a month Baby Stig was fully grown and referred to him as New Stig. He allegedly set broadly very similar lap times to "Sacked Stig". He set the fastest time of any car around the track of 1:15.1 in an Ariel Atom V8 on his first episode.

Appearance before Birth

'New Stig' appeared in 'The Ashes Special' which aired in Australia in September 2010 (before Stig's birth in December 2010). Although, it wasn't revealed to be the new Stig in the Australian Coverage as it was in the English Coverage (which aired during Series 16).

The Stig's 'cousins'

The Stig is also portrayed as having an extended family of cousins who appear in his place, reinforcing various comical stereotypes.

In the US Special in 2006, the show featured a portly American cousin nicknamed "Big Stig" with a relaxed driving style. He raced the presenters' cars around the Moroso Motorsports Park track. "Big Stig" should not be confused with the white Stig of ''Top Gear America''.

The Botswana Special featured the Stig's African cousin, with dark skin, wearing just Puma racing boots, a loincloth, white racing gloves and the iconic white helmet. He raced the presenters' chosen cars around an improvised rally track. According to the Special's DVD commentary, this cousin did have experience in Formula 1 racing.

In Series 12, episode 1, 'Rig Stig' made his debut, sporting a "sunburned" right sleeve and glove in reference to his supposed job as a lorry driver. He appeared powersliding a Team Oliver racing truck to show to the presenters that a lorry could drift.

There was another cousin in the Vietnam Special, although his scenes were not broadcast due to time constraints. He was nicknamed the Stig's Vietnamese/Communist cousin and wore a red uniform. The footage was however included in a later DVD release. Top Gear hired a local motorcycle stunt rider.

In Series 14, episode 2, the Stig's vegetarian cousin, nicknamed "Janet Stig Porter", appeared. He wore green overalls, Birkenstock sandals with socks and a solar-powered helmet. He drove the presenters' "Hammerhead iEagle Thrust" hybrid around the MIRA test circuit to see how long it would last, but eventually died from the car's diesel fumes.

In Series 15, episode 2, the Stig's German cousin, nicknamed "Herr Stig" and "Stiggy Ray Cyrus" (a parody of Billy Ray Cyrus), he was almost identical to the main Stig, wearing white overalls, the main difference being that he had a mullet haircut. He drove the presenters' cheap sports saloons around a German track.

In Series 10, episode 10, The Stig was portrayed as being on holiday in Spain, catching some sun by a swimming pool while in full gear. In the background, there is a woman swimming wearing a bikini and an identical iconic white helmet.

The U.S. ''Top Gear'', ''Top Gear Australia'' and ''Top Gear Russia'' also feature their own versions of The Stig.

Temporary Stigs

In the Winter Olympics special, Top Gear used Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile champion, to jump a snowmobile.

In the USA Road Trip (aired 21 December 2010), Tiff Needell was brought in as an 'Emergency Stig' to train Danny Boyle on the track.

Other appearances

In June 2008 Stig drove a passenger in a two-seat Formula One car at up to for three laps around the Silverstone Circuit in wet conditions, hours before the start of the 2008 British Grand Prix. The drive was the prize in a charity auction held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital where the winning bidder paid £35,000 for the privilege. Stig appeared at the October 2008 National Television Awards to accept ''Top Gear's'' third award for best factual programme, as the other presenters were ostensibly busy filming the new series. The Stig also appears at ''Top Gear Live'' events, such as the August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring in Germany, in which he is billed as the star of the show alongside the other stunt drivers and cars, with the other ''Top Gear'' presenters not playing a part. The Stig has also appeared outside ''Top Gear'' in Clarkson's motoring DVDs since 2005. He also appeared before the 2011 British Grand Prix whilst Clarkson and Hammond gave the camera crew a tour of the Top Gear studio.

In the 2011 X Games 17, The Stig can be seen walking in the background during one of Brian Deegan's interviews during Rallycross.

