Prince Rainier is on life support right now and the prognosis is not good. Let's keep him in our prayers.
MONACO (CNN) -- Prince Rainier III's health continues to worsen, according to a health bulletin issued by Monaco's palace on Saturday. Rainier's health "continues to worsen despite the most appropriate medical assistance," according to the palace statement, which was signed by three doctors. The statement said the prince's heart, lung and kidney functions are gradually worsening and that the prognosis remains extremely guarded, according to wire reports. The previous bulletin from his doctors, released Friday, said Rainier remained in "worrisome" health, The Associated Press said. Rainier's worsening health prompted a response from the Vatican, where Pope John Paul II is recovering from his own health setbacks. "The Holy Father is thinking and praying for the best outcome ... (and is) calling on the Virgin Mary to comfort Rainier," the Vatican statement said. The 81-year-old Monaco ruler, whose American movie star wife Grace Kelly died in 1982, has been hooked up to a respirator in a hospital intensive care unit in the tiny principality on the French Riviera. A specialist from Paris was consulted late on Thursday given "the gravity of the situation" and decided to keep the prince in intensive care, the palace said. Rainier was admitted to the hospital earlier this month suffering from a lung infection and was moved to the intensive care unit Monday. He has suffered from off-and-on pulmonary and heart problems for years. Rainier and Kelly, who married in 1956, had three children before the film icon died in a car accident in 1982. The children -- Princess Caroline, 48, Prince Albert, 47, and Princess Stephanie, 40 -- were summoned to the hospital on Tuesday, palace sources said. Prince Albert is next in line for the throne and would succeed immediately after his father's death, although his investiture ceremony would not take place until a national period of mourning had concluded. Rainier, whose Grimaldi family has ruled the low-tax haven for seven centuries, became prince of Monaco after the death of his grandfather in 1949. His mother, Princess Charlotte, had renounced her claim to the throne in favor of her son. He is the world's second-longest reigning monarch after the king of Thailand. He has reigned Monaco for 55 years, longer than any of his predecessors since Prince Honore III, who ruled from 1733 to 1793.
MONACO (CNN) -- Prince Rainier, the ruler of Monaco, has regained consciousness and the functions of his vital organs has stabilized, according to the royal palace. Rainier, the world's second-longest reigning monarch, remains under heavy medication in an intensive care unit at a Monte Carlo hospital where he moved six days ago, and is breathing with aid of a respirator, a spokesman told CNN Sunday. Family members were visiting the 81-year-old prince, whose American movie star wife Grace Kelly died in 1982, the spokesman added. "The cardiac, lung and kidney functions that did not stop deteriorating have stabilized," the palace said in a new health bulletin, signed by three doctors. Rainier "is conscious, but under sedation, which allows him to withstand respiratory assistance that is absolutely indispensable," it said. The report came just one day after the palace in the tiny principality on the French Riviera said Rainier's health was declining. Saturday's statement said the prince's heart, lung and kidney functions were gradually worsening and the prognosis remained extremely guarded, according to wire reports. The previous bulletin from his doctors, released Friday, said Rainier remained in "worrisome" health, The Associated Press said. Rainier's worsening health prompted a response from the Vatican, where Pope John Paul II is recovering from his own health setbacks. "The Holy Father is thinking and praying for the best outcome ... (and is) calling on the Virgin Mary to comfort Rainier," the Vatican statement said. A specialist from Paris was consulted late on Thursday given "the gravity of the situation" and decided to keep the prince in intensive care, the palace said. Rainier was admitted to the hospital earlier this month suffering from a lung infection and was moved to the intensive care unit Monday. He has suffered from off-and-on pulmonary and heart problems for years.
Prince Albert has taken over the reign of the principality while his father remains on life support. Sounds like this year's GP winner will receive the trophy from Albert's hands.
Prince Rainier of Monaco dies 17:55 AEST Wed Apr 6 2005 AP - Prince Rainier III, whose marriage to American film star Grace Kelly brought elegance and glamour to one of Europe's oldest dynasties, died Wednesday at the hospital treating him for heart, kidney and breathing problems. He was 81. His royal palace announced Rainier's 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 harbour. He was Europe's longest-reigning monarch.
