American Princess: Life, Death, and Secrets of Actress Grace Kelly
'12.04.2021'
Source: Lenta.ru report
After the wedding, American actress Grace Kelly had to give up her career in Hollywood. In the Principality of Monaco, they idolized her. Beautiful and elegant, she admired the audience with her luxurious outfits and jewelry; her photographs did not leave the covers of magazines. She helped return to Monaco investment at the cost of her own career, family happiness and life. "Lenta.ru report”Tells the story of her life.
Nightmare day in history
“It was the worst night of my life. There, of course, there were a few moments taking in the soul. But in general, I was so tired of the close attention of journalists that I didn’t read any articles about my husband and I for another year, ”Grace Kelly recalled her wedding day.
That day, April 19 1956 of the year, the subjects of Monaco remembered for a long time. Over 20 of thousands of people took to the streets in the hope of seeing one of the greatest in scale and luxury social events of the twentieth century. Another three million people watched what was happening on television. Onlookers on the street wanted at least one eye to see the magnificent dress that was sewn at the American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for the future princess. Its designer Helen Rose said that the outfit should be “simple, but elegant, feminine, noble, and necessarily royal majestic. Most importantly, the dress should not overshadow the beauty of Grace. ”
A four-piece outfit from Hollywood to Monaco arrived with assembly instructions. The ivory dress will subsequently be called one of the most beautiful in history, a true work of art. For six weeks, 30 tailors painstakingly worked on it, embroidering it with sea pearls. From the back, the ceremonial outfit looked no worse than in front. Instead of the usual tiara for princesses, the head was crowned with a juliet made of lace and silk, the veil was made of silk mesh and decorated with lace.
As such, Grace did not have a wedding bouquet. In the mid-twentieth century, pious brides traditionally walked to the altar with a small prayer book. The future Princess of Monaco asked the tailors to decorate it with lace and silk, to embroider them with pearls. A small bouquet of lilies of the valley in the hands of the future princess was more likely a decoration of a prayer book. Subsequently, she gave her wedding dress to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Now the cost of this outfit exceeds 300 thousand dollars.
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The altar was decorated with lilies, hydrangeas, lilacs and snapdragons. Everything looked like in a fairy tale. The day before, the future princess had another dress - pale pink taffeta with lace and white like gloves. A civil wedding ceremony was held in the throne room of the Grimaldi Palace. There, the bride and groom exchanged vows in French, and then arranged a luxurious reception for their subjects, designed for 6 thousand people. Each Monegasque had the opportunity to come up and personally congratulate the newlyweds.
After the wedding ceremony, guests (about 600 people), including representatives of the royal families, famous businessmen, politicians, movie stars, went to the reception. For them, the best chefs in France and Monaco served caviar, shrimp, smoked salmon, lobster and, of course, champagne. At the end of the evening, a huge 6-tier wedding cake was waiting for the young people, it was decorated with small copies of the facades of the Monegasque palace, some scenes from the history of the country, and also decorated with cherubs.
In the evening, the newlyweds went on a wedding cruise in the Mediterranean Sea on a snow-white yacht Deo Juvante II - it was a wedding present for young people from a close friend of Rainier - Aristotle Onassis.
Love for life or marriage of convenience?
The couple looked happy. It was later that rumors spread that Prince Rainier was a marriage of convenience: he allegedly married “Miss High Society”, as Grace Kelly was nicknamed in Hollywood, in order to attract new investments into the decaying Monaco.
Future spouses met on the set of Alfred Hitchcock's film “Catch a Thief”. At that time, the prince was just looking for a suitable candidate for the role of wife. At that time, the Principality, which was on the verge of ruin, needed a competent PR move to get tourists and big financial injections into the state’s economy.
A Hollywood actress with an ideal aristocratic appearance and exquisite manners was better than anyone else for this role. At that time, many dreamed of getting Grace as a wife: actors, producers, fashion designers. But parents always rejected their daughter's choice - they needed a perfect son-in-law. The Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who showered Grace with jewelry, turned out to be an unsuitable candidate for this role, and the Prince of Monaco seemed to them the best contender. Immediately after the meeting, Rainier and Grace began to correspond, a few months later the monarch made an offer to the American actress.
Long live the princess!
Cruise across the Atlantic lasted eight days. All this time the guests were entertained with festive dinners, noisy parties. In Monaco, an American and her friends were waiting for a magnificent reception. Crowds of people came ashore to better see their future princess.
Especially for Grace, the inhabitants of Monaco included American songs. The future husband swam to the liner on a luxury yacht. At this moment, white and red carnations literally fell from the sky. Festivities continued in Monte Carlo for several more days - right up to the wedding itself.
