Prince Rainier III

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Lore & Background

Rainier ascended to the throne on 9 May 1949 at age 25 upon the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II. Finding a practically empty treasury, he shifted focus from declining European aristocratic gambling clients to real-estate development and international tourism. Early in his reign, Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis took control of the Société des Bains de Mer, envisioning Monaco solely as a gambling resort, but Rainier regained full control in 1964. A financial crisis struck in 1955 when the Societé Monégasque de Banques et de Métaux Précieux went bankrupt due to media investments, forcing cabinet resignations. In 1962, he ratified a new constitution ending autocratic rule and establishing an eighteen-member elected National Council.

In Their Own Story

Rainier met Grace Kelly during a photocall at the Palace in 1955 for her Cannes Film Festival trip. After a year of courtship involving "a good deal of rational appraisal," they married on 18 April 1956 in a civil ceremony at the Palace, followed by a religious wedding on 19 April at Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Rainier wore a custom military uniform based on Napoleon Bonaparte's designs. Presided over by Bishop Gilles Barthe and broadcast by MGM Studios to over 30 million viewers globally, it was hailed as the "wedding of the century." The couple honeymooned on their yacht, Deo Juvante II. They had three children: Princess Caroline (born 23 January 1957), Prince Albert (born 14 March 1958), and Princess Stéphanie (born 1 February 1965). All were delivered at the Palace.

Reader's Guide

Rainier's personal life included a ten-year relationship with French actress Gisèle Pascal, which ended due to rumors of infertility spread by his sister Antoinette. He established the Museum of Stamps and Coins in 1995 using collections from Princes Albert I and Louis II, later founding the Club de Monte-Carlo de l'Élite de la Philatélie in 1999. Throughout his reign, he surveyed stamp creation, preferring intaglio prints by engravers Henri Cheffer and Czesław Słania. His car collection became the Monaco Top Cars Collection in Fontvieille. In 1979, Rainier made an acting debut alongside Grace in a half-hour film titled Rearranged. After her death in a 1982 car crash caused by a cerebral hemorrhage, he refused to remarry and founded the Princess Grace Foundation-USA.

Did You Know?

• Rainier was the first native-born prince of Monaco since Honoré IV in 1758.
• He smoked sixty cigarettes a day, which compromised his health and led to his death from lung infection complications.
• His mother renounced her right to the throne on the day before his 21st birthday, making him the direct heir.
• Rainier served as a second lieutenant in the Free French Army during World War II, witnessing action in Alsace.
• At the time of his death, he was the world's second longest-serving head of state after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.