Prince Albert and Prince Charles in 2001.Photo: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
Prince AlbertandPrincess Charleneof Monaco are looking to London.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, Monaco’s reigning sovereign confirmed the royal couple is looking forward to attending King Charles’May 6 coronation.
“I’m certain that it’s going to be an incredible ceremony and a very moving one,” Prince Albert, 64, tells PEOPLE. “We’ve maintained contact since His Majesty became King, but I haven’t talked to him personally since the Queen’s funeral.”
“I’m certain His Majesty will add his own ‘personal touches’ to the ceremonies,” adds Albert about the historic royal event. “But what those will be, I’m sure I don’t know.”
“I don’t know what arrangements they’ll provide for other members of the family,” Albert tells PEOPLE. “And the children, I think, [they] may be a little young for these types of ceremonies. But we’ll see.”
“You know I don’t know how many coronations of an English monarch I’ll see in my lifetime, so we’ll try to take advantage of that,” he adds.
Preliminary plans for King Charles' coronation promise a “once-in-a-lifetime” spectacle. The 2,000 guests invited to Westminster Abbey — and the thousands who’ll line the parade route — will participate in Britain’s first crowning ceremony in 70 years.
Prince Charles and Prince Albert in 2006.POOL/Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty
Their Royal Friendship
As royals, King Charles and Prince Albert have a long and unique friendship going back decades.
“His Majesty remains very much engaged and still very keen to pursue these issues,” Prince Albert tells PEOPLE about his correspondence with Charles since the Sept. 8 death ofQueen Elizabeth. “For example, I know he closely followed the progress of the COP conferences” at Sharm-el-Sheikh and Montreal last fall.
Despite this, Prince Albert says he’s unsure about how much time King Charles' increased responsibilities will allow his pursuit of ecological issues.
“I’m still uncertain what his King’s Trust is going to become now,” Albert remarks. “We’re partnered with it on a few projects concerning ocean initiatives and forests mostly, and we’re waiting to see how things ‘shake out’ in the King’s new role. It’s going to evolve. There’s talk that because he can’t follow everything, His Majesty’s going to have another family member in charge of that.”
His logical successor on environmental issues would be his son and heirPrince William, Albert agrees, before stipulating that the transition remains unannounced. “It could be. But we’ve no word of that yet,” he says.
“The King has been very much in the forefront,” Albert adds, describing Charles as “a pioneer” of environmentalism. “He was the first major figure of state, a leader of opinion, to commit himself to environmental protection. He really began in the 1980s — and in many pioneering ways. In sustainability and really in every aspect of it. In architecture, for example, and in using different designs, even to small town designs.”
King Charles' early leadership concerning climate change, has also expanded, Prince Albert observes. “The King, his Foundation and Trust have moved progressively into other areas including protection of natural habitats, oceans and water for future generations.”
“I admire his fight for several great battles,” continues Albert. “For the improvement of architecture. For energy sustainability, against deforestation and on a number of environmental issues. These are concerns on which we’ve frequently exchanged views.”
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Prince Albert and Prince Charles.Rene Maestri/Sygma/Sygma via Getty
One Parting Anecdote
In 2017, Prince Albert recalls, “His Majesty accompanied me to Malta for a conference on the oceans. It was wonderful because that was truly the first time he participated personally in a conference of that type, and it brought a higher profile to the issues.”
“His Majesty is listened to when he talks about environmental subjects. He’s very well respected. It’s important to see him lend his voice, an important voice, to these issues,” he adds. “That part of Charles' legacy will live on through those who show real concern and commitment to environmental issues and wildlife survival. I’ve seen this personally, and that’s a wonderful legacy.”
On a personal level, Prince Albert describes King Charles as “a most patient man. A very educated man and someone with a great sense of humor.”
Asked to share one anecdote, Albert laughs.
“Well, we do have this one joke between us which years on, we keep laughing about…and His Majesty will remember this very well…” he says.
“There was a time for several years when we would always be paired up at, I don’t really want to call them royal events, but at occasions like weddings, funerals, christenings among other royal families. If there was a procession to march in and out of, say, a hall or cathedral, or when people needed to be announced, we would always be paired together because we were ‘the two single royal guys.’ "
“It became kind of a ‘Here we go again!’ situation, which happened to us so often that we’d laugh about it,” Prince Albert continues. " ‘Oh, I see you’re here, so I guess we’re gonna end up walking down the aisle together again.’ You know, that sort of thing. It was actually pretty funny.”
source: people.com
