Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Albert II is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005.
Born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Albert is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. He attended the Lycée Albert Premier before studying political science at Amherst College as suggested by John E. Seery. In his youth, he competed in bobsleigh during Winter Olympic finals before retiring in 2002. Albert was appointed regent in March 2005 after his father fell ill, and became sovereign prince upon the latter's death a week later. Since his accession, he has been outspoken in the field of environmentalism, and an advocate of ocean conservation and adoption of renewable energy sources to tackle global climate change, and founded the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in 2006, to directly raise funds and initiate action for such causes and greater ecological preservation.
With assets valued in 2010 at US$1 billion, Albert owns shares in the Société des Bains de Mer, which operates Monaco's casino and other entertainment properties in the Principality. In July 2011, Prince Albert married South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock. He has four children, two of them illegitimate, the other two legitimate: Jazmin, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, Gabriella, and Jacques.
Early life
Prince Albert was born in the Prince's Palace of Monaco on 14 March 1958, as the second child of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. At the time of his birth, he was heir apparent to the throne. Albert was a dual citizen of both the Principality of Monaco and the United States of America by birth, before renouncing his American citizenship in his early adulthood. He was baptized on 20 April 1958, by Monsignor Jean Delay, Archbishop of Marseille, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Monaco. His godparents were Prince Louis de Polignac and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.Hereditary Prince
Military service
Albert spent a year training in princely duties before enrolling at Amherst College, in Massachusetts, in 1977 as Albert Grimaldi. He joined Chi Psi fraternity and lived in the Alpha Chi Lodge. Albert spent mid-1979 touring Europe and the Middle East with the Amherst College Glee Club, and also undertook an exchange program with the University of Bristol, at the Alfred Marshall School of Economics and Management, in 1979. He graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He speaks French, German, Italian, and English. From September 1981 to April 1982, Albert trained on board the French Navy's helicopter cruiser , attaining the rank of Ship-of-the-Line Ensign, and is currently a reserve Lieutenant Commander. From 1983 to 1985, he took training courses with companies J.P. Morgan & Co, Louis Vuitton, Rogers & Wells, and Wells, Rich and Greene in the United States and Europe, studying financial management, communication, and marketing. Since May 1993, the Prince has led the Monegasque delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations. In 2004, the Prince presided over the delegation of Monaco in Strasbourg, France, for the official accession of the Principality onto the Council of Europe.Prince Albert's mother, Princess Grace, died at age 52 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in 1982. In 2017, the Prince stated during an interview that his mother's death was a traumatic event for him and his family, revealing that his father was "never the same man" after the loss.
Sports career
Albert was an enthusiastic sportsman, participating in cross country, javelin throwing, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, rowing, sailing, skiing, squash and fencing. He became a judo black belt in 1985.Albert competed in the bobsleigh at five consecutive Winter Olympics for Monaco, taking part in both the two-man and four-man events. In the two-man bobsleigh Albert finished 25th at the 1988 games in Calgary, 43rd at the 1992 games in Albertville, and 31st at the 1994 games. In the four-man bobsleigh Albert finished 27th in 1992, 26th at the 1994 games in Lillehammer, and 28th at both the 1998 games in Nagano and the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. Albert was Monaco's flag bearer at the 1988, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics. He also took part in the 1985 Paris–Dakar Rally, but did not complete it. Albert has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985, and his maternal grandfather, John B. Kelly Sr., and maternal uncle, John B. Kelly Jr., were both Olympic medalists in rowing. In 2017 Albert gained OLY post-nominal status under his competition name of Albert Grimaldi.
On 31 March 2005, following consultation with the Crown Council of Monaco, the Palais Princier announced that Albert would take over the duties of his father as regent since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his princely functions.
Reign
Accession
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 returned to the 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, and subsequently gave a speech. The evening ended with a fireworks display on the waterfront.The second part of his investiture took place on 19 November 2005. Albert was enthroned at Saint Nicholas Cathedral. The Princely family was in attendance, including his elder sister, 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 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 a dedicated performance at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Succession issues
As Rainier III's health declined, Albert's lack of legitimate children became a matter of public and political concern owing to the legal and international consequences. Had Prince Albert succeeded his father and died without lawful heirs, it would have triggered Article 3 of the 1918 Franco-Monegasque Treaty, according to which the Principality of Monaco would become a protectorate of the French Republic. Prior to 2002, Monaco's constitution stipulated 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 legitimate siblings and their legitimate descendants of both sexes, according to the principle of male-preference primogeniture.
Under the current constitution, neither Jazmin nor Alexandre are in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne as they are not Prince Albert II's legitimate children, and he emphasised their ineligibility to inherit the throne in statements confirming his paternity. Monegasque law stipulates that any non-adulterine illegitimate child is legitimised 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 have become Monaco's heir apparent under current law if Albert were to marry Alexandre's mother. In a 2005 exchange with American reporter Larry King, Albert stated that this would not happen.
Prior to the birth of Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, Prince Albert's elder sister, Caroline, Princess of Hanover, was heir presumptive and, according to the Grimaldi house law, bore the traditional title of Hereditary Princess of Monaco. Following their births, she is now third in line.
Princely activities
In the early years of his reign, Prince Albert oversaw multiple judicial and legal reforms, including the regulation of custody, protections of the privacy of the individual in the face of technological growth, freedom of the press, legislative gender equality, and the protection of children's rights and disabled students. In July 2005, in echo of Albert I, his great-great-grandfather, he travelled to Spitsbergen, Norway. During this trip, he visited the glaciers Lilliehöökbreen and Monacobreen. Prince Albert also engaged in a Russian Arctic expedition, reaching the North Pole on Easter, 16 April 2006.Since his ascension, the Prince has overseen the construction of various community facilities, including social housing, railway infrastructure, educational institutes for the hospitality industry, and secondary education. He currently heads an initiative to promote ethical economic activity, criminal liability, the adopting of systems to combat money laundering and organized crime, and the introduction of tax fraud into Monegasque criminal law. In 2006, Prince Albert created the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, which continues Monaco's commitment to supporting sustainable and ethical projects around the world. The foundation's focus has three main objectives: climate change and renewable energy development, combating the loss of biodiversity, and improving universal access to clean water. In July 2011, Albert married South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock.
On 27 August 2015, Prince Albert apologized for Monaco's role in facilitating the deportation of a total of 90 Jews and resistance fighters to the Nazis in 1942, of whom only nine survived. "We committed the irreparable in handing over to the neighboring authorities women, men, and a child who had taken refuge with us to escape the persecutions they had suffered in France," Albert said at a ceremony in which a monument to the victims was unveiled at the Monaco Cemetery. "In distress, they came specifically to take shelter with us, thinking they would find neutrality."
Between 2006 and 2022, Albert's chief of cabinet was Georges Lisimachio. In June 2023, Albert dismissed Claude Palmero, the manager of the Prince of Monaco's assets who had been serving for over two decades. Albert said of the decision, "I exercised my right to choose the asset manager of my choice. Events have shown how much this decision was the right one." Palmero proceeded to sue Albert for €1 million and leaked information of the palace's spending to the French media.