PARIS - Prince Albert of Monaco, who succeeds as ruler in the tiny principality following the death of his father Prince Rainier, is an accomplished sportsman, a confirmed bachelor, but at 47 still untried in the ways of government.
The second child and only son of Rainier and the US film star Grace Kelly, Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi was born in March 1958 and educated in Monaco and the United States. After serving briefly in the French navy, he worked as an intern for the Morgan Guaranty Trust of New York.
After his mother's death in a car accident in 1982 he returned to Monaco, where his sporting talents were allowed free rein.
He performed in five Winter Olympics as a member of the national bobsled team and in 1985 he took part in the Paris-Dakar motor rally. He was appointed to the International Olympic Committee in 1985 and became president of the Olympic Comittee of Monaco in 1993.
A tall and balding figure, Albert also made regular appearances -- like his sisters Caroline and Stephanie -- in the European celebrity press, where his continuing bachelorhood was a subject of constant comment.
Unlike his sisters he came across as a conscientious, if slightly unexciting, figure. One French newspaper described him last month as an "unknown celebrity."
In recent years Albert assumed some public functions, representing Monaco in international forums such as the Council of Europe, but his father never delegated powers inside the state. Finally Albert was elevated to the regency on March 31 as Rainier lay dying.
"It is true that he has taken part for years at cabinet meetings, but he is not authorised to open his mouth ... Over the years he has acquired a reputation for being nice but dull. Which may be not at all fair," said Le Parisien newspaper.
Albert's failure to marry and have children resulted in a 2002 change to the statelet's constitution, under which the 700-year-old Grimaldi dynasty can continue through the female line if he dies without an heir. Caroline and Stephanie have seven children between them.
In his 55 years in power Rainier was credited with turning the rocky statelet from a riviera Ruritania into a thriving banking and business centre. His marriage to Kelly in 1956 added to the air of jet-set romance.
"Rainier's strength was to be both monarch and businessman," said France-Soir newspaper. "This is the equation Albert must face. Is he endowed as his father was with the same combination of charisma and entrepreneurial genius?"
04/06/2005 08:34 GMT