Once upon a time, it was Prince William who created scenes of collective hysteria among young girls. Today, since it’s still early days for little Prince George to inherit the title, Gen-Zers needn’t fear: There’s a Prince Charming for you, and his name is Albert Windsor.
If you don’t know him and you’re under 25, note this name: he’s the only royal to have been included by Tatler, the English high society magazine, in the list of the most eligible bachelors who will be increasingly discussed in the coming months.
With a melancholy yet captivating look and short blond hair, Albert Windsor is only 18 but shows great promise. The cousin of King Charles and grandson of the Duke of Kent, from whom he will one day inherit the title, he is the first royal to bear the name of Prince Albert, known as Bertie, who later became George VI, father of Elizabeth II. Furthermore, Albert was the first royal baby in the modern era to be baptized in a Catholic rite.
His father, Lord Nicholas, converted to Catholicism and was forced to renounce his position in the line of succession to the throne, thus also excluding Albert, who would have been 37th in line. The boy grew up in Rome with his two younger brothers, Leopold, now 16 (and who, like his brother, already shows signs of being a potential heartthrob), and Louis, 11.
The fact that he was away from the United Kingdom for much of his childhood meant that he was rarely seen in public. Since turning 18, Albert seems to have become more active in society. Unlike his father, who is not on good terms with the royal family and was reportedly not even invited to King Charles’s coronation ceremony, the boy is viewed favorably by the monarchy.
At the funeral of his grandmother, Katharine, Duchess of Kent—held at Westminster Cathedral in London—the young man was reportedly close to William, Kate, and Charles himself, godfather at his father Nicholas’s christening. So, watch out for this newly minted blue-blooded eligible bachelor.
Originally published in Vanity Fair Italia
