Albert II: a committed prince

A head of state committed to protecting the environment, Prince Albert II is also a builder and a moderniser.

The son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, Prince Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre was born on 14 March 1958. After attending school at Monaco’s Lycée Albert I, he studied at Amherst College in Massachusetts, USA, where he obtained a degree in Political Sciences.

As Hereditary Prince, from 1984 he supported His father in conducting the affairs of the State and represented the Principality at important international events, such as the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. On 5 October 2004, he led a delegation from Monaco to Strasbourg for the official ceremony to mark the Principality becoming the 46th member state of the Council of Europe, a decisive moment for the country’s sovereignty.

Among H.S.H. Prince Albert II’s commitments, protecting the environment has always occupied a special place. Thus, in April 2006, less than a year after His accession to the throne, the Monegasque head of state led an expedition to the North Pole from the Russian base of Barneo. In addition to paying tribute to the Arctic exploration campaigns of His great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert I, the aim of the expedition was to raise global awareness of the challenges facing the planet in terms of climate change and pollution, particularly in the highly endangered polar regions.

On His return, he created the Prince Albert II Foundation, dedicated to combatting climate change, safeguarding biodiversity and conserving the planet’s water resources.

Under the reign of Prince Albert II, the Principality has made a firm commitment to ensuring fiscal transparency, signing 35 bilateral agreements and being removed from all grey lists. The Principality is also a party to the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, which aims to increase the sharing of tax information between countries, on request and automatically, in order to better tackle tax fraud.

Domestically, Prince Albert II’s reign has been characterised by a policy of modernisation and major construction work, demonstrated notably by a major offshore extension project, the launch of work on a new hospital (Princess Grace Hospital), the completion of community facilities (hotel and catering school, new lower secondary school) and an extensive national housing plan.

In 2019, the launch of the Extended Monaco programme was the result of Prince Albert II’s determination to make Monaco a significant player in the digital transition.

Prince Albert II, who competed at five Olympic games as a member of the Monegasque bobsleigh team, is also active on the international sports scene.

He is President of the Monegasque Olympic Committee and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985.