Prince Rainier III, died Wednesday at the hospital treating him for heart, kidney and breathing problems. He was 81. Rainier's royal palace announced his death nearly a full month after he was first admitted with a lung infection to a heart and chest clinic that overlooks Monaco's glittering, yacht-filled harbor. He had been Europe's longest-reigning monarch. Rainier, who assumed the throne on May 9, 1949, was the leader of Europe's longest-ruling royal family, the Grimaldis. Rainier suffered recurring health problems in recent years. The silver-haired, portly prince underwent heart surgery in 1999. He had two operations the following year, including having a nodule removed from a lung, and was hospitalized in 2002 for fatigue and bronchitis. Recurrent chest infections put him in the hospital on numerous occasions. Most recently, he was hospitalized March 7 at Monaco's Cardio-Thoracic Center with a chest infection. He was placed in intensive care two weeks later with heart and kidney failure and hooked up to a respirator.