Cultural impact and merchandising

''The Scotsman'' described the Stig in 2008 as a "real-life James Bond able to tame the most powerful cars, while possessing all the mystique of Zorro" ''The Sunday Times'' in 2009 described the Stig as "not a man but an idea, possibly an extraterrestrial", speculating that, along the lines of the Spartacus mythology, that the more people were linked with the character, the stronger the mystery would become. It paid tribute for how long the show had actually kept the secret.

On the question of 'Who is the Stig?', it has been described variously by ''The Telegraph'' as one of the most popular internet search questions of 2009, by ''The Times'' in 2009 as one of the ten most-searched-for terms on the Ask.com internet search engine, and by the ''Sunday Times'' as most-asked question on the internet in 2008. In addition, the ''Sunday Times'' has stated that on-line and text-answering services rated it as one of the most popular questions of all time, along with the meaning of life.

With the BBC asserting that the anonymity of the Stig was a vital part of the show's appeal which was valued by the audience during their legal dispute with HarperCollins, an on-line poll by ''The Guardian'' asking the question "Do we need a new Stig?", returned 64% "Yes - his identity should always be a mystery", against 36% for "No - why the big fuss over a man in a helmet?".

After the High Court judgment allowing Ben Collins to publish his autobiography revealing himself as White Stig, ''The Guardian'' asserted that the question of the character's identity had "always been one of the modern age's greatest mysteries", and immediately posed the question, "if the Stig is dead, then who'll be the new Stig?", adding, "The whole beauty of the Stig is that we don't know who he is. He's just a jumpsuit and a helmet, the contents of which are eminently replaceable".

The Stig has been notionally 'spotted' in the wild in images collected for Google Street View. He was photographed by a Street View car standing on the side of the A82 road in Loch Ness, Scotland. He was also captured by a Street View tricycle in three locations within Legoland Windsor in Berkshire, including riding a go-kart and sitting on a camel. A Street View image taken from the A40 Westway of the Stig apparently standing in a window of the ''Top Gear'' office in BBC Television Centre in West London was reportedly just a cardboard cut-out.

The BBC has capitalised on the mystery behind the Stig by marketing "I AM THE STIG" T-Shirts and variants through the Top Gear shop. Other Stig merchandise has included bubble wash, pens, keyrings, soap on a rope, lunchbags and a "sonic toothbrush".

Episode notes

References

External links

Category:Top Gear Category:Top Gear Australia Category:Unidentified people Category:2002 introductions Category:Anonymity pseudonyms

ar:ذ ستيغ da:The Stig de:Top Gear#The Stig et:The Stig fa:استیگ fr:Le Stig it:The Stig ms:The Stig nl:The Stig ja:ザ・スティグ no:The Stig pl:Stig ro:The Stig ru:Стиг simple:The Stig fi:The Stig sv:The Stig

{| style="float:right;" |

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
{{infobox royalty|realm	monaco
name	Albert II
succession	Sovereign Prince of Monaco
imgw	200
reign	6 April 2005 – present('''')
regent	Patrick LeclercqJean-Paul Proust Michel Roger
reg-type	Minister of State
predecessor	Rainier III
successor	Caroline, Princess of Hanover
suc-type	Heiress presumptive
issue	''Born out-of-wedlock and ineligible for succession to the throne:''Jazmin Grace GrimaldiAlexandre Coste
issue-pipe	More...
issue-link	#Children born out of wedlock
house	House of Grimaldi
father	Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
mother	Grace Kelly
relatives	Pierre Casiraghi (nephew)Princess Alexandra of Hanover (niece)Charlotte Casiraghi (niece)Princess Caroline of Hanover (sister)Princess Stephanie of Monaco(sister) Louis Ducruet (nephew)Pauline Ducruet (niece)Camille Marie Kelly Gottlieb (niece)
birth date	March 14, 1958
birth place	Palais Princier, Monaco
spouse	Charlene, Princess of Monaco
religion	Roman Catholic

|- | |- |

royal name	Albert II, Prince of Monaco
dipstyle	His Serene Highness
offstyle	Your Serene Highness
altstyle	Sir}}

|}

Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly. His sisters are Hereditary Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

Prince Albert is one of the wealthiest Royals in the World valued at more than $1 billion, this includes vast amounts of land both in Monaco and France, and which does not include the Prince's Palace but does include Société des bains de mer de Monaco. His wealth does not include other members of the House of Grimaldi which are valued altogether at over $2.5 billion (as of 2010).

