Born Charlotte Louise Juliette de Monaco in
Constantine,
French Algeria, she was the illegitimate daughter of
Marie Juliette Louvet, a
cabaret singer, and
Louis, Hereditary Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois, son and heir of Monaco's reigning monarch,
Prince Albert I. Louis had no legitimate children or siblings, so even before he succeeded his father as Prince Louis II, the principality sought to forestall a
succession crisis, anticipating that its neighbour, the
French Republic, might take it amiss if the throne fell someday to Louis' legal next of kin. That heir was his cousin,
Wilhelm, 2nd
Duke of Urach, who, although born and raised in
Monte Carlo as the son of
Princess Florestine of Monaco, was a German subject, property owner and
patrilineal relative of the
kings of Württemberg. On 15 May 1911, a law was passed recognising Charlotte as Louis' daughter, and declaring her to be a
dynastic member of the sovereign family. Though this act was later held to be invalid under the 1882 statutes, an Ordinance of 30 October 1918 was passed to allow her to be adopted into the dynasty instead. Louis adopted Charlotte in
Paris on 16 May 1919, thereby entitling her to the surname
Grimaldi, while her grandfather bestowed upon her the traditional title of the Principality's heir,
Duchess of Valentinois, for life. Charlotte became
heir presumptive to the throne as Hereditary Princess when her grandfather died and her father inherited the princely crown in 1922. ==Legality of adoption==