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Prince Albert II Sovereign Prince of Monaco Reign 6 April 2005 - Present Investiture 19 November 2005 Born 14 March 1958 (1958-03-14) (age 49) Palais Princier, Monaco Predecessor Rainier III of Monaco Heir Presumptive Caroline, Princess of Hanover Consort Elena Kordikova, of Kazakhstan Issue1 Legitimate   Issue2 None legitimate; Jazmin Grace Grimaldi Alexandre Coste Royal House Grimaldi Father Rainier III of Monaco Mother Grace Kelly

Monegasque Princely Family HSH The Sovereign Prince HRH The Princess of Hanover HSH Princess Stéphanie HSH Princess Antoinette

Styles of Albert II, Prince of Monaco Reference style His Serene Highness Spoken style Your Serene Highness Alternative style Sir

Albert II, Prince of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958), styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the current ruler of the Principality of Monaco.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Regency 3 Accession 4 Albert's reign 5 Bachelorhood 6 Children born out of wedlock 6.1 Jazmin Grace Grimaldi 6.2 Alexandre Coste 6.3 Additional paternity suit 7 Succession issues 8 Environmental issues 8.1 2007: (International) Year of the Dolphin 9 Titles 10 Ancestry 10.1 Patrilineal descent 11 Notes 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Monaco, Albert attended the Albert I High School, graduating with distinction in 1976. Albert was a camper and later a counselor for six summers at Camp Tecumseh on Lake Winnipesaukee, Moultonborough, New Hampshire in the 1970s. He spent a year training in various princely duties, and enrolled at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1977 as Albert Grimaldi, studying political science, economics, music, and English literature, and also joined Chi Psi fraternity. He spent the summer of 1979 touring Europe and the Middle East with the Amherst Glee Club and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

During school, Albert was an enthusiastic athlete, participating in cross country, javelin throwing, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, rowing, sailing, skiing, squash and fencing. He is a patron of Monaco's football teams. He competed in the bobsled at the 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002 Winter Olympics. He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985. (His maternal grandfather John B. Kelly, Sr., and maternal uncle John B. Kelly, Jr., were both Olympic medal winners in rowing and were actively involved in the Olympic movement.) The press reported the prince refused any special treatment during his Olympic stints, and lived in the same bare-bones quarters as all the other athletes.

On 25 October 2002, Albert visited Miami, Florida for a World Olympians Association fund-raiser at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The group's mission was to have the 100,000 Olympians get involved with their communities and talk to young athletes about dedication and training.

[edit] Regency

On 7 March 2005, Albert's father Rainier III, Prince of Monaco was admitted to a hospital in the principality; he was later moved to an intensive care ward. The Prince was being treated for breathing, kidney, and heart trouble. On 31 March 2005, the Palace of Monaco announced that Hereditary Prince Albert would take over the duties of his father as Regent since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his sovereign functions. This decision was reached by the Crown Council of Monaco, a body made up of notable local figures with residual powers to make judgments about certain constitutional matters. The 47-year-old prince spent his first day as regent of Monaco caring for his critically ill 81-year-old father, who was Europe’s longest-serving living monarch and the world's second-longest. However, Albert's regency lasted barely a week.

[edit] Accession

On 6 April 2005, Prince Rainier III died and Hereditary Prince Albert became Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

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 led by the archbishop of Monaco, Monsignor Bernard Barsi, formally marked the beginning of his reign. Afterward Albert II returned to the princely palace to host a garden party for 7,000 Monegasques born in the principality. In the courtyard, the Prince was presented with two keys of the city as a symbol of his investiture. The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks display on the waterfront.

The second part of his investiture was on 19 November 2005. Albert was enthroned at Saint Nicholas Cathedral. His family was there in attendance, including his elder sister (and now his heir) 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, Baron Jean-Léonard Taubert-Natta 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 an opera performance in Monte-Carlo.

[edit] Albert's reign

Albert continues the policy, initiated by previous rulers of the statelet, of using his position to draw the world's attention to the need to protect the (marine) environment. Just like his great-great-grandfather Albert I he traveled to Spitsbergen in July 2005. During this trip he visited the glaciers "Lillihöök" and "Monaco". Prince Albert II also engaged in an Arctic expedition, reaching the North Pole on Easter, 16 April 2006.^[1] As a result, he is the first incumbent head of state to have reached the North Pole.

