From Wikipedia.com Part 2
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Actions as Prince
After ascending the throne, Prince Rainier III worked assiduously to recoup Monaco's luster, which had become tarnished through neglect (especially financial) and scandal (his mother, Princess Charlotte, took a noted jewel thief known as René the Walking Stick as her lover). According to numerous obituaries, the prince was faced upon his ascension with a treasury that was practically empty. The holder of 55 percent of the nation's reserves, the Societé Monégasque de Banques et de Métaux Précieux, was bankrupt. The small nation's traditional gambling clientele, largely European aristocrats, found themselves with reduced funds after World War II. Other gambling centers had opened to compete with Monaco, many of them successfully. To compensate for this loss of income, Prince Rainier decided to promote Monaco as a tax haven, commercial center, real-estate development opportunity, and international tourist attraction. The early years of his reign saw the overweening involvement of the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who took control of the Société des Bains de Mer and envisioned Monaco as solely a gambling resort. Prince Rainier regained control of the Société in 1964, effectively ensuring that his vision of Monaco would be implemented.
As Prince of Monaco, Rainier III also was responsible for the principality's new constitution in 1962 which significantly reduced the power of the sovereign. (He suspended the previous Constitution in 1959, saying that it "has hindered the administrative and political life of the country.") The changes ended autocratic rule, placing power with the prince and a National Council of eighteen elected members.
At the time of his death, he was the world's second longest-serving Head of State, ranking just below King Rama IX of Thailand.
Illness and death
In the last three years of his life, Prince Rainier's health progressively declined. In early 2004, he was hospitalized for coronary problems. In October he was again in hospital with a lung infection. In November of that year, Prince Albert appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and told Larry King that his father was fine, though he was suffering from bronchitis. On March 7, 2005, he was again hospitalized with a lung infection. Rainier was moved to the hospital's intensive care unit on March 22. One day later, on March 23, it was announced he was on a ventilator, suffering from renal and heart failure. On March 26, the palace reported that despite intensive ongoing efforts to improve the prince's health, he was continuing to deteriorate; however, the following day, he was reported to be conscious, his heart and kidney conditions having stabilized. His prognosis remained "very reserved".
On March 31, 2005, the Palais Princier announced that Rainier's son, Hereditary Prince Albert, Marquis des Baux, would take over the duties of his father as Regent since Rainier was no longer able to exercise his royal functions.
On April 1, 2005, the Palace announced that Rainier's chances of recovery were "slim"; on April 6 it announced that Prince Rainier had died at 6:35 am local time at the age of 81. He was succeeded by his only son, who became Prince Albert II.
He was buried on April 15, 2005, beside his wife, Princess Grace, at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. Built in the 19th century and also known as Monaco Cathedral, the neo-Romanesque structure is the resting place of 17 previous sovereign princes of Monaco and several of their wives; it also is where Prince Rainier and Princess Grace were married in 1956.
Titles
Rainier's official shortened title was
His Serene Highness Rainier III, Sovereign Prince of Monaco; this does not include the many other hereditary titles acquired by the Grimaldi family (see Prince of Monaco for a complete list).
His other non-hereditary titles and awards included:
- Knight Grand-Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta with Cross of Honorary Professed Member
- Colonel in the French Army
- Grand Master of the Order of Saint-Charles
- Grand Master of the Order of the Crown
- Grand Master of the Order of Grimaldi
- Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
- Member of the Pontifical Military Order of the Golden Spur
- Member of the Order of Seraphs
- Collar of Merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the SaviorGreec
- Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of George I (Greece)
- Grand Cordon of the Order of Léopold(Belgium)
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Lion of Nassau
- Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of Saint-Martin
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Mohammed Ali
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Karageorgevitch
- Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of Saint-Jacques of the Sword
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Jose Matias Delgado (El Salvador)
- Lebanese Medal of Merit
- The French Cross of War (Croix de Guerre)
- Cross of the Voluntary Combatant 1939-1945
- The Belgian Cross of War
- Gold Medal of the American Legion and the Golden Olympic Order
- Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Gold Medal for Motor Sport
- Grand Collier of the Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero (Panama)
Philately
Rainier III created a postal museum in 1950 by using the collections of Albert I and Louis II. Since 1996 this museum is called
Musée des timbres et monnaies.
Creator of the philatelic
Club de Monte-Carlo in 1997, he organized with its members some exhibitions with rare and exceptional postage stamps and letters.
During all his reign, Rainier III surveyed all the process of creation of Monaco stamps. He liked stamps printed in intaglio and the art of engraver Czesław Słania.
Source: Wikipedia