(1923-2005)
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The Curse of the Grimaldis
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THE CURSE OF THE GRIMALDIS
PRINCE Rainier III of Monaco - who died yesterday aged 81 - should have lived out his final years in fairytale bliss.
Source | The Sun 7th April 2005
His late wife was Hollywood beauty Grace Kelly and he ruled over the chic Riviera principality on France's Cote D'Azur surrounded by glamour and wealth.
Yet the last decades of the once dashing prince of the Grimaldi royal family were marked by tragedy and scandal, mirroring that of Britain's Windsors.
It was as if the fabled Curse of the Grimaldis — which is said to have haunted the family for more than 800 years — had struck again.
First, Princess Grace died in a mysterious car crash in 1982, leaving the forlorn prince to end his days alone.
The following 23 years were plagued by his wayward children's seemingly never ending crises. There were family rifts, torrid affairs and messy divorces.
And his beloved principality of Monaco — which after his succession Rainier had turned into a glitzy billionaire's playground — was accused of being a sordid laundering factory for sleazy Mafia cash.
Rainier, who was Europe's longest-reigning monarch, started his reign over the tiny Mediterranean kingdom with such hope in 1949.
A mild-mannered person who enjoyed collecting stamps and vintage cars, he set about reversing Monaco's fortunes.
He whisked her to his royal palace
perched high on a rocky cliff above the
sea and gave her a tour of his private zoo.
When she returned to Hollywood, she
sent him a thank you note. By Christmas
the shy Rainier had followed her to her
home in Philadelphia and proposed.
The marriage of the prince to a Hollywood princess gave Monaco the glitz which
turned it from crumbling casino town to a
haven for the super-rich and famous.
Monaco became a billionaire's playground
and tax haven — and the cash flooded in.
The royal couple produced three children
— Albert, Caroline and Stephanie — and the
fairytale seemed complete.
But the Curse of Grimaldi was lurking in
the shadows.
It dates back to 1297 when the first
Grimaldi, Francesco the Spiteful, tricked
the principality's defenders by disguising
himself as a monk seeking sanctuary, only
to slaughter them all.
Legend says the curse then plagued the
family for generations.
In 1515 Claudine of Monaco fuelled the
jinx when she warned on her deathbed
that no Grimaldi should ever ally himself
with a foreign power.
That was exactly what Rainier did when
he took American Grace Kelly as his bride.
She loved being royal, yet pined for the
life of an actress. She suffered from eating
disorders and a series of miscarriages.
The curse seemed to be exacting a terrible revenge on her. But worse was to come.
On a fine November day in 1982, Grace, aged just 52, was driving with 17-year-old
Stephanie along the cliffs of the 480-acre
principality. It was the spot where Grace
had once made the movie To Catch A
Thief with Cary Grant. Mysteriously their
car plunged over the cliffs on to the road
below. Grace was killed instantly, while
Stephanie escaped with neck injuries.
In the years after the tragedy, Rainier
seemed to age rapidly and might have abdicated had his children been more reliable.
Caroline, now 48, shot to fame as the
world's first topless princess when she
stripped off as a teenager at the principality's Monte Carlo Beach Club.
Against her parents' wishes, she married
Philippe Junot, a Parisian who was 17
years her senior. The marriage lasted just
two years.
She was married again, in 1983, this time
to Italian industrialist Stefano Casiraghi.
Caroline's happy family life was shattered
in 1990 when Casiraghi was killed while defending the World Offshore Powerboat
Championship. Crippled by grief, she
retreated from all public functions. She is
now married to Prince Ernst of Hanover.
once the husband of a long-time friend.
Second daughter Stephanie. 40, has had a
succession of lovers, ran away to the
circus, gave birth to three children out of
wedlock and was divorced twice.
Meanwhile, Albert's lovelife has been just
as rocky. He has escorted most of the
world's beautiful women, including Sharon Stone, Princess Diana and Claudia Schiffer.
However, the "playboy prince" fights shy
of marriage and starting a family, which
may explain Rainier's decision in 2002 to
change Monaco's constitution.
Previously, in the absence of a male heir, the principality would have become part of
France. But Rainier had the law changed
so that, in the event of 47-year-old Albert
remaining childless, Caroline and Stephanie
can succeeed their brother. Albert was proclaimed regent and took over his father's
royal duties last week.
The once handsome Rainier, who never
remarried, was left shattered by the loss of
his princess Grace.
"I still feel her absence. It was a
marriage of love," he said 17 years later.
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 heart
and kidney problems and a lung infection.
After at least a week's mourning, he is
expected to be finally reunited with
Princess Grace by being buried at her side.
His family, and the people of Monaco,
pray the Curse of the Grimaldis will be
laid to rest with him.
Monaco - the world's second
smallest state - was then a fading gambling spa which had lost
much of its allure. But that all
changed when the prince met
stunning actress Grace Kelly at
the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.
She has dated ex-Manchester United
goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, Hollywood actors Rob Lowe and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
End of the House of Monaco? | The Curse of the Grimaldis
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Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier Book
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The Royal House of Monaco: Dynasty of Glamour, Tragedy and Scandal Book
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End of the House of Monaco? | The Curse of the Grimaldis
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