Early life

Born in the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Monaco, Albert's godmother was Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain. Albert attended the Albert I High School, graduating with distinction in 1976. He was a camper and later a counselor for six summers at Camp Tecumseh on Lake Winnipesaukee, Moultonborough, New Hampshire in the 1970s. He spent a year training in various princely duties, and enrolled at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1977 as Albert Grimaldi, studying political science, economics, music, and English literature, and also joined Chi Psi fraternity.

He spent the summer of 1979 touring Europe and the Middle East with the Amherst Glee Club and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Albert also undertook an exchange program with the University of Bristol, at the Alfred Marshall School of Economics and Management in 1979. Albert was an enthusiastic sportsman, participating in cross country, javelin throwing, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, rowing, sailing, skiing, squash and fencing. He is a patron of Monaco's football teams. He competed in the bobsled at every Winter Olympics from Calgary to Salt Lake City. He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985. (His maternal grandfather John B. Kelly, Sr., and maternal uncle John B. Kelly, Jr., were both Olympic medal winners in rowing and were actively involved in the Olympic movement.) The press reported the prince refused any special treatment during his Olympic stints, and lived in the same bare-bones quarters as all the other athletes.

On 25 October 2002, Albert visited Miami, Florida for a World Olympians Association fund-raiser at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The group's mission was to have the 100,000 Olympians get involved with their communities and talk to young athletes about dedication and training.

Regency

On 7 March 2005, Albert's father Rainier III, Prince of Monaco was admitted to a hospital in the principality; he was later moved to an intensive care ward. The Prince was being treated for breathing, kidney, and heart trouble. On 31 March 2005, the Palace of Monaco announced that Hereditary Prince Albert would take over the duties of his father as Regent since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his sovereign functions. This decision was reached by the Crown Council of Monaco, a body made up of notable local figures with residual powers to make judgments about certain constitutional matters. The 47-year-old prince spent his first day as regent of Monaco caring for his critically ill 81-year-old father, who was Europe’s longest-serving living monarch and the world's third-longest.

However, Albert's regency lasted barely a week.

Accession

On 6 April 2005, Prince Rainier III died and Hereditary Prince Albert became Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

The first part of Prince Albert II's enthronement as ruler of the Principality was on 12 July 2005, after the end of the three-month mourning period for his father. A morning Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral presided over by the Archbishop of Monaco, the Most Reverend Bernard Barsi, formally marked the beginning of his reign. Afterward Albert II returned to the princely palace to host a garden party for 7,000 Monégasques born in the principality. In the courtyard, the Prince was presented with two keys of the city as a symbol of his investiture. The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks display on the waterfront.

The second part of his investiture was on 19 November 2005. Albert was enthroned at Saint Nicholas Cathedral. His family was there in attendance, including his elder sister (and now his heir presumptive) Princess Caroline with her husband Ernst, Prince of Hanover and three of her four children, Andrea, Pierre and Charlotte; as well as his younger sister Princess Stéphanie, his paternal aunt Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy, his godson, Jean-Léonard Taubert-Natta de Massy, and his cousin Elisabeth-Anne de Massy. Royalty from 16 delegations were present for the festivities throughout the country. The evening ended with an opera performance in Monte Carlo.

