Princess Grace of Monaco: Movie Queen, Royalty, Fashion Icon

Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco in Rome, c1960. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Grace Patricia Kelly was born to a rich and influential family on November 12, 1929 in Pennsylvania, USA. Her father John B. Kelly, Sr. was an owner of a flourishing brickwork contracting company and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in sculling/rowing who also dipped his toe into politics. Her mother, former model Margaret Katherine Majer, was a physical education professor at the University of Pennsylvania and was the first woman to coach women’s athletics in the said institution.

Early Career

The young Grace Kelly was not considered beautiful. When she started appearing on the big screen and magazines, family and friends almost could not believe their eyes! In 1947, she was rejected by Bennington College in 1947 due to her low mathematics scores. Thereafter, Grace pursued her dreams of being an actress, despite the opposition of her parents, especially her father who viewed her chosen career as a “slim cut above streetwalker”. She entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts through the influence of her uncle, George Kelly. The school already met its semester quota at the time, but thanks to George, she obtained an interview with the admission officer, Emile Diestel.

She made her Broadway debut in Johan August Strindberg’s The Father. In her television debut, she played the titular role Bethel Merriday in an adaptation of a Sinclair Lewis novel of the same title.

Movie Star and Hollywood Icon 

Grace Kelly, c1956. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Despite High Noon (1952) being one of her most recognizable films and one of the best movies of all time (garnered four Oscars), Grace Kelly still failed to impress critics as far as her acting was concerned. Alfred Hitchcock described her performance in the movie as “rather mousy”. Setting out to prove her critics wrong, she returned to New York and took private acting lessons.

It was in Mogambo (1953) where her acting chops were finally noticed as she scored Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

“Mogambo had three things that interested me: John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa, with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona, I wouldn't have done it," Grace told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper on why she accepted her role in the movie. She had to replace Gene Tierney because the latter had to drop out of the project due to personal issues.

She infamously turned down the opportunity to star alongside Marlon Brando in the 1954 film On The Waterfront, where the actress who replaced her, Eva Marie Saint, won as Oscar. Instead, she chose to do Rear Window, where she played the role of Lisa Fremont, a model/socialite from Manhattan who “never wore her dress twice”.

Her stellar performance in The Country Girl won her an Academy Award for Best Actress, beating Judy Garland’s performance in A Star Is Born. Grace’s final film was the 1956 musical comedy High Society, a remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940).  Despite her prudish, regal onscreen personal, Grace loved nasty jokes.

Princess of Monaco

Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace at White House, c1961. Image from Wikimedia Commons

While at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, she was invited for a photo session with her future husband, Prince Rainier III at the Prince’s Palace, which was 55 kilometers away from Cannes.

After about a year of courtship, Grace married Prince Rainier. Towards her marriage, Grace had to take a fertility test to make sure that she was capable of giving a child (or children) to the prince. Being able to bear an heir in her womb was never an option. Grace’s family was also required to pay a dowry $2 million, which caused the ire of her father who said in an interview, "My daughter doesn't have to pay any man to marry her."

The couple were wed, first, in a civil ceremony on April 18, 1956 held at Monaco’s Palace Throne Room. A church ceremony followed the following day at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco. The wedding was watched by more than 30 million television viewers worldwide. Biographer Robert Lacey described the event as the "the first modern event to generate media overkill". Grace’s wedding dress was made by famous American costume designer Helen Rose, who spent six weeks finishing the gorgeous creation with the help of three dozen seamstresses.

The couple went on to have three children: Caroline (born 1957); Albert, later Sovereign Prince of Monaco (born 1958); and Stephanie (born 1965).

Now Princess of Monaco, Grace was offered the lead in the 1962 film Marnie, however her role as a kleptomaniac caused public outcry in Monaco, forcing her to turn down the movie.

Fashion Queen and Humanitarian 

One of Grace’s more popular Hollywood monikers, apart from “Miss Kelly”, was “Girl in White Gloves”, because she would often wear “prim and noticeable white gloves”. Throughout her lifetime, Grace was dubbed as a fashion icon. She inducted into the International Best Dressed List in 1960.

She was also famous for always carrying a Hermès leather handbag whilst pregnant with her first child Caroline, supposedly to hide her baby bump from the prying paparazzi. The bag became eventually known as the “Kelly Bag”

As a humanitarian, Grace founded the Monaco-based non-profit organization AMADE Mondiale, which promotes the holistic well-being of children all over the world regardless of “distinction of race, nationality or religion”.

Tragic Death 

Princess Grace tragically died in a car accident on September 13, 1982. She suffered from a stroke while driving back to Monaco after visiting her Roc Agel country home. Her daughter Stephanie, who was with her during the accident and who fortunately survived, tried but failed to regain control of the car. Grace was buried in the Grimaldi family vault.

Grace and her husband Rainier were working on a film called Rearranged prior to the former’s death. The 33-minute independent film premiered in Monaco in 1982 and got the interest of ABC TV executives, who requested to stretch it an hour longer. Grace unfortunately passed away before completing the film.