U.S. - Monaco Relations
Prince Albert II and U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco Charles H. Rivkin (DOS Photo)
The United States and Monaco enjoy excellent relations, which both countries seek to maintain and strengthen. From 1956 until her death in 1982, the American-born Grace Kelly was married to Prince Rainier III, Prince Albert's father.
On June 1, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Charles H. Rivkin of California to be U.S. Ambassador to France and to Monaco. Ambassador Rivkin was sworn in on August 3, 2009, in Washington, D.C.
On October 29, 2009, Ambassador Charles Rivkin presented his credentials to Prince Albert II of Monaco and was officially welcomed by the Prince as U.S. Ambassador to Monaco. Ambassador Rivkin is the second U.S. Ambassador to be accredited to the Principality of Monaco. During his meeting with the Prince, Ambassador Rivkin congratulated him on his recent acceptance of the Teddy Roosevelt Medal, presented by the U.S. Congress in acknowledgement of the Prince’s outstanding contribution towards environmental protection. While in Monaco, the Ambassador and his family also visited the Oceanographic Institute and Museum. The Museum, inaugurated in 1911, is one of the world’s premier oceanographic facilities, with 90 aquariums, 350 species from the Mediterranean, and collections of natural history, the history of sea exploration, and ethnography.