Albert's reign

border|thumb|280px|[[Flag of Monaco#Princely standard|Princely standard of Albert II]]Albert continues the policy, initiated by previous rulers of the statelet, of using his position to draw the world's attention to the need to protect the (marine) environment. Just like his great-great-grandfather Albert I he traveled to Spitsbergen in July 2005. During this trip, he visited the glaciers "Lillihöök" and "Monaco". Prince Albert II also engaged in a Russian Arctic expedition, reaching the North Pole on Easter, 16 April 2006. As a result, he is the first incumbent head of state to have reached the North Pole.

Prince Albert is the Vice-Chairman of the American charity founded in 1982, after his mother's death, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which supports, as Princess Grace did in her lifetime, emerging artists in theater, dance and film.

In 2006, Prince Albert created the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation which continues the Principality of Monaco's commitment by supporting sustainable and ethical projects around the world which focus on three main challenges: climate change and developing renewable energies; combating the loss of biodiversity; and water management (improving universal access to clean water) and fighting desertification. Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation website

Prince Albert is also a Global Advisor to Orphans International.

Economic activities

Prince Albert is one of the owners of Yoctocosmos and member of the World Economic Forum.

Personal life and relationships

Over the years, there has been much discussion of the prince's continual bachelor status. Although he has received much press attention for dating well-known fashion models and actresses, his apparent disinclination to marry gave rise to rumors that he is homosexual. Prince Albert has consistently denied this suggestion, most notably in a 1994 interview published in the French magazine ''Madame Figaro''. "At first it was amusing", he said, "but it becomes very irritating in the long term to hear people say that I am homosexual". He has since confirmed that he is the father of two children.

In October 2005, the German magazine ''Bunte'' reported that Prince Albert was dating Telma Ortiz Rocasolano, a sister-in-law of the Prince of Asturias. However, in November 2005, the Prince instructed his lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, to commence legal proceedings against the French newspaper ''France Dimanche'' for violation of privacy and false information regarding the story.

Children born out of wedlock

Jazmin Grace Grimaldi

In 1992, a California woman, Tamara Rotolo, filed a paternity suit against the prince, claiming that he was the father of her daughter, whom she named Jazmin Grace Grimaldi. Prince Albert was also listed as the father on the child's Riverside County, California, birth certificate, and the child was legally surnamed Grimaldi. However, the case, which went to trial in 1993, eventually was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Graham Anderson Cribbs, who claimed that there was "insufficient contact between Albert and the state of California to justify hearing a suit there" agreeing with an assertion by the prince's lawyer, Stanley Arkin, that the California court had no jurisdiction.

In court documents and legal depositions, Case#IND78459 in Riverside County Superior Court Family Law Division under Superior Court Judge Graham Anderson Cribbs, Prince Albert admitted that he had been with Tamara Rotolo, who was traveling with a friend, Barbara Welker (per her deposition filed with the court), in Monaco on "a couple of occasions" in July 1991. (The child had been born approximately nine months later, on 4 March 1992.) As reported by a local newspaper covering the case, "Arkin asserted that the Riverside County court had no jurisdiction in the case since the romantic encounter supposedly occurred in Monaco and Albert has had no contacts with California that relate to the issues in the suit."

On 31 May 2006, after DNA test results confirmed the child's parentage, Prince Albert admitted, in a statement from his lawyer, that he is Jazmin's father. He also extended an invitation for the girl to study and live in Monaco.

Alexandre Coste

In May 2005, Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo, claimed that her youngest son, whom she calls ''Alexandre'' Éric Stéphane ''Coste'', is Prince Albert's son, proven by DNA tests conducted by Swiss technicians working on orders from the Monegasque government. She further claimed the prince had signed a notarized certificate confirming paternity but that she had not received a copy of it. The French weekly ''Paris Match'' published a ten-page interview with Coste and included photographs of the prince holding and feeding the child. Coste also told ''Paris Match'' that she was living in the prince's Paris apartment and receiving an allowance from him while pretending to be the girlfriend of one of his friends in order to maintain privacy. She also said that the prince had last seen the boy in February 2005. A spokesman for Prince Albert had no comment, though upon news of Coste's claims, the prince's lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, announced that "A judicial strategy will be determined within the next few days."

