posted 04-06-2005 07:59 AM         

MONACO (AP) - Monaco plunged into mourning Wednesday, its famed casino closing its doors upon news of the death of Prince Rainier III, the long-ruling monarch hailed for modernizing the tiny principality once renowned as a ``sunny place for shady people.''

Rainier, whose marriage to American film star Grace Kelly brought elegance, glamour and world renown to what once was a Riviera backwater, died at 6:35 a.m at the hospital treating him for heart, kidney and breathing problems. He was 81.

Prince Albert, his son and heir, was at his side, after doctors called him just before 6 a.m. to tell him the end was near, the royal palace said. Albert, 47 and groomed from birth to succeed his father, had already taken over the royal powers - but not the throne - last week because Rainier was too sick to rule.

Rainier's body was transferred from the hospital back to his hilltop palace shortly after his death and will lie in state in the palace's Palatine Chapel so Monagasques can pay their respects, said an official close to the palace.