Prince Albert of Monaco added a touch of royalty to the Ice Bucket Challenge as he completed the task on Tuesday. Albert, who is expecting his first child with wife Princess Charlene, showed his fun side as he undertook the challenge against the lavish backdrop of Monte Carlo's coastline. The royal was filmed going through with the dunking in a video posted on Facebook by the Monaco Royal Palace.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco are soon-to-be parents
Albert started off by thanking Eddie Jordan, founder and owner of Jordan Grand Prix, and former rugby star Brian O'Driscoll for the nomination. "I'm very honoured and happy to be part of this extraordinary project and I would be happy to make a personal donation to this," said Albert, speaking in English. The 56-year-old father-to-be then went on to nominate French president François Hollande, Prince Haakon of Norway and Philip Knight.
Prince Albert of Monaco nominated French president François Hollande
Will Europe's royals take on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge?"I'm extremely proud and happy to be part of this process," Albert repeated as he mustered up the courage to douse himself. "And here we go." "Wonderful," he said as he shook off the ice-cold water, before two friends threw two more buckets over him. "Oh what happened?" he feigned.
While the Monegasque is perhaps the first European royal to complete the challenge on video, King Philippe of the Belgians has also seemed to participate in the charity campaign. The Belgian royal palace posted a photo of an empty bucket on Twitter, with the caption, "Go #ALSIceBucketChallenge!" and a list of nominations – suggesting that Philippe, who was selected by Q Music presenter Sven Ornelis, had fulfilled his task.
Closer to home, Prince Harry has had at least three nominations from celebrities including Ellie Goulding, actress Lindsay Lohan and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. His grandmother The Queen has also been chosen twice by Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick and Australian Rules Football player Brad Ebert, whose grandma suffers from motor neurone disease. There has, however, been no evidence that the British royals have accepted their challenge.