With all the pomp and splendor befitting a very rich man ruling 6,000 people on a seafront out-cropping of rock, Prince Albert II of Monaco on Tuesday assumed the throne left vacant in April by the death of his father, Prince Rainier III.
The secretive, bachelor prince knelt in the tiny Roman Catholic country's main cathedral as Archbishop Bernard Barsi read a solemn homily, praising God for the new ruler, whom he called "a gift."
Fireworks lit up the sky later on Tuesday night as luminaries from a Monegasque A-list and assorted billionaires danced beneath the stars.
It was not apparent whether the celebrators included Nicole Coste, the mother of the prince's 23-month-old son, Alexandre Eric Stephane.
Albert, whose bachelor status became such a matter of concern in the principality that it changed its constitution to allow his sisters' children to become heirs to the throne, publicly acknowledged paternity of the child last week and this week hinted that there might be more such claims arising.
"I know there are other people who have nearly the same cases," the prince told French television on Monday during a rare interview. He refused to elaborate, but one woman in California tells a tale much like the one of Coste.
Tamara Rotolo of California says the prince wooed her into a brief affair that resulted in the birth of a daughter on March 4, 1992.
Any children legally recognized by the prince will eventually share in a fortune of nearly US$2 billion.
Monegasques have been supportive of their prince during his public tribulations, praising him for paying handsomely to support his young son and to keep the boy's mother from making their relationship public during Prince Rainier's final years.
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