Saint-Charles Church, Monaco to the Grimaldi family, the ruling family of Monaco. Bishop Charles Theuret of Monaco laid Saint-Charles's corner stone on November 11, 1879; it was completed and opened on Easter Monday, March 26, 1883, and subsequently declared a parish church on March 15, 1887. Theuret's successor, Bishop Jean-Charles Arnal of Curel dedicated the church in 1912. The church was restored and its facades renovated in its centenary year of 1983 by Prince Rainier III, he subsequently oversaw exterior renovation work at the church in 2003. The family memorial service for the entertainer Josephine Baker took place at Saint-Charles Church in 1975.
Crown Council of Monaco legislative power, the Prince must consult it before signing international treaties, dissolving the National Council, naturalizing citizens, or making certain other executive decisions. At the end of March 2005, the Crown Council carried out what may have been one of its most far-reaching acts. Prince Rainier, the Sovereign since 1949, had for some weeks been seriously ill in hospital in Monaco and the Crown Council established that Rainier was temporarily incapable of ruling. (During the period of Rainier III's incapacity, his doctors in Monaco were agreed that his ill health showed little signs of improving and, agreeing with eminent Parisian