29 MARCH 2005

One week after Prince Rainier of Monaco was rushed into intensive care, his principality continues its anxious wait for news of the 81-year-old monarch's condition.

Though the prince's children Prince Albert and Princess Caroline appeared, as duty required, on the balcony of the palace on Good Friday last week, the tension was clearly written on their faces.

Easter fell in the midst of an agonising time for Rainier's family and the people of Monaco, as the prince remained in intensive care, fighting for his life after having checked into hospital two weeks previously for a recurrent breathing problem.

As their father's heart, lungs and kidneys began to fail over the past week, the Monegasque ruler's three children, Albert, Caroline and Stephanie, have been taking turns at his bedside.

The palace acknowledged Tuesday that Rainier remained in a "very fragile" state after undergoing three kidney dialysis treatments. "His vital signs have stablised," continued the statement. "Nevertheless his heart, lung and kidney conditions make the prognosis extremely reserved."