Born in 1958, he is the only son of Prince Rainier III and the American actress Grace Kelly.
The couple had two daughters, Caroline, Princess of Hanover and Princess Stéphanie.
Prince Albert II succeeded his father, Prince Rainier II who died on April 6, 2005 and on July 12, 2005 when the end of official mourning ended, the Prince’s accession to the throne was celebrated.
Albert attended Amherst College in Massachusetts and briefly served in the French navy.
However, tragedy hit the family in 1982 when Grace Kelly was killed in a crash when her car plunged off a winding mountain road in the French Riviera.
She was buried in the Grimaldi family vault and more than 400 people attended, including Cary Grant, Nancy Reagan and Diana, Princess of Wales.
After his mother’s death, Albert became president of the Monaco Red Cross and was later involved with a number of charities and causes.
In 2006, he established the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, focusing on environmental protection.
He is an avid sportsman and formed the Monegasque Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation in 1987 and was part of the national bobsleigh team for five Winter Olympic Games.
Since 1984, Prince Albert has worked alongside his father in managing the affairs of the State.
When he assumed the throne, he did so amid controversy over children he had fathered out of wedlock.
Just day before he was enthroned on July 12, he admitted he had fathered a son out of wedlock, then in 2006, he publicly acknowledged he had fathered a daughter.
However the illegitimate children were barred from inheriting the throne, as a 2002 constitutional amendment required the heir’s parents to be married.
Therefore the children – Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Coste – were not in the line of of succession.
Another amendment to the constitution, stated if a reigning prince dies without legitimate issues, the throne passes to his siblings, so Prince Albert’s sisters would inherit the throne, which they would have lost upon the death of Prince Rainier.
In July 2011, Albert married Charlene Wittstock, a South African swimmer who he met at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006.
The couple had twins, Jacques Honoré Rainier and Gabriella Thérèse Marie, three years after their marriage in December 2014.
Although Gabriella was born first, Jacques was made crown prince in accordance with Monaco’s rules of succession.