Prince of Monaco dies at 81

MONACO -- Prince Rainier III, who reshaped Monaco and worked to overcome its reputation as "a sunny place for shady people," died Wednesday, leaving the throne to Prince Albert II, his only son with actress Grace Kelly.\nIn power for 56 of his 81 years, Rainier was Europe's longest-reigning monarch and the only ruler many of Monaco's 32,000 residents had ever known. A veritable father-figure, he dragged Monaco into the modern age while preserving much of the Mediterranean charm and royal trappings of his tiny principality.\nBefore age slowed him, Rainier poured his energies into public works, earning the name "the builder prince." He put Monaco -- which is smaller than New York's Central Park -- on the world map with his April 18, 1956, marriage to Kelly, who gave up Hollywood fame to become Princess Grace.\nAlbert, 47, has been groomed from birth to succeed Rainier. Multilingual, U.S.-educated and a five-time bobsledding Olympian, he was at his father's bedside when Rainier died at a hospital overlooking Monaco's yacht-filled main harbor.\nRainier had been treated there for the past month for heart, kidney and breathing problems. Albert took over the royal powers last week because of Rainier's ill health.\nRainier's funeral will be held April 15 at the 19th-century Monaco Cathedral, where he and Princess Grace wed. He is expected to be buried alongside her.\nAt the traditional midday changing of the palace guards ceremony Wednesday, drums were covered with black cloth. The body of Rainier, whose family dynasty took power in 1297, was moved to his hilltop palace where it will in lie in state, the palace said.\nFlags, already lowered for Pope John Paul II, remained at half-staff. Monaco's TV networks interrupted programming with documentaries on Rainier's life and reactions to his death.\n"Each of us feels like an orphan because the principality has been marked by his imprint over the 56 years (of his reign,)" said Patrick Leclercq, head of Monaco's government.\nRainier's doctors called Albert about 30 minutes beforehand to tell him the end was near, the palace said. The palace did not say if Rainier's daughters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, were with him when he died.\nChristopher Le Vine, whose mother is Princess Grace's last surviving sibling, said Albert and Caroline called to inform him of Rainier's death.\n"They're doing remarkably well under the circumstances," he said.\nHe said he and other Philadelphia-area relatives will go to Monaco for Rainier's funeral. He said the prince had a "unique sense of humor" but he expects Albert to make his own imprint on the French-speaking principality.\n"It's not something that he hasn't anticipated over these many years. He will make his own space there," Le Vine said.