Prince Albert of Monaco.

Prince Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi was born on March 14, 1958, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco to Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly. His birth prompted a 101-gun salute, a national holiday, and a pardon for all six prisoners in Monaco’s jail — the event ensured the Grimaldi line would continue to rule under the 1918 treaty with France. He grew up in the palace, receiving private lessons before attending a Swiss boarding school; he graduated in 1976.

In 1977, Albert moved to the United States to study political science at the University of Bristol and later at Amherst College in Massachusetts, earning a master’s degree in 1981. He completed military service in the French Navy from 1981 to 1983, leaving with the rank of officer. During this period, his mother Grace Kelly died in a car accident in 1982.

Prince Albert’s professional career began in 1983 with a year at the New York commercial bank Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. In 1984, he worked for champagne manufacturer Moët & Chandon. He returned to Monaco in 1985 to prepare for taking over his father’s duties. He gained public attention through his athletic career: he represented Monaco in the Winter Olympics as a bobsledder from 1988 to 2002, achieving his best placement of 25th in the two-man bobsleigh with Gilbert Bessi in 1988.

He became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1985 and chaired the National Olympic Committee of Monaco from 1994. He represented the royal family on state visits. In March 2005, his terminally ill father Prince Rainier III transferred official protocol duties to him; Rainier died on April 6, 2005, and Albert was enthroned as Prince Albert II after a mourning period on April 15, 2005. Soon after, he acknowledged paternity of two children from previous relationships.

He has worked to modernize Monaco’s financial sector, cooperating with European Union tax regulations while promoting the principality as a banking center. In April 2006, he undertook a North Pole expedition to mark the 100th anniversary of his great-great-grandfather’s Arctic expedition and to highlight climate change, becoming the first sitting head of government to reach the North Pole. He reached the South Pole in early 2009. For his environmental efforts, he received the Champions of the Earth award in 2008.

Born to Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III, Prince Albert lost his mother in a car accident in 1982. He has two sisters, Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie. He has two acknowledged illegitimate children: son Alexandre Coste born August 24, 2003 to Nicole Coste, a former Air France stewardess, and daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi born in 1992 to Tamara Jean Rotolo, a Californian woman. He recognized paternity of both children in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

In June 2010, he became engaged to South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock. They married in a civil ceremony on July 1, 2011, and a religious ceremony on July 2, 2011. The couple has fraternal twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, born in December 2014. Prince Albert speaks French, English, Italian, Spanish, and German.

Prince Albert II ascended the throne in 2005 as the 32nd ruler of Monaco. He modernized the principality’s financial system, moving away from its reputation as a tax haven by signing agreements with France and the European Union on tax transparency. His environmental advocacy, highlighted by his polar expeditions and the Champions of the Earth award in 2008, brought global attention to climate change.

He continues the Grimaldi legacy of cultural patronage, serving as president of organizations such as the Red Cross of Monaco, the International Television Festival, and the athletics and bobsleigh associations. He balanced tradition with necessity as a reformist prince, and competed in five Winter Games while serving as an IOC member — the only person to have held both roles simultaneously.