Prince of Monaco Albert II

Monegasque royalty, the head of the princely house of Grimaldi, he ascended to the throne of Monaco on 12 July 2005. The only son and heir of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace (formerly American actress Grace Kelly), his mother died in an auto accident on 14 September 1982 and his father died on 6 April 2005, the start of Albert II's reign. Prince Albert II is one of the wealthiest royals in the world, with assets valued at more than US$1 billion, which include land in Monaco and France.

With a shy, strong character, he shunned the limelight in his earlier years that his two sisters, Caroline and Stéphanie, attracted. At college in Amherst, Massachusetts up to 1981, he was a political science major. He learned banking on Wall Street in New York in 1983.

He represented his nation on the bobsled team in the 1988 Winter Olympics; he was also an international competitor in sailing and equestrian sports.

Though seen in the company of many attractive women, he held his title as the world's most eligible bachelor. In 1991, his name was linked with that of Florida native Helen Willis and on 4 November 1991, a tabloid magazine printed an interview with porn star Teri Weigel in which she related the story of her romance with Albert five years before, in which she played hard to get for two weeks before agreeing to a romantic interlude. The media noted past flings with actresses Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah and a bevy of other beautiful women. Inasmuch as Monaco reverts to France in the event that there is no male heir, Albert's affections had a greater import than simply the sowing of wild oats of a young man.

Rumours also periodically reported that Prince Rainier was ready to turn the throne of Monaco over to his only son. However the people of Monaco questioned whether Albert spent too much time polishing his love life and his sports skills, making him seem more the child of Monaco than the father-figure that Rainier presented for 40 years.