Editing Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (section)

==Early life==
Rainier was born at [[Prince's Palace of Monaco|Prince's Palace]] in Monaco, the first native-born prince since [[Honoré IV]] in 1758. Rainier's mother, Charlotte, was the only child of [[Louis II, Prince of Monaco]], and his lover, [[Marie Juliette Louvet]]; she was legitimised through formal adoption and subsequently named [[heiress presumptive]] to the throne of Monaco. Rainier's father, [[Count Pierre of Polignac]], who was half-[[French nobility|French]] and half-[[Mexican nobility|Mexican]], adopted his wife's dynasty, Grimaldi, upon marriage and was made a Prince of Monaco by his father-in-law. Rainier had an older sister, [[Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy]].<ref name="Times Obituary">"Obituary: Prince Rainier III of Monaco.", ''[[The Times]]'', London, 7 April 2005, p. 58.</ref> His parents divorced in 1933.

Rainier's early education was conducted in England, at the [[public school (England)|public schools]] of [[Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea|Summerfields]] in [[St Leonards-on-Sea]], Sussex, and after 1935<ref name="jvb">Von Bergen, Julie. (2017). ''Rainer III, Prince of Monaco''. Great Neck Publishing, 2017.</ref> at [[Stowe School]], in Buckinghamshire.  Rainier then attended the [[Institut Le Rosey]] in [[Rolle]] and [[Gstaad]], Switzerland from 1939, before continuing to the [[University of Montpellier]] in France, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943, before studying at [[Sciences Po Paris]] in Paris.<ref name="Times Obituary"/>

In 1944, the day before his 21st birthday, Rainier's mother renounced her right to the Monegasque throne and Rainier became Prince Louis's direct heir. In [[World War II]], Rainier joined the [[Free French Army]] in September 1944, and served under General [[Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert]] as a [[second lieutenant]]. As a soldier, he witnessed action during the [[Operation Northwind (1944)|German counter-offensive]] in [[Alsace]]. Rainier received the French [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]] with bronze star (representing a brigade level citation) and was given the rank of [[Legion of Honor]] in 1947. Following his decommission from the [[French Army]], he was promoted by the French government to captain in April 1949 and colonel in December 1954.<ref name="Times Obituary"/>

Rainier became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco at the age of 25 upon the death of his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis II, on 9 May 1949.<ref name="Times Obituary"/>