Monaco's Prince Rainier will be buried next week alongside his late wife Grace Kelly, palace sources say.
State leaders and royalty are expected in Monaco's cathedral on April 15th for the funeral of the prince, whose marriage to the actress brought Hollywood glamour to the world's second smallest state after the Vatican.
Rainier (81) died on yesterday after a month in hospital battling lung, heart and kidney problems. His body has been transferred to his palace, officials said.
"Tradition dictates that the body of the Prince stays in his apartments for a few days and is then transferred to the palace chapel, where the Monegasques can pay him a last tribute," Monaco's archbishop Bernard Barsi told reporters today.
In line with his wishes, Rainier will be buried in the crypt of Monaco's cathedral next to Princess Grace, who died in a car crash in 1982. Rainier never remarried, saying years after her death that he still felt her absence.
Flags in Monaco flew at half mast on Thursday, and the principality told theatres and concert halls not to stage performances until after the funeral.
Mourning will last three months for Rainier's family. But Monaco's Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead as scheduled at the end of May.
Rainier, Europe's longest-reigning monarch, will be succeeded by his son Albert (47).
A former Olympic bobsleigh racer who has lived in the shadow of sisters Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie, Albert took over his father's royal duties last week as hopes faded that Rainier would recover.