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With all the pomp and ceremony befitting one of the world's longest-reigning monarchs, Monegasque ruler Prince Rainier began his final journey on Friday, in a sombre funeral procession which made its way from the Palace to Monaco's cathedral.
On Friday morning, the coffin, draped in the principality's flag and carried by ten members of the royal guard, emerged from behind blue curtains hung from the palace doors. Lining the courtyard of the 13th-century castle, scores of Palace staff dressed in black and bearing single roses waited to pay their last respects to the prince.
Behind the casket, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie stood on either side of their brother Prince Albert as they slowly walked the 300 metres to the Cathedral. Albert and his visibly distraught sisters, in black with their hair covered by lace mantillas, were followed by Caroline's elder children, Andrea, Charlotte and Pierre. And, in a poignant gesture, Rainier's beloved dog Odin, who was a gift on the 50th year of the sovereign's reign, also formed a part of the procession.
Accompanied by a solemn drumbeat and music – including Beethoven's Funeral March, chosen by Princess Caroline – the cortege made its way down narrow cobblestone streets while hundreds of Monegasques, also in dark funeral wear, looked on. Thirty-six cannon shots also rang out in the silent principality, which had shut down completely on this day of official mourning.
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