Fairy Tale's Final Chapter

Their romance captivated the world — an American movie queen, a European prince, and their enchanted life in a hilltop palace overlooking the Mediterranean.

The mystique of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly endured the two decades since her tragic death, in part because the 81-year-old ruler never remarried and filled his tiny principality with countless memorials to the woman he loved.

Correspondent Jerry Bowen examines their lives, on CBS News Sunday Morning.

Some saw Rainier's ailing health as the final chapter in the fairy tale of Monaco — a subject that draws a mixture of sadness and smiles in the place where it all started.

"Princess Grace is still here. I can't explain it," said Nathalie Ponsenard, 40, who teaches at a nursery school not far from the royal palace. "She was just magical, full of warmth and generosity and humanity."

Here in Monaco, those of a certain age recount fondly how Princess Grace would take her children biking along the seaside or would wave and say, "Bonjour," in reply to passersby.

Though she never returned to the screen after her 1956 marriage to Rainier, the actress brought her elegance and charm to the role of princess. And the world took note.

"The day Prince Rainier married Princess Grace — one of the world's most famous and beautiful women — was the day Monaco was born on the international stage," said Vincent Weylan, chief editor of the royalty division of Point de Vue magazine, a French weekly that focuses on Europe's royalty.

Many here speak of 1982, the year of her tragic car accident and death, as a time of national sadness. The fact that Rainier remained alone all these years is seen by some of his subjects as a testament to his love. Experts agree.

"He never really got over her death. It was an irreparable loss," said Philippe Delorme, a French biographer of Rainier. "It would have been very hard to replace her."

On the 20th anniversary of her death in 2002, the royal palace published a glossy book in honor of the late princess, filled with pictures of the royal couple. Rainier himself penned the preface.

"Twenty years after her disappearance, Princess Grace is always present in our hearts and in our thoughts," the prince wrote. He praised her for "carrying out to perfection her role as spouse and mother."

Grace's widower helped to keep her memory alive.

Along the coast by the elegant Monte Carlo casino is Princess Grace Avenue; down by Monaco's yacht-filled harbor is the Princess Grace Library; and, outside the hospital where Rainier was clinging to life on a respirator Friday is the Princess Grace Theater.

At the 19th century Monaco Cathedral, where Princess Grace was laid to rest beside Rainier's three predecessors, hers is the only grave permanently honored with fresh flowers.

It was at the cathedral on April 18, 1956, that the couple was married, in what was called at the time the "wedding of the century."

Precisely where the fairy tale began is where it will end. Beside her tomb is an empty slab of marble waiting to be engraved with the prince's name.

"The end of Prince Rainier will certainly be the end of an era for Monaco. But it is larger than that," said Weylan. Most of Europe's royal elders who witnessed the historic events of the last century have died, including the queen mothers of England and Denmark, the father and mother of the king of Spain.

"It will also be the end of an era for Europe," he said.

The heir to Rainier's throne is his son, 47-year-old Prince Albert, who is unmarried and has no children. He took over Monaco's royal powers on Thursday, assuming all but the throne in the tiny principality after a royal commission decided his critically ill father was too sick to perform his duties.

It is the first time since 1949 that Rainier has not been in control of the Mediterranean realm famous as a playground for the rich and famous.

Monaco changed its succession law in 2002 to allow power to pass from a reigning prince who has no descendants to his siblings. Both of Albert's sisters — Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie — have children.

Rainier assumed the throne in 1949, seven years before he married. Some see in Albert the hope for a new fairy tale.

"What I hear," said 22-year-old Sandrine Negre, "is that he's not married yet because he's looking for someone like Grace Kelly."

"You never know," she said, peering through sunglasses on a walk near Princess Grace Avenue. "Maybe Monaco will have another American princess."

With his father in serious condition, Albert appeared on a palace balcony Friday afternoon, looking on as many supporters in the street below prayed for the prince's life.

It was Albert's first appearance since Rainier entered an intensive care unit with heart, kidney and breathing problems.

At Monaco's cathedral, Archbishop Bernard Barsi offered prayers for the ill, "in particular our prince ... and our pope," a reference to Pope John Paul II.

Ironically, Monaco, a Roman Catholic principality widely portrayed as a haven of high-end happiness, faced the prospect on Friday of two misfortunes, due to the illnesses of Rainier and the Pope.

Rainier, 81, was Europe's longest-serving monarch.

Catholicism is the state religion in the Mediterranean principality no larger that New York's Central Park, a realm ruled for more than seven centuries by Rainier's family — the Grimaldis. Monaco is the world's second-smallest independent state after Vatican City.

Some of Monaco's 32,000 citizens were preparing for either outcome.

"Today (Friday), we don't know who will be the first to go, the pope or the prince," said Patrick Tosello, 52, as he sat in a cafe. "I think that both are in their final hours."

Life went on much as usual in Monaco. Tourists gawked at high-priced cars parked near the Monte Carlo casino. Construction workers erected grandstands near the port for the upcoming Grand Prix.

Albert's smiling face greeted Monaco on the front page of Monaco-Matin newspaper, replacing gloomy headlines that have tracked Rainier's deteriorating health.

"Monaco placed under the regency of Albert," the paper said, describing the event as both "painful and historic."

Some in Monaco said the change of power was long overdue.

"My personal opinion is he should have passed power to Albert five years ago, when he still had his health," said Julien Thomas, a 25-year-old waiter. The hand-over was "very, very good for Monaco."

"Monaco is not only rich people — Rainier didn't see that. I hope Albert is more aware of it," he said while cleaning tables at a restaurant near the port. "When I go out at night, I go to France or Italy. It's too expensive here."