Page 70 - Monaco Economy 127

DOSSIER SPÉCIAL

Under the skin of Rainier III by Milena Radoman

“You don’t have to be a big country to have big dreams, nor do you have to be many to make them
come true.” This well-known quote from Prince Rainier still resonates with many Monégasques.
The documentary dedicated to him, Rainier III By Himself, allows us to reconnect with the words of
the former head of state, words of freedom that allow us better to understand both the man and the
statesman.

Who better than Prince Rainier himself to in headphones, listening to the former head image of a pantomime principality.”
recount his reign and the evolution of the of state’s voice. At the end of the war, Monaco narrowly escaped
country during those 56 years? This has been annexation by France. The French resistant,
the daring challenge taken on by Yann-Antony Life story Raymond Aubrac, then Commissioner of
Noghès and the Centenary Commemoration During these interviews - in particular with big the Republic, presented “a plan allowing the
Committee and is the central thread of the names in French TV and radio, like Jacques annexation of the Principality”. De Gaulle’s
documentary, Rainier III By Himself. The Chancel and Léon Zitrone - Rainier III tells his response was: “If you had done it without
journalist/producer, advised by Thomas story, explaining the trajectory of a lonely child telling me, I would have blamed you officially
Fouilleron and Vincent Vatrican, respectively who, after an ordeal at boarding school in but approved personally. You ask permission,
directors of the Archives of the Prince’s Palace England, mocked by his classmates because I have to deny it,” an example of when a mere
and the Audiovisual Institute of Monaco, drew of his status as a foreign prince, as well as for matter of form can change the face of a country...
on more than 840 archival documents and a his physique, ascended to the throne in 1949
hundred hours of interviews in which Rainier III and “married the most beautiful woman in the From fragile country to functioning company
touches on all topics. “The prince often had the world” - “This was his first snub, typical of a Prince Rainier was aware of the fragility of
image of being a quiet, reserved man. Between man whose obsession was to inspire respect his small state. “He said himself that Monaco
1949 and 2005, however, he granted dozens by modernising his country,” notes Yann-Antony was out of breath. The palace was crumbling,
of interviews and when he felt comfortable, Noghès. “When he inherited the throne of tourists were no longer coming.” Over the space
he opened up as a man with great sincerity,” Monaco, the Principality was like the Sleeping of half a century, he transformed the Principality.
explains the director, who spent many hours Beauty, in the hands of an old man, and had the Tellingly, L’Express recognised this change
with its front page devoted to “Monaco, from
Operetta to Multinational”. “At the end of his
reign, Monaco was an independent, autonomous
state, recognised by the UN and the Council of
Europe. Mitterrand recognised territorial waters
and airspace in 1984; and, above all, Prince
Rainier put an end to the 1918 Treaty defining
the French protectorate. According to this text,
Monaco could one day merge into the Alpes-
Maritimes department in the absence of direct
or adoptive heirs to the crown.
To achieve all this, “Prince Rainier played with
the limits and pushed the boundaries,” recalls
Yann-Antony Noghès. “In 1956, France had tried
to oppose his marriage to the American, Grace
Kelly. Rainier’s reply to the Consul General of
France was categorical: “Nobody will tell me
@ Archives du palais de Monaco - IAM who I can or cannot marry.” Better still, France,
which had a right of inspection on princely
appointments, refused the employment of an
American government minister but no matter:

to attract foreign companies to Monégasque soil
and the timing was spot-on: “The decree is dated
Portrait du Prince Rainier III, 1958 avec Paul Noghès (1895-1968) dans le bureau d’apparat, évoquant un projet d’urbanisme, sur Rainier III hired Martin Dale as his private adviser
les remparts.
Portrait of Prince Rainier III, 1958 with Paul Noghès (1895-1968) in the ceremonial office, evoking a planning project, on the six days before De Gaulle’s visit to Monaco.” The
ramparts. general had also warned that he would refuse

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