The prince is also a Global Advisor to Orphans International.

[edit] Bachelorhood

Over the years, there has been much discussion of the prince's continued bachelor status. Although he has received much press attention for dating well-known fashion models and actresses, including Angie Everhart, Catherine Oxenberg, Brooke Shields, Claudia Schiffer, and Victoria Zdrok, his apparent disinclination to marry gave rise to rumors that he is gay. Prince Albert has consistently denied this suggestion, most notably in a 1994 interview published in the French magazine Madame Figaro. "At first it was amusing," he said, "but it becomes very irritating in the long term to hear people say that I am homosexual."^[2] He has since confirmed that he is the father of two children.

In October 2005, German magazine Bunte reported that Prince Albert was dating Telma Ortiz Rocasolano, a sister-in-law of Spain's Crown Prince Felipe. However, in November, 2005 the Prince instructed his lawyer, Thierry Lacoste to commence legal proceedings against French newspaper France Dimanche for violation of privacy and false information regarding the story.

On 10 February 2006, at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, Prince Albert was accompanied by former South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock. They were seen again together at the Monaco Grand Prix. In August 2006, she attended the annual Red Cross Ball in the presence of the Princely Family again fuelling speculation about their relationship.

[edit] Children born out of wedlock

[edit] Jazmin Grace Grimaldi

In 1992, a California woman, Tamara Rotolo, filed a paternity suit against the prince, claiming that he was the father of her daughter, whom she named Jazmin Grace Grimaldi. Prince Albert was also listed as the father on the child's Riverside County, California, birth certificate.^[3] and the child was legally surnamed Grimaldi. However, the case, which went to trial in 1993, eventually was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Graham Anderson Cribbs, who claimed that there was "insufficient contact between Albert and the state of California to justify hearing a suit there"^[4] agreeing with an assertion by the prince's lawyer, Stanley Arkin, that the California court had no jurisdiction.

In court documents and legal depositions, Case#IND78459 in Riverside County Superior Court Family Law Division under Superior Court Judge Graham Anderson Cribbs, Prince Albert admitted that he had been with Tamara Rotolo, who was traveling with friend, Barbara Welker (per her deposition filed with the court), in Monaco on "a couple of occasions" in July 1991. (The child had been born approximately nine months later, on 4 March 1992.) As reported by a local newspaper covering the case, "Arkin asserted that the Riverside County court had no jurisdiction in the case since the romantic encounter supposedly occurred in Monaco and Albert has had no contacts with California that relate to the issues in the suit."^[5]

On 31 May 2006, after DNA test results confirmed the child's parentage, Prince Albert admitted, in a statement from his lawyer, that he is Jazmin's father. He also extended an invitation for the girl to study and live in Monaco.

According to Le Figaro, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi is "mature, sweet and intelligent" and an honor student at St. Margaret's Episcopal School. Per the school website, she is currently enrolled in a private school in the San Juan Capistrano, California, California area and resides in San Juan Capistrano, California.

[edit] Alexandre Coste

In May 2005, Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo, claimed that her youngest son, whom she calls Alexandre Éric Stéphane Coste, is Prince Albert's son, proven by DNA tests conducted by Swiss technicians working on orders from the Monegasque government. She further claimed the prince had signed a notarized certificate confirming paternity but that she had not received a copy of it. The French weekly Paris Match published a ten-page interview with Coste and included photographs of the prince holding and feeding the child. Coste also told Paris Match that she was living in the prince's Paris apartment and receiving an allowance from him while pretending to be the girlfriend of one of his friends in order to maintain privacy. She also said that the prince had last seen the boy in February 2005. A spokesman for Prince Albert had no comment, though upon news of Coste's claims, the prince's lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, announced that "A judicial strategy will be determined within the next few days."

In mid-May 2005, Lacoste announced that as a result of the international publicity over the revelations of the prince's son, Prince Albert is suing the Daily Mail, Bunte, and Paris Match for delving too deeply into his private life.