In mid-May 2005, Lacoste announced that as a result of the international publicity over the revelations of the prince's son, Prince Albert is suing the ''Daily Mail'', ''Bunte'', and ''Paris Match'' for delving too deeply into his private life.

On 6 July 2005, a few days before he was enthroned on 12 July, Albert II officially confirmed via his lawyer Thierry Lacoste that the 22-month-old is his biological son.

Additional paternity suit

An earlier paternity suit, brought by Bea Fiedler, a German topless model whom the ''Daily Telegraph'' described as a "sex-film star", reportedly was dismissed. A blood test, which was refused by the judge, did not prove that the prince was the father of Fiedler's son, Daniel.

Marriage

Prince Albert married former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock on 1 July 2011. They announced their engagement on 23 June 2010. They had been seen together since 10 February 2006, at the opening ceremony of the Torino Olympics when Prince Albert was accompanied by Wittstock. They were seen again together at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Prince and Wittstock attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the "Bal de la Rose" and the Princess Grace Awards Gala in 2009. They also attended the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics. As a couple, they also attended the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling in Stockholm four days before their own engagement was announced and the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011. The wedding took place over two days: the civil marriage ceremony took place on 1 July 2011, followed by the religious ceremony on 2 July 2011.

Succession issues

As Rainier III's health declined, his son's lack of legitimate children became a matter of public and political concern due to the legal and international consequences if Albert were to die without lawful heirs. Prior to 2002, Monaco's constitution specified that only the ''last'' reigning prince's "direct and legitimate" descendants could inherit the crown.

On 2 April 2002 Monaco promulgated Princely Law 1.249 which provides that if a reigning prince dies without surviving legitimate issue, the throne passes to his siblings and their descendants of both sexes, according to the principle of male-preference primogeniture. In October 2005 (after Albert's accession to the throne), this law took full effect when ratified by France, pursuant to the 2002 Franco-Monégasque Treaty regulating relations between the Sovereign Principality and its more powerful neighbour. His sisters and their legitimate children thereby acquired the right to succeed to the throne.

Under the current constitution, neither Jazmin nor Alexandre has a claim to the throne of Monaco because they are not legitimate. Monegasque law stipulates that any non-adulterine child is legitimatized by the eventual marriage of his/her parents, thereupon obtaining the rights to which that child would have been entitled if born in lawful marriage. Thus Alexandre would become Monaco's heir apparent under current law if Albert were to ever marry his son's mother. But in a 2005 exchange with US interviewer Larry King, Albert stated that this will not happen. In 2011 he married Charlene Wittstock.

Albert specified that neither of these children is eligible for the throne in statements confirming his paternity. His older sister, Princess Caroline, remains first in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne. Though she is only the heiress presumptive and not heiress apparent, Caroline is the Hereditary Princess of Monaco, according to the Grimaldi house law.

Until Albert II has legitimate descendants born of a dynastic marriage, Caroline is first, and her son Andrea Casiraghi is second in succession to the throne.

Environmental issues

Year of the Dolphin

The year 2007 was declared as (International) Year of the Dolphin by the United Nations and United Nations Environment Programme. Prince Albert served as the International Patron of the 'Year of the Dolphin', saying "The Year of the Dolphin gives me the opportunity to renew my firm commitment towards protecting marine biodiversity. With this strong initiative we can make a difference to save these fascinating marine mammals from the brink of extinction."

Jardin Animalier

Monaco's Jardin Animalier, or zoo (lit. "animal [''i.e.'', zoological] garden"), was founded by Prince Rainier. Prince Albert has begun to return the animals to the wild and intends to convert the Jardin to a zoo for children. This project, undertaken in conjunction with the Born Free Foundation, started after the Prince met the Foundation's founder Virginia McKenna for lunch.

