Since his accession, he has been outspoken in the field of environmentalism and an advocate of ocean conservation,[3] and adoption of renewable energy sources to tackle global climate change,[4][5] and founded Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in 2006, to directly raise funds and initiate action for such causes and greater ecological preservation.

With assets valued in 2010 at US$1 billion, Albert owns shares in the Société des Bains de Mer, which operates Monaco's casino and other entertainment properties in the Principality.

Albert was a dual citizen of both the Principality of Monaco and the United States of America by birth, before renouncing his American citizenship in his early adulthood.

Albert spent mid-1979 touring Europe and the Middle East with the Amherst College Glee Club, and also undertook an exchange program with the University of Bristol, at the Alfred Marshall School of Economics and Management, in 1979.

[11] From September 1981 to April 1982, Albert trained on board the French Navy's helicopter cruiser Jeanne d'Arc , attaining the rank of Ship-of-the-Line Ensign (2nd class), and is currently a reserve Lieutenant Commander.

[13] Prince Albert's mother, Princess Grace, died at age 52 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in 1982.

In 2017, the Prince stated during an interview that his mother's death was a traumatic event for him and his family, revealing that his father was "never the same man" after the loss.

[14] Albert was an enthusiastic sportsman, participating in cross country, javelin throwing, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, rowing, sailing, skiing, squash and fencing.

[15] Albert competed in the bobsleigh at five consecutive Winter Olympics for Monaco, taking part in both the two-man and four-man events.

[18] On 31 March 2005, following consultation with the Crown Council of Monaco, the Palais Princier announced that Albert would take over the duties of his father as regent since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his princely functions.

[19] 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.

[20] A morning Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral presided over by the Archbishop of Monaco, the Most Reverend Bernard Barsi, formally marked the beginning of his reign.

[23] As Rainier III's health declined, Albert's lack of legitimate children became a matter of public and political concern owing to the legal and international consequences.

Had Prince Albert succeeded his father and died without lawful heirs, it would have triggered Article 3 of the 1918 Franco-Monegasque Treaty, according to which the Principality of Monaco would become a protectorate of the French Republic.

The foundation's focus has three main objectives: climate change and renewable energy development, combating the loss of biodiversity, and improving universal access to clean water.

[32] On 27 August 2015, Prince Albert apologized for Monaco's role in facilitating the deportation of a total of 90 Jews and resistance fighters to the Nazis in 1942, of whom only nine survived.

"We committed the irreparable in handing over to the neighboring authorities women, men, and a child who had taken refuge with us to escape the persecutions they had suffered in France," Albert said at a ceremony in which a monument to the victims was unveiled at the Monaco Cemetery.

[45] On 19 March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, it was announced that Albert II had tested positive for COVID-19,[46] making him the first monarch and head of state to have contracted COVID-19.

[50] Prince Albert met South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock in 2000 at the Mare Nostrum swimming meet in Monaco.

Rainier was petitioned unsuccessfully for many years by Virginia McKenna, founder of the Born Free Foundation, to release a pair of leopards at the zoo.

[68] In January 2009, Prince Albert left for a month-long expedition to Antarctica, where he visited 26 scientific outposts and met with climate-change experts in an attempt to learn more about the impact of global warming on the continent.

[70][71] In June 2009, Prince Albert co-authored an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal with Charles Clover, the author of The End of the Line, a book about overfishing and ocean conservation issues that had recently been made into a documentary by Rupert Murray.

[75] On 19 September 2017, Prince Albert expressed his great interest for the preliminary draft of the Global Pact for the Environment presented by French President Emmanuel Macron in the context of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

[115] On 23 October 2009, Prince Albert was awarded the Roger Revelle Prize for his efforts to protect the environment and to promote scientific research.

The Club cited Prince Albert's dedication to the protection of the environment, commemorating his status as the first head of state to reach both the North and South poles.

[119] On 14 October 2019 at the Comenius University in Bratislava, he received the honorary title "doctor honoris causa" for activities in the field of protection of natural and cultural heritage within his efforts to combat climate change.