Monaco's Prince Rainier dies

I don't know what other people's impression are of Monaco
but having vacationed in the area (Menton) a number of times.
I would not rank Monaco high on my list of "must see"
although it is a such a curiosity that once suffices.
Nearby Rocquebrune is worth a walk through because it is
old and an example of a fortified hill town from the times
of the Middle Ages when these were necessary for self-defense from
sea raiders along the coast.

Monaco is a place that some of the international rich escape to to avoid
taxes. However, legally Americans have no such safe havens. The problem
is that it is crowded and lacks charm. I would prefer a villa somewhere
else if I were in that position. Many of very rich have a number of houses
scattered around the international landscape, a chalet in Switzerland,
a villa in Southern France, apartments in New York, London and Paris, etc.
But Monoco? I don`t think so.

Earl

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Monaco's Prince Rainier dies
(Filed: 06/04/2005)

Monaco's Prince Rainier III, the widow of actress Grace Kelly, has died at
the age of 81.

Europe's longest reigning monarch, had been suffering from lung, heart and
kidney problems.

Prince Albert will succeed Prince Rainier

Rainier had ruled the tiny Mediterranean principality since 1949. He will be
succeeded by Prince Albert, 47, who took over his father's royal duties last
week as hopes faded that Rainier would recover.

Prince Rainier died this morning, a palace statement said.

Rainier brought Hollywood glamour to Monaco by marrying beautiful American
actress Grace Kelly in 1956.

He transformed the world's smallest state, except for the Vatican, from a
faded gambling centre 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 recognised 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 the media
focussed on his children's problems.

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Grace Kelly brought elegance and glamour to the monarchy

Monaco was also charged with having become a mafia refuge for dirty money.

Princess Grace died in a car crash in 1982 on a mountain road and his
daughters Stephanie and Caroline have had a succession of disastrous,
high-profile relationships.

He never showed any sign of wanting to remarry. "I still feel her absence.
It was a marriage of love," he said in 1999.

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.