Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Rainier Grimaldi (1923-2005) succeeded his grandfather Louis II as Rainier III in the reign of the principality after his mother Charlotte abdicated the throne in 1949. His full title was: Prince de Monaco, Duc de Valentinois, Marquis des Baux, Comte de Carladès, Baron du Buis, Seigneur de Saint-Remy, Sire de Matignon, Comte de Torigni, Baron de Saint-Lô, de la Luthumière et de Hambye, Duc d'Estouteville, de Mazarin et de Mayenne, Prince de Château-Porcien, Comte de Ferrette, de Belfort, de Thann et de Rosemont, Baron d'Altkirch et Seigneur d'Issenheim, Marquis de Chilly, Comte de Longjumeau, Baron de Massy, Marquis de Guiscard. Educated in English and Swiss boarding schools, he had studied at the École libre des sciences politiques (Free School of Political Sciences) in Paris, called 'Sciences Po'. In 1956, he married the US film actress and Oscar winner Grace Kelly, who thus became Princess Grace of Monaco. The marriage produced three children: Caroline, Albert and Stéphanie of Monaco. In 1982, the Princess, also known as 'Gracia Patricia', died in a car accident. Under the reign of Rainier III, the Principality developed into the centre of international high society; tourism, congresses and industrialisation boomed and new land was gained on the coast. |
