Charles & Albert: Growing old as they wait in gilded limbo

PARIS - Two ageing royal heirs are edging towards the throne after years of being sidelined by their parents and beset by doubts, honed by the expectations of ancient dynasties, over whether they are up to the job.

One is Prince Charles, 56, who will marry his long-term love, Camilla Parker Bowles, in Windsor this week.

The marriage is designed to bring honesty and light into a prolonged affair and clear an obstacle to Charles' ascendancy to the throne.

Yet the union remains deeply controversial. In the eyes of many, Charles and Parker Bowles are adulterers who destroyed their first marriages. Charles, in particular, showed not only poor judgment but also moral flaws for a man who will become head of the Church of England when he becomes king.

The other is Prince Albert of Monaco, who last week temporarily assumed the functions of his father, Prince Rainier, ruler of the Mediterranean micro-state since 1949.

Like Charles, Albert, 47, was groomed for the throne from his earliest years.

Tall and balding, he has been waiting in the wings for decades - a quiet, patient and polite figure.

His passion is sport: he is a black-belt in judo, a pentathlete and represents Monaco in the bobsleigh.

The celebrity mags that proliferate in Europe variously describe Albert as a simple-minded sports jock, a discreet and disciplined man with a flair for business, a daddy's boy, a glamorous playboy with a string of female conquests to his name or - conversely - a closet gay.

Helping the rumour mill has been his father's own treatment of him. Albert has never had a position of importance. All the decisions that have shaped Monaco have been decided by Rainier alone.

"For years, he has been taking part in the meetings of his father's Cabinet but hasn't been allowed to open his mouth," the French daily Le Parisien says.

The reason, though, may be frustration. "If I say something against my father, everyone thinks I want his position," Albert has been quoted as saying. "If I say nothing, everyone thinks I'm an idiot."

Rainier, fatigued by so many years on the throne and depressed by the loss of his wife, Grace, in 1982, had several good occasions in recent years for handing on the baton.

One was in 1997, when the Grimaldi dynasty celebrated its 700th anniversary. Another came in 1999, when Rainier marked his 50th year on the throne.

According to some reports, he believed Albert lacked "maturity" (a codeword for smartness) for the job. But the key strike against Albert was the pressure of ancestry.

In 2000, Rainier said he insisted on staying in the job until Albert had married and produced an heir, "because this is essential for the future of the principality and our family".

To Rainier's despair, Albert remained obstinately childless, saying he would marry and have children when his heart felt it was right to do so. The situation threatened the end of the Grimaldi dynasty, which has ruled Monaco since 1297.

Rainier had no option than to push through a change in Monaco's constitution in April 2002 to ensure that if Albert died without an heir, the throne would go to his nephews or nieces.

Albert and Charles would find a lot in common. They were born as insurance policy, to ensure their families remained on the throne.

They have experienced the enduring frustration of being sovereign-in-waiting and of facing, as time passes, increasing doubts of whether they are fit for the job.

On love, their dilemma is to follow their hearts but also match the expectations of their ancestry. In this golden limbo they wait, obedient to the duty to which they were born.