In his wet suit and diving gear Prince Albert took his reputation as Europe's most eco-friendly sovereign a step further this week. Posing with a life-size statue of a dolphin, Monaco's green prince was once again promoting positive messages on the environment.
The photocall was to publicise Operation Mimo, a campaign celebrating the year of the dolphin and the international agreements in place to protect the sea creature's status.
No other royal has been as vocal in their support of the environment as the 48-year-old monarch. On ascending to the throne last year the son of Prince Rainier used one of his first speeches as sovereign to announce his principality would ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to limit the emission of greenhouse gases.
And, in April, the action man royal made an arduous four-day trek to the North Pole to highlight global warming. The 75-km expedition from a base in Russia ended up being 150km because of the need to skirt icy outcrops.
"It was a physically difficult journey because it isn't a straight line" he said. "When you have blocks of ice that crash into each other they make pretty impressive little hills to climb."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
