Bachelor prince takes over as monarch of Monaco

PRINCE Albert II was proclaimed ruler of Monaco yesterday at a solemn Mass in the tiny Riviera enclave’s cliff-top cathedral where his father was buried three months ago after a 56-year reign.

Wearing a dark suit and sky blue tie, Albert knelt as a choir sang a traditional Monaco prayer asking God to protect the prince.

For the first time, the white-robed singers invoked Albert's name instead of that of his father, Rainier III.