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Monaco mourns the death of Prince Rainier, 81
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
Monaco was in mourning Wednesday for the death of Prince Rainier III who transformed the failing gamblers' haven he inherited 56 years ago into a banking center and tourist destination.
But it was his marriage to Grace Kelly, turning an actress into a princess, which put his principality on the map.
Church bells tolled across Monaco, as news of his death spread. Some flags, which had been at half-staff out of respect for the death of Pope John Paul II, were furled and tied in black ribbons. And the doors to Monaco's famous Monte Carlo casino were closed.
Rainier, 81, who died Wednesday morning, had been hospitalized for heart, lung and kidney problems. His son, Prince Albert, was named regent in Rainier's place a week ago and took over the royal powers.
A funeral is set for April 15, and a memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York will be at a later date, the principality's New York consulate said.
Rainier, whose family has ruled Monaco since the 13th century, was the "builder prince" of Monaco, 485 acres and 32,000 people on the Mediterranean coast, says John Glatt, author of The Royal House of Monaco. He built the principality into a banking center and haven for the wealthy with favorable tax policies, and actually increased its size by adding 100 acres of landfill on the coast. After he became sovereign in 1949, Rainier realized the nearly bankrupt country needed more than its famous but run-down casino, the place that caused writer W. Somerset Maugham to dub Monaco a "sunny place for shady people."
Rainier also needed an heir. Without a member of the Grimaldi family to rule it, the 700-year-old principality would revert to French control. His search for a bride included overtures to Marilyn Monroe. But he met Grace Kelly, the Philadelphia-born, Oscar-winning actress who looked the part of a princess, during a photo shoot on the Riviera. The two courted by letter, and their 1956 wedding was a television spectacular. Princess Grace's star power drew attention and tourists from the USA to the little Mediterranean city-state.
"It wasn't an accident that he cast Grace Kelly in the role as princess of Monaco. He was on a mission," says J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Once Upon A Time about the royal couple. "He had a vision back in the
50s of turning Monaco into something that was going to be extraordinary. With her as a figurehead, Monaco became this fantastic, fabulous place where people just wanted to go because Princess Grace lived there."
The glamour and publicity that Grace brought proved an economic boon. But Rainier, who was somewhat shy, was not always happy with the spotlight, Glatt says.
Princess Grace was killed in a car accident in 1982. After her death, Rainier established the Princess Grace Foundation, which annually gives $400,000 in grants to young artists in the USA. Toby Boshak, executive director of the foundation, said that he built the foundation as a living memorial to her.
Since her death, the couple's three children have starred in tabloids rather than fairy tales because of their lavish style and eventful personal lives. Princess Caroline has been married three times and has four children. Princess Stephanie married and divorced her bodyguard, father of two of her children, and later joined a Swiss circus to live with its director.
Albert, 47, educated at Amherst and an Olympic bobsledder, has no children. He has withstood decades of speculation about whether and when he will marry. In 2002, Monaco's constitution was changed to allow his sister Caroline, who has four children, to succeed him if he has no heirs.
Rainier, who never remarried after Princess Grace's death, "suffered a lot of humiliations to the family and to Monaco in silence," Glatt says.
NATO AIR said:Despite tremendous odds, he succeeded. He deserves credit for that,and Monaco is much better off thanks to his leadership. Hopefully one of his children will step up to the plate and carry on what he started.
) sounds like a flake. May be too soon to tell though.
lets free them from the oppression of monarchy
padisha emperor said:
Prince Albert seems to be weak, but we'll see.
He is not married, and has not children (and he is more than 40 years old !). If he died, his older sister Caroline would govern Monaco
Maybe he was just blowed.Said1 said:I've watched him spit and sputter over being questioned on some basic global issues. Maybe he was just nervous.