On 6 July 2005, a few days before he was enthroned on 12 July, Albert II officially confirmed via his lawyer Thierry Lacoste that the 22-month-old was his biological son.^[6]

[edit] Additional paternity suit

An earlier paternity suit, brought by Bea Fiedler, a German topless model whom the Daily Telegraph described as a "sex-film star", reportedly was dismissed. A blood test, which was refused by the judge, did not prove that the prince was the father of Fiedler's son, Daniel.^[7]

[edit] Succession issues

As Rainier III's health declined, his son's lack of legitimate children became a matter of public and political concern, due to the legal and international consequences in the event Albert were to die without lawful descendants while reigning. Prior to 2002, Monaco's constitution specified that only the last reigning prince's "direct and legitimate" descendants could inherit the crown.^[8] Therefore, Albert's sisters were due to lose their succession rights once their brother mounted the throne, leaving the Grimaldi dynasty to face extinction if Albert failed to produce a child within marriage or by adoption. Nor could a reigning or hereditary prince adopt an heir prior to age 50, according to a 1918 law.^[9] (This situation did not arise in Rainier's case, as he succeeded his maternal grandfather Louis II, rather than a collateral relative.)^[10]

On 2 April 2002 Monaco passed Princely Law 1.249 which provides that if a reigning prince dies without surviving legitimate issue, the throne passes to his siblings and their descendants according to the principle of male-preference primogeniture.^[11] In October 2005, (after Albert's accession to the throne) this law took full effect when ratified by France, pursuant to the 1918 Franco-Monégasque Treaty, which had stipulated that Monaco would become a French protectorate if the throne fell vacant.^[12] His sisters and their legitimate children thereby re-acquired the right to succeed Albert upon the throne if the occasion arises, while the monarch lost the right to adopt an heir.^[13]

Albert's illegitimate son, Eric Alexandre, or daughter, Jazmin Grace, could acquire claims to the throne ahead of all others currently in the order of succession if Monaco's constitution were changed to that effect. In Eric Alexandre's case, he would also be legitimated and automatically become Monaco's heir apparent under current law if Albert were to marry his mother. But in a 2005 exchange with U.S. interviewer Larry King, he said this will not happen.

In Jazmin's case, however, Albert's marrying the mother would probably not legitimate her nor give her a place in the line of succession, as she would likely be considered an "adulterine" child. The man to whom her mother had been married since 1987, David Schumacher, filed for a divorce from Rotolo on 13 September 1991 in California, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune article by Jeff Wilson of the Associated Press. He cited as grounds "irreconcilable differences", and Rotolo did not contest the petition, the couple having been separated since April 1989.

Albert has said neither of his children will be eligible for the throne in statements confirming their paternity.^[1][6] As of November 2007, Caroline, Princess of Hanover, remains first in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne. Though she is only the heiress-presumptive and not heiress-apparent, Caroline is the Hereditary Princess of Monaco according to the Grimaldi house law.^[14]

Until Albert should have legitimate descendants born of a recognized marriage, Caroline's eldest son, the untitled Andrea Casiraghi, is second in line to the throne.

[edit] Environmental issues

[edit] 2007: (International) Year of the Dolphin

The year 2007 has been declared as (International) Year of the Dolphin - (http://www.yod2007.org) by the United Nations and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). The UN Convention on Migratory Species, together with its specialized agreements on dolphin conservation ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS and the WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) have proposed 2007 as the Year of the Dolphin ('YOD')).
(International) Patron of the 'Year of the Dolphin' is H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. He has launched the start of the year on 17 September 2006: "The Year of the Dolphin gives me the opportunity to renew my firm commitment towards protecting marine biodiversity. With this strong initiative we can make a difference to save these fascinating marine mammals from the brink of extinction."

[edit] Titles

Albert has held two positions:

	His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (1958-2005)
	His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco (2005-)[15]

As Prince, his official shortened title is His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco; this does not include the many other styles claimed by the Grimaldi family (see Sovereign Prince of Monaco for a complete list of titles).

