Prince Rainier III of Monaco, whose fairy-tale marriage to American film star Grace Kelly cast a bright light on one of Europe's oldest dynasties, has died at 81.
Monaco's royal palace announced Rainier's death from heart, lung and kidney failure Wednesday morning, nearly one month after he was first admitted to hospital.
Rainier's son and heir, Prince Albert, was at his bedside when he died. Rainier is also survived by his two daughters, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie.
"Each of us feels like an orphan because the principality has been marked by his imprint over the 56 years," Patrick Leclercq, Monaco's head of government, said of Europe's longest reigning monarch.
Residents mourned Rainier's death as flags already lowered out of respect for the Pope remained at half-mast and the renowned Monte Carlo casino closed its doors in a sign of respect.
Odette Sainsaulieu was one of the residents who arrived at the hospital to pay her respects.
"I came to say a final goodbye," she told The Associated Press. She wondered whether Monaco's golden era would survive without its golden prince.
"It was a life, a way of living, of managing the principality," she said of Rainier's rule.
The leader of Europe's longest-ruling royal family, Rainier assumed the throne at age 26 in 1949 and transformed the tiny state into a glittering destination for the rich and famous on the Mediterranean.
When he took over after the death of his grandfather Prince Louis II, the tiny principality -- less than two square kilometres in area -- was best known for its casino and a rather sordid reputation for its collaboration with Nazis.
Rainier is credited with "really transforming the reputation of Monaco, to be frank, quite a seedy little place until he came along," royal biographer Robert Lacey told Canada AM.
Rainier used the glamour of the French Riviera to attract tourists to the casino and hotels. But it was his whirlwind courtship and subsequent marriage to screen star Grace Kelly in 1956 that gave Monaco the glittering image that still draws tourists today.
In recent years, Prince Albert increasingly has taken on more and more responsibility after a royal commission ruled last week that Rainier was too ill to rule as prince and hopes of a full recovery faded.
Prince Albert now becomes Monaco's de facto ruler until a formal ceremony, expected to take place after an official mourning period.
Under a revised succession law in 2002, Albert -- currently a bachelor -- can pass the throne to someone other than his own child including his siblings or their children.
Meanwhile, dignitaries from around the world, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, sent their condolences as word of his death spread.
"Prince Rainier remained dearly loved by his people and deeply respected by his peers as well as the world community," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
French President Jacques Chirac hailed the prince's "courage and tenacity" in the face of his deteriorating health.
German President Horst Koehler said he "fulfilled his duties as head of state with remarkable willpower until the end."
With files from The Associated Press