The subjects will then for a long time discuss the acquaintance, details of the engagement and weddings of the young prince and princess. Say, Rainier made a marriage proposal for Christmas. He presented her with two Cartier rings. One of them was with rubies and diamonds, symbolizing the flag of Monaco, the other was platinum, with a diamond in 10 carats. In addition, the groom asked Creed perfumers to create a fragrance for their bride. He was named Fleurissimo. Subsequently, this perfume will also be loved by Jacqueline Kennedy and Madonna.
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At the wedding, Rainier presented the newly-made wife with a set of pearl jewelry: a necklace and a bracelet, a luxurious ring with a pear-shaped pearl. A little later, at a wedding reception, Grace appeared in the Bains de Mer tiara, studded with diamonds. For social events, Grace chose another necklace - emerald. After her death, she went under the hammer for more than 700 thousand pounds (almost 920 thousand dollars).
She loved diamonds not as much as pink or white pearls. The princess subsequently admitted: "I use pearls on the screen and in life." Even having a huge financial condition, Grace did not wear large diamonds and haute couture dresses during the day, as many monarchs did.
Style icon
Princess of Monaco has become the embodiment of good taste: she always looked elegant and sophisticated, becoming the right icon of style. The future princess got used to wear expensive clothes since childhood - she grew up in a very wealthy American family, where from childhood the girl instilled taste and restraint in everything. Over the years, Kelly realized that she looks best in outfits that emphasize rather than overshadow her beauty. Of the dresses, she preferred the silhouette of a new look - with a fitted bodice and a wide flared skirt.
Silk and satin, cotton and velvet, cashmere and wool, which the princess chose, gave the royal gloss to the outfits and accessories. It was Grace who introduced the fashion for white mink coats and snow-white husky gloves. She knew how to wear them so naturally and at the same time so elegant: for the daytime outings the princess chose short ones, and supplemented evening toilets with gloves above the elbow.
Loved the wife of the monarch and expensive handbags. Her name was given to one of the legendary models of the fashion house Hermes. Once, trying to hide the pregnancy from the paparazzi, in one of the pictures she covered her rounded belly with her handbag. Such an elegant gesture inspired the founders of the house to give the accessory her name.
Designers noted that Grace knew how to choose outfits in accordance with the situation: for formal events - evening dresses on the floor, for family celebrations - cocktail dresses, for formal receptions - strict two-piece suits, for boat trips, she chose capri pants with blouses.
Princess role
Having become the wife of Rainier, Grace was forced to say goodbye forever to the filming of a movie. She will then receive proposals to resume her acting career for a long time, once she even agrees to do this, and her husband did not seem to mind. However, the subjects of Monaco went to a protest, and on the acting career, it was decided to put an end to.
Then Grace went headlong into raising children, took up charity work, began to arrange various evenings for children, tea parties for the disabled.
“Being the wife of Prince Rainier, I can play only one role ... Being his princess,” Grace loved to answer to journalists asking her about plans to continue acting in Hollywood.
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The princess was considered a good wife and mother. Although the family reigned a rather difficult atmosphere. Relations with her husband sometimes left much to be desired, Grace's popularity aroused the envy and jealousy of her husband. There were rumors that he was cheating on her. The more ideal the princess tried to become, the more she irritated Rainier. She could not divorce: then she would forever have to abandon her son and two daughters, in whom she did not have a soul.
Despite the love that their mother surrounded, the children grew up quite capricious and masterful. In public, they behaved disgustingly: screaming, arranging tantrums. Grace's favorite was the daughter Stefania - the third child in the family. Once, wanting to talk with her face to face, the princess decided to do what she usually did not: she sat behind the wheel of a car. She wanted to convince her daughter to become a fashion designer, and not to master driving racing cars.
What then happened in the car is still unknown. Different versions were put forward. However, according to the official, which was distributed by the government of Monaco, the 52-year-old Grace suffered a stroke during the trip, as a result she lost control and the car fell into the abyss. Stefania escaped with minor injuries, and the princess was taken to hospital in an extremely serious condition. The next day, Rainier decided to disconnect her from the respiratory apparatus.
For three days the grave with Grace's body, strewn with flowers, stood in the chapel of St. Nicholas Cathedral. The funeral ceremony was broadcast on television. Those present at the church were given funeral cards; there were only two phrases in them. The first is from St. Augustine: “Lord, I do not ask you why you took it from me, but I thank you for giving it to us.” The second is a quote from a recent interview with Grace Grimaldi: “I would like to be remembered primarily as a decent person who cares nothing.”
Rainier after that no longer married.
