2008 Woodie Awards
Prince Rainier: Remembering the Prince of Monaco
The famed Prince of Monaco, saving grace of the nation, died of illness last week.
Brittany Lee
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Prince Rainier III, the famed leader of Monaco who carried the country from a diminutive, little know Mediterranean destination to an investor hot spot, died last week at the age of 81. Rainier, who had been ill with heart, kidney, and breathing problems, died in the hospital. His son, Prince Albert will take his place at the throne.
Rainier took the throne in 1949 at the age of 26, succeeding his father Louis II. The country had been in the hands of the Grimaldi family for more than seven centuries. At the time Rainier came into power, however, the tiny country of Monaco (encompassing less than one square mile) was near bankruptcy.
The legendary gambling casino at Monte Carlo, run by the esteemed Society of Sea Baths, was sputtering. While formerly rich aristocracy poured money into gambling there, now far fewer had the funds to gamble so grandly after World War Two. The principle bank at the time, The Monaco Bank and Precious Metals Society, was also in poor shape, reaching a state of bankruptcy shortly after Rainier took the throne.
Rainier managed to quickly turn the state of his nation around. His famed, fairy tale romance to Hollywood actress Grace Kelly made headlines and garnered attention from the rest of the world for the petite country. It also helped bring crowds of visitors to this Mediterranean paradise. Sadly, in 1982 Grace died in a tragic car accident, devastating her husband and the nation of Monaco.
In the 1950's, one of the world's richest men, Aristotle Onassis, expressed a great desire to invest in the nation of Monaco through the Monte Carlo casino. He became owner of 52 percent of the Society of Sea Bath's stock. However, in return for his investment, he desired a say in how the country should be run-and Rainier refused to allow it.
Onassis wanted Monaco to remain a country that catered solely to the rich, but Rainier believed it had no future if it stayed this way. He wanted to make the country accessible to the middle class, and to do so he ordered the construction of less expensive hotels and created new shares in the Society of Sea Bath for the government to hold.
Rainier took the throne in 1949 at the age of 26, succeeding his father Louis II. The country had been in the hands of the Grimaldi family for more than seven centuries. At the time Rainier came into power, however, the tiny country of Monaco (encompassing less than one square mile) was near bankruptcy.
The legendary gambling casino at Monte Carlo, run by the esteemed Society of Sea Baths, was sputtering. While formerly rich aristocracy poured money into gambling there, now far fewer had the funds to gamble so grandly after World War Two. The principle bank at the time, The Monaco Bank and Precious Metals Society, was also in poor shape, reaching a state of bankruptcy shortly after Rainier took the throne.
Rainier managed to quickly turn the state of his nation around. His famed, fairy tale romance to Hollywood actress Grace Kelly made headlines and garnered attention from the rest of the world for the petite country. It also helped bring crowds of visitors to this Mediterranean paradise. Sadly, in 1982 Grace died in a tragic car accident, devastating her husband and the nation of Monaco.
In the 1950's, one of the world's richest men, Aristotle Onassis, expressed a great desire to invest in the nation of Monaco through the Monte Carlo casino. He became owner of 52 percent of the Society of Sea Bath's stock. However, in return for his investment, he desired a say in how the country should be run-and Rainier refused to allow it.
Onassis wanted Monaco to remain a country that catered solely to the rich, but Rainier believed it had no future if it stayed this way. He wanted to make the country accessible to the middle class, and to do so he ordered the construction of less expensive hotels and created new shares in the Society of Sea Bath for the government to hold.