Expedition to Antarctica

In January 2009, Prince Albert left for a month-long expedition to Antarctica, where he visited 26 scientific outposts and met with climate-change experts in an attempt to learn more about the impact of global warming on the continent.

CITES and bluefin tuna

In June 2009, Prince Albert co-authored an open letter to the ''Wall Street Journal'' with Charles Clover, the author of ''The End of the Line'', a book about overfishing and ocean conservation issues that had recently been made into a documentary by Rupert Murray. In the letter, Prince Albert acknowledges that bluefin tuna has been severely overfished in the Mediterranean, and decries the common European Union practice of awarding inflated quotas to bluefin fleets. He announced that Monaco would seek to award endangered species status to the Mediterranean bluefin ''Thunnus thynnus'', (also called the Northern bluefin) under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). If upheld by the voting CITES delegates, this proposal would effectively ban the international trade in Mediterranean bluefin. This was the first time a nation had called for the inclusion of Mediterranean bluefin under CITES since Sweden at the 1992 CITES Conference, which was vehemently opposed by Japan who eventually threatened retaliation through trade barriers. Sweden withdrew its proposal.

On 16 July 2009, France declared that it too would seek to have Mediterranean bluefin listed as an endangered species. Only hours later, the United Kingdom followed suit.

Roger Revelle Prize

On 23 October 2009, Prince Albert was awarded the Roger Revelle Prize for his efforts to protect the environment and to promote scientific research. This award was given to Prince Albert by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. Prince Albert is the second recipient of this prize.

Awards

In 1996 Prince Albert received the Eagle Award from the United States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the Academy's highest international honor and was awarded to Prince Albert for his significant contributions in promoting international harmony, peace and goodwill through the effective use of sport.

In popular culture

James Shanklin played Prince Albert in the 2010 film ''The Social Network''.

Other roles

President, Monaco's delegation to the United Nations

President, Monaco Red Cross

President, Monaco's Olympic Committee

Honorary President, Association Mondiale des Amis de l'Enfance

Honorary President, The Automobile Club de Monaco

Honorary President, Jumping International de Monte Carlo

Patron, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

Patron, Peace and Sport Organization

Corruption allegations

Albert Robert Eringer, Albert II’s intelligence adviser from 2002 to 2008, alleges the prince, as president of Monaco's Olympic Committee, accepted expensive gifts from Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, and Sergei Pugachev, a Russian banker, in return for voting for Russia to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. He would have received a dacha, a Polar trip, a fishing trip and a state dinner.

Titles, styles, and honours

Titles and styles

Albert has held two positions:

''His Serene Highness'' The Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (1958–2005)

''His Serene Highness'' The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (2005–present) As the prince, his official shortened title is His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco; this does not include the many other styles claimed by the Grimaldi family (see Sovereign Prince of Monaco for a complete list of titles).

Honours

Monegasque orders

Grand Master and Grand Cross of the Order of Grimaldi (Grand Cross, 18 April 1958; Grand Master since 6 April 2005)

Grand Master and Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles (Grand Cross, 13 March 1979; Grand Master since 6 April 2005)

Grand Master of the Order of the Crown (since 6 April 2005)

Grand Master of the Order of Cultural Merit (since 6 April 2005)

Foreign orders

: Grand Cross of the National Order of Juan Mora Fernández (2003) : Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav (7 April 2009) : Grand Collar of the Order of the Liberator of the Slaves José Simeón Cañas (2002) : Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2006) : Grand Cross of the Ordre National du Mérite (25 July 1997) : Commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2009) : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (27 January 1983) : Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (12 December 2005) : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I : Grand Cross of the Order of the Niger (March 1998) : Grand Cross of the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (2002) : Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (2003) : Grand Officier of the Order of the Lion (May 1977) : Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (31 July 2011) : Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (15 October 1997) : Collar of the Order pro merito Melitensi (15 October 2009)

