Albert and Charlene crown Antonelli at 83rd Monaco Grand Prix as race debuts its June slot
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene presided over the podium ceremony of the 83rd Monaco Grand Prix at the Circuit de Monaco on June 7, with the Sovereign Prince presenting the winner's trophy to 19-year-old Mercedes .
At a glance
- Albert II and Charlene attended the podium ceremony of the 83rd Monaco Grand Prix on June 7, 2026
- Albert presented the winner's trophy to 19-year-old Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli; Charlene gave the runner-up trophy to Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Antonelli became the youngest driver to record an F1 'grand slam' (pole, win, fastest lap, led every lap)
- The princely couple also hosted a reception at the Oceanographic Museum and attended the Grand Prix gala at Sporting Monte-Carlo with Princess Alexandra of Hanover
- The 2026 race ran in a new June calendar slot
VERDICT — CONFIRMED
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene presided over the podium ceremony of the 83rd Monaco Grand Prix at the Circuit de Monaco on June 7, with the Sovereign Prince presenting the winner's trophy to 19-year-old Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charlene handing the runner-up trophy to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli's chaotic-weekend victory made him, by RaceFans' count, the youngest driver ever to complete a 'grand slam' — pole position, victory, fastest lap and every lap led — at a race run for the first time in its new June calendar slot.
The Grand Prix weekend doubled as the Grimaldis' biggest annual stage: Albert and Charlene toured the paddock on Friday, the princess drawing headlines in a scarlet Solace London dress; the couple hosted a reception at the Oceanographic Museum attended by Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet; and they closed the weekend at the traditional Grand Prix gala at Sporting Monte-Carlo, joined by Albert's niece Princess Alexandra of Hanover. The podium handover remains one of the few moments in global sport where a reigning monarch is built into the ceremony itself, a tradition dating to the race's 1929 origins under the Grimaldi dynasty.
Why it matters
the Grand Prix remains the Principality's single most valuable soft-power asset, and the family's saturation presence across paddock, reception, podium and gala shows the Grimaldis monetizing dynastic ceremony as national brand.
Key facts on file
- Albert II and Charlene attended the podium ceremony of the 83rd Monaco Grand Prix on June 7, 2026
- Albert presented the winner's trophy to 19-year-old Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli; Charlene gave the runner-up trophy to Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Antonelli became the youngest driver to record an F1 'grand slam' (pole, win, fastest lap, led every lap)
- The princely couple also hosted a reception at the Oceanographic Museum and attended the Grand Prix gala at Sporting Monte-Carlo with Princess Alexandra of Hanover
- The 2026 race ran in a new June calendar slot