[edit] Ancestry

16. Count Charles of Polignac

8. Count Maxence of Polignac (1857-1936)

17. Caroline Joséphine Le Normand de Morando

4. Prince Pierre of Monaco, Count of Polignac (24 October 1895 – 10 November 1964) civil marriage: 18 March 1920 (Pierre Grimaldi); div. jur.20 March 1930, ord18 February 1933

18. Isidoro Fernando de la Torre

9. Suzanne de la Torre (1858-1913)

19. Luisa de Mier y Celis

2. Rainier III Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand, Prince of Monaco (31/05/1923 – 6/04/2005) marriage: 18/04/1956

20. Albert I Оноре Шарль, Prince of Monaco (13/11/1848-26/06/1922) marriage: 21/09/1869; div. 28 July 1880

10. Louis II Оноре Шарль Антуан, Prince of Monaco (12/07/1870-09/05/1949)

21. Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton (11/12/1850-14/05/1922) Douglas-Hamilton

5. Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette, Duchess of Valentinois (September 30, 1898- )

22. Jacques Henri Louvet (1830 – 1910)

11. Marie Juliette Louvet (May 9, 1867 – September 24, 1930) Juliane Marie Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1729-1796) to emperor (1825, XII) Constantine Pavlovich Romanov

23. Josephine Elmire Piedefer (1828-1871)

1.Albert II, Prince of Monaco (14 March 1958-)

24. Brian Kelly

12. John Henry Kelly

25. Margaret McLaughlin

6. John Brenden Kelly, Sr. (Jack) (October 4, 1889 - June 20, 1960)

26. Walter Costello ... to Walter - Mary Stuart (>1315<) Francisc(o)

13. Mary Costello

27. Anne Burke

3. Grace Patricia Kelly

28. Karl Majer to Karl II, Carlos V/I (Habsburg) emperor of Austria, king of Spain

14. Charles Majer

29. Wilhelmine Adam

7. Margaret Majer

30. Georg Berg

15. Margareta Berg кто скрывается под фамилией Берг? to Farnesi

31. Elisabetha Röhrig (Рерих)

[edit] Patrilineal descent

Albert's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.

Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Albert II were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Polignac (or Chalencon), as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.

Early descent from [1].

House of Polignac

1. Guillaume de Chalencon, d. 1229 [Гильом, Гильем = Вильям, Вильгельм, Сalintionem town - Rome Imperia, Gallia]
2. Bertrand de Chalencon, d. 1272
3. Bertrand de Chalencon, 1240 - 1295
4. Guy de Chalencon, 1279 - 1324
5. Guiot de Chalencon
6. Guillaume III, Baron de Chalencon, d. 1411
7. Pierre Armand, Baron de Chalencon, d. 1447
8. Louis-Armand, Viscount of Polignac [импер. Грациан Gratian (Gratia-Anna - благодать), Grace - Гратиан (Гратианус - усыновлённый родом благодатных римлян), Гратианополис - Гренобль) - город в Южной Франции, в Аквитании]
9. Guillaume-Armand, Viscount of Polignac, d. 1473
10. Guillaume of Polignac
11. Francois-Armand of Polignac, 1514 - 1582
12. Louis-Armand of Polignac, 1556 - 1584
13. Gaspard Francois of Polignac, 1579 - 1659
14. Louis-Armand of Polignac, 1608 - 1692
15. Scipion Sidoine of Polignac, 1660 - 1739
16. Louis, Marquis of Polignac, 1716 - 1792
17. Jules, Duke of Polignac, 1745 - 1817
18. Count Camille Henri de Polignac, 1781 - 1855
19. Count Charles de Polignac, 1824 - 1881
20. Count Maxence de Polignac, 1857 - 1936
21. Pierre de Polignac, 1895 - 1964
22. Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, 1923 - 2005
23. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, 1958 - [names of the maternal lineage, more known]

Information about Counts of Polignac is from [2] and attached links.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

	"Riverside Press-Enterprise", 13 March 1993, page BO2
	Palm Desert girl may be daughter of Prince Albert II
	Albert with g/f

[edit] External links

	Ancestors of Albert II, Prince of Monaco at Genealogics
	Monaco
	Prince Albert's daughter Jazmin Rotolo (includes pictures)
	Prince Albert Family Ties Chart
	Photo of Prince Albert inspecting Guard outside Palace on day of Accession
	Is Prince Albert Set To Announce His Engagement? 4th August 2006

Albert II, Prince of Monaco House of Grimaldi Cadet branch of the House of Polignac Born: 14 March 1958
Regnal titles
Preceded by Rainier III	Prince of Monaco 6 April 2005 – present	Incumbent Designated heir: Caroline, Princess of Hanover
Monegasque royalty
Preceded by Caroline, Princess of Hanover	Hereditary Prince of Monaco 14 March 1958 – 6 April 2005	Succeeded by Caroline, Princess of Hanover