Other awards

: Grand Prix Humanitaire de France (6 March 2007) FIODS: Medal of the International Merit of Blood (12 March 1994) : Rise in the College of Darjah Kerabat Diraja Pahang (7 November 1997)

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Albert II, Prince of Monaco |2= 2. Rainier III, Prince of Monaco |3= 3. Grace Kelly |4= 4. Count Pierre de Polignac |5= 5. Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois |6= 6. John B. Kelly, Sr. |7= 7. Margaret Katherine Majer |8= 8. Count Maxence de Polignac |9= 9. Susana Mariana de la Torre y Mier |10= 10. Louis II, Prince of Monaco |11= 11. Marie Juliette Louvet |12= 12. John Henry Kelly |13= 13. Mary Anne Costello |14= 14. Carl Majer |15= 15. Margaretha Berg |16= 16. Count Charles de Polignac |17= 17. Caroline Joséphine Le Normand de Morando |18= 18. Isidoro Fernando de la Torre |19= 19. Luisa de Mier y Celis |20= 20. Albert I, Prince of Monaco |21= 21. Lady Mary Hamilton |22= 22. Jacques Henri Louvet |23= 23. Joséphine Elmire Piedefer |24= 24. Brian Kelly |25= 25. Honora Margaret McLaughlin |26= 26. Walter Costello |27= 27. Anne Burke |28= 28. Johann Karl Majer |29= 29. Luise Wilhelmine Adam |30= 30. Georg Berg |31= 31. Elisabetha Röhrig }}

Patrilineal descent

Although Albert II inherited the throne of Monaco as heir to a sovereign branch of the Genoese House of Grimaldi, patrilineally he belongs to the noble French family of Chalençon, which adopted the name of Polignac following marriage to an heiress of that family in the 14th century..

Albert's patriline is his line of descent through males, i.e., from father to son, as shown below.

#Bertrand de Chalençon, mentioned 1179 #Guillaume de Chalençon, d. 1229 #Bertrand de Chalençon, d. 1272 #Bertrand de Chalençon, 1240–1295 #Guy de Chalençon, 1279–1324 #Guiot de Chalençon #Guillaume III, Baron de Chalençon, d. 1411 #Pierre Armand, Baron de Chalençon, d. 1447 #Louis-Armand, Vicomte de Polignac #Guillaume-Armand, Vicomte de Polignac, d. 1473 #Guillaume de Polignac #Francois-Armand de Polignac, 1514–1582 #Louis-Armand of Polignac, 1556–1584 #Gaspard Francois de Polignac, 1579–1659 #Louis-Armand de Polignac, 1608–1692 #Scipion Sidoine de Polignac, 1660–1739 #Louis, Marquis de Polignac, 1716–1792 #Jules, Duc de Polignac, 1745–1817 #Camille Henri, Count de Polignac, 1781–1855 #Count Charles de Polignac, 1824–1881 #Count Maxence de Polignac, 1857–1936 #Count Pierre de Polignac, 1895–1964 #Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, 1923–2005 #Albert II, Prince of Monaco, 1958 –

See also

As Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert is depicted on coins, including collectors' coins, with very rare exceptions. One of the most recent examples is the €5 silver Prince Albert II commemorative coin, the first commemorative coin with his effigy on it, minted in 2008. On the obverse, the prince is depicted in profile with his name on the top of the coin. On the reverse, the Grimaldi coat of arms appears; around it, the words "Principauté de Monaco" (Principality of Monaco) also appear along with the nominal monetary value of the coin.

External links

Princely House of Monaco

''Albert II of Monaco, the unknown prince'', documentary with intimate prince Albert (2005), 52-minute documentary produced and directed by Thibaut Faucon.

Photo of Prince Albert inspecting Guard outside Palace on day of Accession

Princess Grace Foundation-USA website

– traditional New Year's Day speech, 1 January 2007 – interview at the Monaco Media Forum, 11 July 2007, in which Prince Albert speaks with a perfect American accent to a group of bloggers

References

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