PARIS (AP) — Prince Albert of Monaco is engaged to marry Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa, a union that will give this wealthy Mediterranean principality its first crown princess since American Grace Kelly died in 1982.
Prince Albert is a long-time Olympic supporter, and swimming supporter, obviously...but his taste for swimming girlfriends goes all the way back to the 1980s.
I first met Albert in 1987 at a meet in Atlanta, Georgia. I was a kid, still in my teens, very much a naive member of the USA National Team. I think we were competing in a post Pan Pacific Games dual meet. Doesn't matter. The point is: I was presented a medal by this low-key, unassuming guy. I figured he was some southern executive from Coca Cola or CNN, you know, a local corporate mucky-muck. I got my medal and shook his hand. Moments later, while he's making polite chit chat, Mary Wayte (2-time Olympic gold medalist) steps up, grinning, "Melvin, you don't know who this is, do you?"
I think I said something like "He's the guy who presented the medals."
"No," she corrected me. "He's Prince Albert of Monaco."
"Right," I laughed, "Prince Albert in a can."
When I learned he was, in fact, the Prince, and turned beet red, Albert just smiled and had a good laugh.
Without dishing too much, Albert and Mary dated, but I got the feeling that Mary didn't want the media attention that came with being romantically linked to royalty. (Mary and I were on the same USA National Teams from 1985-88, when she retired from the sport. Mary was level-headed and always in charge. In many ways, I looked up to her as a big sister on all those trips aboard.)
Since that first "Prince Albert in a can" encounter, he has always been especially nice to me. I'd see him at big swimming events, and, often, he'd host great parties. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, after I won gold, he let me tag along in a small group to watch the other events.
By that point, I had read a lot of negative reports about him being a playboy, and how he wasn't fit to replace his father on the throne... It made me feel sorry for him. No one likes to be judged, and the media never depicts a person through a 20/20 lens. If anything, I thought Albert would make a great king, and for one reason. He was utterly kind to everyone. He wasn't drippy sweet or annoyingly charming, he simply treated people with this quiet respect. (Kindness and respect are incredibly underrated qualities, particularly when they're genuine.)
So, Prince Albert's going to make a great king...and since he's marrying a swimmer, I can say, albeit with a little bias, he's going to make a wise king.
Be wishes and congratulations Albert and Charlene!
GOLD MEDAL MEDIA
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