His Serene Highness Prince Albert II visited the newly renovated Lycée Albert 1er on Thursday, September 3, accompanied by Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, several Government Counsellors and Ministers, and a number of prominent figures from across the Principality.
The renovation has brought a wide range of upgrades to the school, including modernised classrooms, new air conditioning and ventilation systems, improved thermal and sound insulation, updated window and door fittings, and the installation of photovoltaic panels, all aimed at improving comfort and conditions for staff and students alike. The works, costing €13.5 million in total, ran for a full school year and required temporarily relocating around 800 students, 100 teachers and language assistants, and 53 educational, administrative and support staff to the former Collège Charles-III during the closure.
The school itself carries deep historical significance on the Rock, occupying a former 17th-century convent built between 1665 and 1675 for young noblewomen, whose vaulted cloister still survives today. Founded in 1910 by Prince Albert I to provide the Principality’s young people with a secular education, it opened initially to boys only before admitting girls from 1918. Prince Rainier III renamed it Lycée Albert 1er in 1960, on the school’s 50th anniversary, in tribute to his grandfather and its founder. Its library was inaugurated by Princess Grace, and its notable alumni include Prince Albert II himself, singer Léo Ferré, former French minister and IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc.
With the new school year just days away, the Lycée Albert 1er is now ready to welcome its roughly 750 students back when term resumes on Monday, September 7.
Image courtesy of Direction de la Communication – Manuel Vitali