As he turns 66, Tatler looks back at the glamorous life of Prince Albert of Monaco so far

As the only son of Prince Rainier III and his wife, the former Hollywood actress-turned-royal, Grace Kelly, Prince Albert II of Monaco was destined to be leader of the small principality from birth. First in line to the throne, at the time it was only male heirs who could ascend to the Monégasque throne, although his drawn-out bachelorhood (for a period in the 1990s, he permanently had a model or actress attached to his arm) prompted his father to begrudgingly change that law, allowing for his elder sister Princess Caroline and her three children to inherit. During his youth, he was educated both at home and abroad, moving briefly to the US for college, and even joining a fraternity. Always a keen sportsman, he once harboured ambitions of playing for the national football squad, before instead settling to be an Olympic bobsleigh driver. It was through this love of sport that he met his now wife, the former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock, with the two tying the knot in 2011 and putting to an end his playboy prince years. Despite this, his past has continued to follow him around, with a third paternity suit brought against him in just 2020. In 2021, the marriage has been haunted by rumours of unhappiness, with Charlene remaining away from the principality for much of the year, allegedly receiving treatment in an unknown medical facility. Fortunately, during the last couple of years, the couple seems to have rekindled their former bond and are looking as in love as ever.