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Monaco's prince Rainier dies at 81: Palace
Monaco's Prince Rainier III, Europe's longest reigning monarch, died at the age of 81 on Wednesday after a battle with lung, heart and kidney problems, the palace said.
Rainier had ruled the tiny Mediterranean principality since 1949. He will be succeeded by 47-year-old Prince Albert, who took over his father's royal duties last week as hopes faded that Rainier would recover.
"His Most Serene Highness Prince Rainier III died on Wednesday April 6 2005 at 6.35 in the morning (0435 GMT)," the palace said in a statement.
Rainier brought Hollywood glamour to Monaco by marrying beautiful American actress Grace Kelly in 1956 and transformed the world's smallest state except for the Vatican from a faded gambling center into a billionaires' haven.
He strengthened the sovereignty of Monaco as enshrined by a 1917 treaty with France, its territorial waters and air space were recognized and it won a United Nations seat.
But Rainier -- the world's second longest-serving monarch after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand -- cut a lonely figure in later life as media focused on his children's problems and on charges that Monaco had become a mafia refuge for dirty money.
Rainier's reign added to the legendary curse of the Grimaldi dynasty that has haunted his family during its seven centuries of rule over Monaco.
Princess Grace died in a car crash in 1982 and his daughters Stephanie and Caroline have had a succession of disastrous, high-profile relationships.
BROKEN HEART
Rainier was clearly heartbroken when Grace died after the car she was driving skidded off a steep mountain road in 1982.
He never showed any sign of wanting to remarry. "I still feel her absence. It was a marriage of love," he said in 1999.
When Rainier succeeded his grandfather Prince Louis II, Monaco was best known for the casino on which its prosperity was founded in the 19th century.
As Europe's last constitutional autocrat, he led Monaco into an age of skyscrapers, international banking and business.
By the 1990s, gambling accounted for less than five percent of Monaco's annual income, the bulk of revenue coming from value added tax, tourism, commerce and industry.
Billionaires and millionaires poured in, drawn by the absence of income tax and the protection offered by the presence of policemen and security cameras on almost every street.
Critics say the property boom has turned the former coastal beauty spot, whose 30,000 inhabitants are squeezed into 200 hectares (500 acres) of land, into a "little Manhattan."
Rainier suffered several bouts of bronchitis and had several operations in recent years before he was taken to hospital for the last time on March 7 with a lung infection.
Albert is a shy man who has lived in the shadow of his more glamorous parents and sisters while being groomed to take power as Rainier's only son. He has been connected with a succession of models and actresses but has never settled down. His passion is sport. He dreamt of a career in soccer, took part in the Paris-Dakar motor rally in 1985 and is a judo black belt. He represented Monaco at the Olympic Games in the bobsleigh four times.
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